Breaking news: the Winnipeg Jets aren’t going to win the Stanley Cup this season.
We are sorry if this comes as a shock, but anyone who has been paying attention to the team as they’ve stumbled their way through 2025-26 or even taken a cursory glance at the standings, knows this to be the case.
With no Cup glory or even playoffs likely in the cards, the best thing the organization can do is embrace its destiny as a seller.
Jets’ Playoff Hopes Looking Bleak
The Jets have played better lately after their 2.0 franchise-long 11-game losing streak, capturing 12 of a possible 16 points over their past eight games.
However, with the number of three-point games that happen in the NHL on any given night , it’s very tough to make up lost ground, and the Jets are experiencing that reality. They have only closed the gap between them and the second Western Conference wild-card holder by four points since entering play the day they snapped that losing streak despite going 5-1-2 since then.
They are still six points out of the second wild-card spot with 32 games to go and would have to leapfrog five teams to qualify for the postseason. Last season, the St. Louis Blues finished in the second wild-card spot with 96 points; the Jets would have to capture 49 of the final 64 points available to them to reach that mark.
That’s simply not realistic (MoneyPuck pegs their chances of making the playoffs at 10.7 per cent). Even if they did manage to go on a legendary heater and snag that spot, they’d be looking down the barrel of a first-round date with the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche, a matchup that screams “Avs in four.”
Jets Have Plenty of Potential Players to Deal As Deadline Approaches
The March 6 2026 Trade Deadline is approaching and contenders will be (and already are) looking to add players they think will take them over the top. Sometimes, these teams are willing — or are forced by a seller’s market — to overpay for additional depth.
The Jets are a proud franchise, and they won’t have fun admitting they fell off a cliff the season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy and a franchise-high 56 games. While general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has made a public commitment to his core that he’ll do everything in his power to make the team competitive every season, he blew it with his disastrous 2025 offseason strategy to add veterans in their 30s. The 2025-26 Jets are just too old and too slow to compete, and they’ve had too many passengers on too many nights.
However, Cheveldayoff can work toward making 2026-27 not a repeat of 2025-26 by getting whatever he can get for players who haven’t worked out and a few others.
At the very least, anyone on an expiring contract should be on the table to move. None of pending unrestricted free agents Eric Comrie, Cole Koepke, Colin Miller, Gustav Nyquist, Tanner Peason, Luke Schenn, and Jonathan Toews would garner big returns — and the market would be thin on Nyquist and Schenn especially — but any of them could garner some sort of draft capital.
Four players the Jets could get more for should be on the trading block as well. Underperforming middle-six veterans Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter should be considered (both have one year on their contracts after this one) as should Logan Stanley, the big defender who is playing at a far higher level than he ever has in his tumultuous six-season career and has scored more goals this season (eight) than he did in his first five combined (five).
Related: NHL Rumors: Oilers Linked to Toews, Kraken Listening, and Maple Leafs Selling?
The Jets are also reportedly open to receiving calls on Cole Perfetti, the 2020 first-rounder who has shown flashes of brilliance but has struggled this season. The 24 year old has just 15 points in 36 games after putting up 50 in 82 last season. Perfetti and Stanley would bag the best returns of the bunch.
While it wouldn’t be a full “tank,” trading away everyone possible from the list above would also open up chances for prospects on the Manitoba Moose to get some more big-league playing time and be in a better position to make an impact in 2026-27.
Those youngsters may not help rack up a ton of wins down the stretch, but that wouldn’t be a big issue either considering the best way for Cheveldayoff to accelerate a retool would be to land a top-five pick in the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery.
