Jets Land on the West's Final Playoff Spot

I had a lot of faith in the Winnipeg Jets this season, so much so that I picked them to be part of the Central Division's Top 3. They were in that position for a while, but the Jets started to descend into an apparent free fall after the All-Star Break. It really looked like the Jets would actually end up out of the playoffs for the second straight season, which would have been absolutely disappointing given their amazing start. But they managed to get back upright and start flying at the right time, while the main teams below them--the Calgary Flames and the Nashville Predators--fell off.

The Jets entered the evening of Tuesday, April 11 needing only one point to get in the playoffs, but they decided to go for the throat and get the two; winning 3-1 over the Minnesota Wild to snatch the Western Conference's last remaining playoff spot. Overall, this iteration of the Winnipeg Jets has existed since 1999, which saw them debut as the Atlanta Thrashers. In 11 seasons (in 12 years) as the Atlanta Thrashers, they only reached the playoffs once, and failed to win a game. This season is the team's 12th as the second coming of the Winnipeg Jets, yet this is their sixth playoff appearance since the franchise moved to the northern end of the Canada/U.S. border, and their fifth in the last six years.

The Jets were swept out of the playoffs in 2015, but 2018 saw them win a playoff game for the first time in franchise history, and then win seven more to reach the Western Conference Final for the first time ever, where they were defeated in five games by the debuting Vegas Golden Knights. That year remains their most successful run, as they have won only one playoff series since reaching the Final Four in 2018.

I've been fascinated by the Jets ever since the team moved to Winnipeg in 2011, and even before then, I was fascinated with the Atlanta Thrashers as well. I do like their crop of players, including Mark Schiefele, who I was happy to have on fantasy hockey this season. Schiefele has done the job this season, racking up 68 points, with 42 of them being goals! He leads the team in goals this season, but his point total is third on the team behind Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey. Connor leads with 80 points (31 G/49 A), while defenseman Morrissey has 76 points (16 G/60 A) and has to be a Norris candidate this season.

I had quite a few Jets players in various leagues. I had Schiefele in one, Morrissey in another, and I picked up Blake Wheeler in a third league. I hated that I couldn't get Kyle Connor, but I made sure to get one of my favorite current goalies in Connor Hellebuyck. I have been a Hellebuyck fan for about four years now, and was very elated when he actually won the Vezina in 2020. It's been three years, and Hellebuyck is still in that Vezina form. 37-25-2, 2.49 GAA, .920 SV%, and four shutouts. His 37 wins are tied with the Rangers' Igor Shesterkin for 3rd this season; only Boston's Linus Ullmark (39) and Colorado's Alexandar Georgiev (38) have more this season.

The Jets' clinch brings the grand total of Canadian playoff teams in 2023 to three, as they join the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers this season. Regarding positioning, the Jets are locked in as the 2nd Wild Card in the Western Conference, meaning that they will face the #1 overall team in the conference, which will be held by either the Vegas Golden Knights or the Edmonton Oilers. Either way, it'll be a playoff rematch; the Jets faced the Knights in the 2018 West Final, and they faced the Oilers in the opening round in 2021. Could the Jets pull off an upset? It's possible. They have the goalie to do it; it often takes very good goaltending to pull off a major playoff upset.

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