The Winnipeg Jets come into this season needing to make the playoffs after a few years of dissapointment. They did finish the season over .500 this season but that was not good enough to make the playoffs as they finished last in a very tough Central division. Here's a preview for the Winnipeg Jets this coming season.
Offense
Led by Evander Kane and Blake Wheeler, the Winnipeg offense really isn't that bad. Kane is coming off a really bad season where he missed 19 games due to injury and only put up 19 goals which is very odd for him. Expect him to have a bounce back season for the Jets as he will put up 25 goals and lead the team in points this season. Blake Wheeler is coming off his best season yet where he led the Jets in goals with 28 and points with 69. Expect him to be a fantasy sleeper this season. Brian Little and Andrew Ladd are both very underrated NHL players and both put up good numbers for the Jets this past season. The Jets have a good offense this season where they should be in the middle of the pack for goal scoring. They are going to need a lot of it as their goaltending isn't good which I will address later in the article.
Defense
The defense by Winnipeg is decent. It's led by big Dustin Byfuglien who, like Kane, has been on the trading block for a year or two. He actually was third on the team last year in points and he scored 20 goals which is very high for a defenseman. Behind Byfuglien, there's Jacob Trouba who had 29 points this season and could do better this coming season. Tobias Enstrom also is a good defenseman and should be either a 1st or 2nd pairing on the Jets. The Jets don't have a Norris trophy caliber defenseman but those guys that I mentioned in the article are very underrated. Look for those guys to be studs this year for the Jets.
Goaltending
This is the weak part of Winnipeg's lineup. Their goaltending just isn't good. Ondrej Pavelec is their number one going into next season and he really didn't have a good year for the Jets this past season where he had more losses than wins and that his GAA was 3.01. Not to mention that the backup, Al Montoya, had better stats than him. Montoya should be the starter for the Jets this season even though he isn't much better than Pavelec. The goaltending won't get the Jets anywhere this season if they don't play well. After this season, I suggest the Jets to sign a better goaltender to start for them unless Pavelec or Montoya have monster seasons.
Special Teams
The special teams for Winnieg are okay. Their power play was at the bottom of the league at 25 which was bad and their penalty kill is actually pretty good coming at number ten. They're going to have to have a much better power play this year if they are going to score a lot of goals each game. When you have players such as Evander Kane, Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd, and Brian Little, your power play should be a lot higher than 25. We'll see how it does this season. The penalty kill is already good so if they can remain in the top ten the whole season, there shouldn't be any concern for the Jets in that area.
Outlook for season
Winnipeg has a big season coming for them. They are in a tough division and the playoffs look very unlikely. Expect them to finish last in the Central as there are just too many good teams.