Runway Repairs: Winnipeg Jets won't commit to a rebuild but a retool is within reach

Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press

It was a season to forget.

When the final horn sounded on a 6-1 drubbing by the San Jose Sharks to close out the 2025-2026 Winnipeg Jets season, there were many Jets fans who had probably long turned off their televisions. A team that a year prior was celebrating their first President's Trophy, riding into the playoffs as the best in the league, had just finished outside the playoffs.

Time to take stock, see what you have, and see what you can do better next time. From my perspective, and what I want to hopefully convey here, is that the Jets are not in need of a serious re-think about the future of this team. In fact, a rebuild might be the exact wrong thing to consider, but so too is running back the exact same team as last year.

I think a re-tool is on the cards, and unlike other teams in the league, I don't think the Jets need to make any blockbuster trades or acquisitions to do it.

Usually, I hate the phrase "the solution is in the room." It always rings hollow and seems to come from coaches and GMs who have either lost the room, refused to make changes, or in the case of many Canadians GMs, lived out that old Simpson's meme:

Yet, for the Winnipeg Jets, this time it might be right. Or at least, the solutions are across the hall with the Manitoba Moose. The Jets have stocked up on a series of key prospects that, for a club like say, the Montreal Canadiens, would already be pushing the vets out of the way for full time NHL jobs. The problem in Winnipeg has long been the acquisition of "proven" NHL veterans to fill out the roster around the Scheifeles, Connors, and Morrisseys of the world.

What this has resulted in, though, has been the acquisition of players like Tanner Pearson, Gustav Nyquist, and (a bit of a throwback at this point) Matt Hendricks. More on guys like this in a bit.

Yet this year, with injuries to key players, and a team that was searching for answers heading into the Olympic break after finishing 2025 dead last in the league, players like Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, and my personal favourite Elias Salomonsson all were given a serious look by Scott Arniel as the Jets head coach assessed the future of the organization.

Heck, even Brayden Yager got a shot at playing with the big club after they were eliminated from playoff contention.

My first point should be obvious: play the kids. Expectations are cratered heading into 2026/27, despite a late charge that left the Jets sniffing the playoffs. It was in fact that late charge that proves to me that an influx of youth into the lineup will be exactly what the Jets need to take flight again.

On the back end, Salomonsson has proven he's a regular NHLer, so his spot alongside Dylan Samberg on the second defensive pairing should already be penciled in, and if Neal Pionk will be a Jet by the time the 26/27 season begins, the spot beside him should be left open for competition. Let players like Isaak Phillips, Jacob Bryson, and Tyrel Bauer fight for that spot as your seventh man.

From my perspective, the 2026/27 Winnipeg Jets day one d-core should look something like this:

The top pair is obvious, so I won't take up your precious reading time by litigating why I think the Morrissey-Demelo pair is so great. They drive offence, aren't a defensive liability, could use a bit more snarl to their games, yada-yada. It's that second pair I want to talk about.

According to MoneyPuck, the Samberg-Salomonsson pairing was dynamite. Among defence pairings for the Jets who spent more than 100 minutes together, the Samberg-Salomonsson pairing was first on the team in xGoals Against Per 60 (2.05) and xGoals% (54.9%). For reference xGoals (or expected goals) measures the amount of goals that should've gone in based on the quality of chances you give up. In more traditional stats, they were scored on as a pairing just 12 times, and if you do the math (like I did), they were expected to give up 11 goals. So bang on the money there.

And though they only scored 10 times together, that's not their role.

That second pair is a minute munching, offence smothering, machine. Among Jets who played at least 30 games in 2025/26, Salomonsson was 2nd in Corsi-For%, while Samberg was 3rd (for reference, Cole Perfetti was first at 52.5%). Among that group Salomonsson was also first in Corsi-Relative at 4.1% (a stat that measures how much better the team performs at puck possession with you on the ice) while Samberg was down in 7th.

They put an immense amount of pressure on opposing forwards, and a little more physicality could make this one of the best shutdown pairs in the league for years to come. Consider that Samberg will be 28 next season, and Salomonsson 22.

Now for the third pair, and I think it again is fairly self-explanatory. Neal Pionk has great offensive upside, but now that he's in his 30s, we can firmly say he won't be developing much of a defensive side to his game. Due to injuries he had his worst statistical season in the NHL, and some sheltered minutes alongside a young defender is just what he needs. You also really can't argue putting him higher in the lineup when you look at where he sits in the depth chart.

