Jets are sneaking into a wide open Western playoff race
It’s been a nightmarish season for the Winnipeg Jets, who own a 26-27-10 record and occupy sixth place in the Central Division.
But there’s hope for it to be salvaged, yet, as a 5-2-3 run has gotten the Jets back into the mix in a Western Conference wild card race that nobody seems to want to win.
Winnipeg is now just five points back of the Seattle Kraken with a head-to-head matchup still on the schedule. For a team that was last in the West on January 1 and sold at the deadline, being a hot streak away from the chance to return to the playoffs is a solid outcome.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL video coach Steve Peters discussed whether or not the Jets can avoid the fate of last year’s New York Rangers, who went from Presidents’ Trophy winner to out of the playoffs altogether, after all.
Tyler Yaremchuk: In the West, it’s like, alright guys, who wants that eighth spot? Because Seattle’s lost three in a row. They lost last night to the Nashville Predators. Utah lost last night. The Ducks beat the Jets last night. The Kings lost to the Bruins… The Sharks lost to the Sabres. Nobody wants this final playoff spot, and as the Seattle Kraken slip, the only reason why they haven’t fully fallen out of that eight seed is because LA only has three wins in their last ten. San Jose only has three in their last ten. And Nashville only has four in their last ten. Like, the Seattle Kraken, their spot isn’t exactly safe here either, Petey.
Steve Peters: Yeah, it’s funny because we talk about the East and it is all about winning and the West, it’s all about losing. But the reason it’s like this in the West is we had teams penciled in in October, not just in the playoffs, but high in the Western Conference, and that’s the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets we saw as a team that could compete in the Central Division. They’re in the playoffs for sure, aren’t they? They’re Winnipeg. They’ve got Connor Hellebuyck in the net. This is a team that we expected to be better.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I think everyone wrote off the Winnipeg Jets maybe a little bit too early, and it sucks that they lost last night because if they would have found a way to get those two points, they would have woken up this morning three points out of a playoff position. They still have a head-to-head game against the Seattle Kraken. You look right now, and it’s a five point gap… They win that head-to-head game, whenever it is against the Kraken, you’re telling me that over 19 games, the Winnipeg Jets can’t play at a three-point pace better than the Kraken?
Steve Peters: And I tell you what, Ty, how would you like to be sitting at the top spot play the entire year as the Colorado Avalanche? You’re buzzing as a buzzsaw the entire season, and the reward for that is you could have to play the hottest team in the league if they get in.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…