Winnipeg Jets team preview: What does Jonathan Toews have left?

Coming off a franchise-best 116-point season and Central Division title, the Jets started 2024-25 so fast and never looked back, but in the end, a six-game loss to the Dallas Stars in Round 2 left them well short of their goals.

The Jets see themselves as Stanley Cup contenders, and why not when your goalie is the best in the world and the reigning MVP of the league? Winnipeg will go as far as Connor Hellebuyck will take them, though his playoff numbers haven’t been as standout for the past three years in a row — and in the series the Jets were eliminated in, he was outplayed by fellow American Jake Oettinger.

Winnipeg is certainly hoping their Stanley Cup window is still open this season, though it’s hard to see them getting off to as fast a start in 2025-26. First, there are the injury holes left behind by Adam Lowry and Dylan Samberg, two key players who will miss at least the first month or more. Then there is the loss of highly productive winger Nikolaj Ehlers, a key second-line contributor who drove that trio with great per-minute output at 5-on-5. He’s in Carolina now, and the Jets weren’t able to replace him from the outside, so they have to make do with what they have within.

As we wrap up our look at the 32 NHL teams in 32 days, we take a look at the Winnipeg Jets.

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After two years away, ‘Captain Serious’ returns to the NHL, now 37 years old and a member of his hometown team. The idea isn’t that Toews has to jump straight into a key role where the Jets need him to be what he was to the Blackhawks. Toews’ contract is one with a $2 million base salary, plus $5 million in performance bonuses that are mostly games played benchmarks. It’s a big question how well he’ll handle the grind of an 82-game season after being out for so long; for now, he’s day-to-day and will miss their pre-season finale on Friday.

The hope is that by the second half of the season, and certainly the playoffs, Toews is playing a difference-making role down the middle and give the team quality centre depth. Best case scenario is that Toews can end up in the 2C role, and if healthy, he will have to start there with Adam Lowry out until November. If he ends up as their 3C when Lowry returns, that could work out, too. But the worst-case scenario is that the grind is overwhelming, or he can’t stay healthy, which would leave the Jets with yet another questionable hole.

Under-the-radar player to watch: Gustav Nyquist

Losing Nikolaj Ehlers to Carolina in free agency leaves a big hole in Winnipeg’s lineup as he was a key line driver on the second unit, and there’s no way to directly fill in for him. Gustav Nyquist is likely to start the season on right wing of the second line, opposite Cole Perfetti, and while two years ago Nyquist was a 75-point scorer in Nashville, he managed just 28 points between the Predators and Wild in 2024-25. This is a 36-year-old player now whose best years are behind him, yet the Jets are hoping he can hang in the top six. If he can stay there all season, it’s because things are going right — best case scenario is that the trio of Nyquist, Perfetti and Toews finds chemistry and gets better as the year goes. But if Nyquist is slow to produce, the team will have to look to Alex Iafallo or Vlad Namestnikov to step up and at that point, the second line could be a sore issue for the team, especially if Toews also struggles.

Acquired in last year’s Rutger McGroarty trade, Yager — the 14th overall pick in 2023 — is graduating from major junior and though he got better as Winnipeg’s pre-season went along, was unsurprisingly sent to AHL Manitoba. The Jets won’t want to rush their top prospects so it wouldn’t be surprising if Yager spends the whole year in the AHL. In time, the hope is that he becomes a second-line NHL centre, but that will take some patience. Yager was a solid producer in the WHL, though his offensive numbers did dip last season and the Jets will be cautious with rushing him along.

1. How will they fare without Adam Lowry to start the season?

Hip surgery has Lowry on the sidelines to start the year, with a target to return in November. This right away will put stress on the forwards, especially the centres, as Lowry is not just a smart and reliable defensive pivot, but also one that can deliver enough offence to hang on the second line when needed. With Toews coming back from two years off and Ehlers gone, Winnipeg’s second line is facing some serious questions and, without Lowry, they don’t have any cover from the third line either. The good news is that of the 11 games Winnipeg plays in October, only three come against teams that made the playoffs last season. On top of Lowry, the Jets will miss key defenceman Dylan Samberg for six-to-eight weeks after he broke his wrist, so how the Jets manage in the early-going with these key injuries will set the tone for the rest of their season. Will they be chasing, or in control, when everyone gets back?

2. Can Cole Perfetti have a breakout season?

Perfetti might be the Jets’ most important X-Factor because he is the only returning line driver to that second unit facing so many questions and concerns. Once the prized prospect in Winnipeg’s system, the 23-year-old Perfetti had a career-high 50 points last season but needs to push that higher and be someone who can elevate Toews, Nyquist, or whoever ends up alongside him this season with his playmaking ability. If Perfetti doesn’t take a step, it’s another concern the Jets have to manage and puts them behind the other contenders in their own division.

The rising salary has the NHL in a weird place, where prior comparables are out the window and new benchmarks are being set. Connor is one of this year’s top pending free agents, and while he won’t push anywhere near Kirill Kaprizov’s $17 million, what’s interesting is how the resetting market will impact Winnipeg’s internal cap. Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck are their highest-paid players, both signed for $8.5 million through the 2030-31 season, but the market conditions Connor is negotiating in are wildly different now. With two 40-goal seasons in the past four years (and four 30-goal seasons), Connor ranks 13th in NHL goal scoring over that span and would be a highly attractive free agent — or trade target — if it came to that. But if the Jets have to lose another key offensive contributor, it would be devastating to their standing as a Cup contender.

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