So why did I slot Phillips in there? After the season he's had with the Moose, I think he's the top choice to make the jump to the NHL next year if given a shot. He led all Moose d-men in scoring, is a slightly bigger body at 6'3 and 205lbs, and as an 8th-year pro next season, you need to at least see what you have with him knowing the prospects coming down the pipeline.

Now, for the forward group [and as a point of order, I'm assuming all players re-sign, but not what their cap hits/term lengths will be, so those are all placeholders for now]:

Once again, the guys at the top need no introduction. That's the core of your forward group well into the 2030s, let's leave it at that. It's immediately at the second line where things get interesting.

The departure of Nikolaj Ehlers blew a hole in the Jets forward group that nobody could fill. I have long argued he was the best forward the Jets had. The only one that could carry the puck well in transition, was sneaky enough to slip through coverage during offensive cycles, was fast enough to pressure at both ends of the ice. He's great, and I miss him every day. So I made a second line that plays the Jets hockey that made them so successful in their President's Trophy winning season, with a solid Ehlers replacement.

High tempo, high pressure, no quit. It's a second line that will give other teams fits, and reminds me Laine-Stastny-Ehlers line from the 2018 playoff run. Barron is the Stastny, with the physicality, grit, and no-quit attitude you need from a second line centre, combined with deceptive footspeed. Brad Lambert seemed to settle in once he felt more secure in the Jets lineup, and would fill the Laine role in this scenario with his shooting and passing ability, being the ever present scoring threat opposing teams need to keep tabs on. And Rosen fills the Ehlers slot, because not only does he wear Ehlers's old number, he plays like the guy too.

I've got a full write-up on Rosen in the works, but let me just cut to the chase and say, this second line would be a nightmare to play against, especially coming over the boards after being worn down by the Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi line, or the third line...

Remember a few years ago when quietly the Jets had the best third line in the NHL? I remember. If only we could get back to that...oh wait. That's exactly what this is. Sliding Lowry back to his natural 3C slot, alongside Perfetti and Iafallo in a crash-bang, gritty, third line. Combine that with orders from the coach to be more offensively minded and crash the net? I think there's success to be found there.

Now for the fourth line. This group I think should be your experiment. There are enough pieces with the Moose, and coming out of the NCAA, that I think Arniel has room to try some things, and I think that should be looking out for your future. You need to see what you've got in Chibrikov, so let him get settled into a regular routine at the NHL level, and see how he plays with Moose teammate, and potential piece to your future core Yager, with Koepke there on the right side as a deceptively veteran piece to this fourth unit.

He showed down the stretch that he deserves more of a look next season, earning that extension, and I was pleasantly surprised by his play.

That leaves Niederreiter, Namestnikov, Zhilkin, and Anderson-Dolan on the outside looking in. I think the former two could be trade chips, while the latter two could plug into the lineup when you need as the 13th forward, or if one of the guys above them doesn't pan out. Anderson-Dolan should be first up if that happens.

Now, I'm not going to bother talking about goaltending. That's settled. Hellebuyck is your starter, and I don't think either side will entertain a trade despite what his statements at locker cleanout will imply. He's a Jet for life. So is his backup Eric Comrie. Thomas Milic had an all-star season with the Moose, and is the heir-apparent to Hellebuyck. He should thus be playing starter minutes in the AHL until that day arrives, or Helle gets hurt.

Here, then, is what I think is the best 2026/27 Winnipeg Jets roster, with no acquisitions required outside re-signing a few pieces:

Now to close out with the obvious missing name.

This is going to break many Jets fans' hearts, but I don't think Jonathan Toews should be back. It was a dream come true to see him suit up for the Jets and I think he's got a role with this organization when he's done playing, I just think that should be now. Throw a bunch of money at him to be a scout, or work in player development. The guy won over 60% of his faceoffs. Can you imagine having him in the Jets organization, mentoring and training centres for the next 20-30 years? Yes please.

Also you need to let Nyquist and Pearson walk. Those were not good signings when they were made and served nothing but to block younger, better players from grabbing NHL spots.

You've already got the players in the system to make this work. A faster, more fluid, more smothering brand of Jets hockey that can return them to the playoffs and beyond.