What has fueled Jets’ hot start?

It looked like the 2026-27 season was going to be a disaster for the Winnipeg Jets. Fresh off a disappointing 2025-26 campaign, their Hart Trophy-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck requested a trade, and to this point he has yet to even report to the team. It had all the makings of another poor season in Winnipeg.

But so far it’s been anything but. The Jets are second in the Central Division with a 4-1-1 record, and they’ve been getting excellent goaltending from Stuart Skinner in Hellebuyck’s place. But what’s truly driving the Jets’ early season success?

Andrew Paterson joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about the Jets’ start to the season and why they’ve played so well.

Andrew Paterson: Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Cole Perfetti. The Jets’ top line, very simply. Kyle Connor, at least through the first five games, I think he led all forwards in goals. There was always Bouchard who had that ridiculous start, but Connor was right there.

This team had a bit of a knock on it that it didn’t have a lot of secondary scoring. And I would love to tell you that that’s changed early on in this season. It hasn’t very much. But you look at a game like that huge divisional game against Minnesota on Tuesday night, Perfetti had two [goals], Connor had one, Scheifele had one, and they walk away with a 5-2 victory.

But bigger picture, and I know where we’re gonna go with all of this, this is a team that is playing with a chip on its shoulder right now, especially the top players, the leaders on this team. I think they feel like they have been written off. We always talk about the “nobody believes in us” team. That is the Winnipeg Jets this year, in my opinion. And I think they’re leaning into it. Hellebuyck decided that they weren’t good enough, so he’s at home doing nothing right now. And they look around that room and think that this team was a lot more than Connor Hellebuyck the last number of years, and they’re going to show everyone this season. And they’ve done it so far.

It’s been a lot of fun. The atmosphere with Stuart Skinner coming in along with Clay Stevenson, the support that those two guys in particular have been getting from Jets fans, it is very different than previous years. But I would say the vibes around the team, especially with some early wins in the season, have been as good as they’ve been in a long time.

So these are interesting times in Winnipeg. But some things stay the same, and that is the Winnipeg Jets have one of the best lines in hockey and they are driving the bus right now for a team that’s 4-1-1.

You can watch the full episode here…