It’s starting to get late early in Winnipeg.
Connor Hellebuyck’s return has not provided the desired results for the Jets, who were floundering without their superstar goaltender and had lost nine of 11 games before his return. Hellebuyck has been solid since returning to the crease, but Winnipeg only has one win in four tries since getting him back. The club is now five points out of a wild-card spot with a bunch of teams in front of it and a galaxy away (17 points) from the Minnesota Wild for third in the Central.
Getting one of the top three spots in their division seems like a longshot at best at this point, but if last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners don’t want to miss out on the post-season, they need to get pointed in the right direction very quickly.
Jets need to make a trade to save their season
If there’s an area where the Jets really need a boost, it’s secondary scoring. The top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi all have more than 15 goals and 30 points, with Scheifele and Connor having 40-plus points. After that, though, things really fall off a cliff. Nobody else on the team has more than six goals and Cole Perfetti, Adam Lowry and Jonathan Toews have combined for just six total between the three of them. Not to mention that off-season acquisition Gus Nyquist, who had 34 goals over the past two seasons and 75 points in 2023-24, hasn’t scored in 25 games this year.
It’s clear the Jets really miss Nik Ehlers and haven’t been able to replace the offence he provided. They now sit 20th in goals per game after finishing as a top-five team a year ago. Things are getting to a critical point where if Winnipeg doesn’t do something soon, it’s hard to imagine them making up enough ground to get into the playoffs.
Overreaction? No
We’ve already seen the Wild bring in Quinn Hughes and you know the Dallas Stars are going to use the additional cap space they are getting because of Tyler Seguin’s injury to add as well. Winnipeg is in arguably the toughest division in all of hockey and the West is not like the East where no one is pulling away from the pack. If you aren’t keeping pace, you’re digging yourself a hole that may be too deep to get out of.
There are also a handful of new teams making a push for the playoffs that haven’t been relevant in a few years. The San Jose Sharks, who we’ll talk about later, are much further ahead than anyone thought they’d be this season thanks to Macklin Celebrini. Chicago was also on a surge before Bedard got hurt and the Blackhawks are still right next to the Jets in the standings. Plus, there’s Utah, who are no longer in a rebuild and committed to making the post-season. All this is to say there will be more competition for the two wild-card spots this time around.
If I’m the Jets and want to save this season, I’m perusing the trade market right now to see what impactful pieces are available before it’s too late.
Artemi Panarin could be traded before the deadline
The New York Rangers are in a tricky situation with Artemi Panarin, who is a UFA at season’s end and will likely want a raise from the $11.6 million he’s making now. The cap is going up and Panarin is still a really good player, but the Rangers will have to decide how much money they are willing to commit to someone who will turn 35 early next season. In an ideal world, New York is probably hoping Panarin would consider a discount and a shorter-term deal, though he’ll likely want to try and cash in one final time with a big contract. At this point, Panarin could also be the class of free agency and have leverage if he hits the open market. If the two sides are still far apart on terms by the time the trade deadline arrives, the Rangers may have no choice but to consider moving him.
Overreaction? No
While still a productive player, Panarin has regressed over the past few seasons. He scored a career-best 120 points in 2023-24 after a bunch of 90-plus point campaigns, then dropped to 89 last year and is now pacing for right around a point-per-game. Given Panarin’s age, it does seem risky to give him something in the $12 million-$13 million range on an extension, even with a rising cap. Other key forwards like Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck are also well north of 30, so a lucrative Panarin extension would give them a bunch of aging forwards that are owed a lot of money. The Rangers missed the playoffs last year and are again on the outside looking in this season, which might make it wise to consider re-tooling some parts of the roster to get younger. A Panarin trade could really help facilitate that if he is insistent on a significant raise.
San Jose will make the playoffs
Don’t look now, but it’s almost New Year’s Eve and the Sharks are sitting in a playoff position. This is the same team that lost its first six games of the season and its final 11 games of last season. That’s how fast a generational talent like Macklin Celebrini, who’s sitting top five in league scoring, can change the fortunes of a franchise. That, plus the emergence of players like Will Smith and Yarolsav Askarov in goal, has San Jose fast forwarding its rebuild and dreaming of the post-season as early as this spring.
Overreaction? Yes
As exciting as the Sharks are to watch, I’m not sure they can maintain this point pace over 82 games. They still aren’t as stout as they need to be on the defensive end, allowing the most shots per game in the league and the seventh most high-danger chances. You can’t expect Askarov to continue standing on his head for the next four months. San Jose also doesn’t have a ton of depth up and down its lineup and it is currently leaning on a lot of young, inexperienced players. It’s hard to imagine a team with Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg on its first pair being able to continue at a point pace that’s good enough to get into the playoffs.
There are also teams like the aforementioned Jets and the Utah Mammoth on the outside looking in who figure to make a push at some point. Utah looks like a very balanced squad and is the only team not in a top-three division spot in the West with a positive goal differential. The Mammoth are going to get Logan Cooley back eventually and make a real push for the post-season.
It’s not impossible for the Sharks to sneak in, but looking at some of their underlying numbers, I have a hard time seeing them finishing as one of the top eight teams in the West.
Team USA should take Alex DeBrincat to the Olympics
There isn’t much wiggle room for forward spots on the U.S. roster for the Olympics, but Alex DeBrincat is doing his best to make it as difficult as possible for Bill Guerin and company. DeBrincat has six goals in his past six games and is now on pace for almost 90 points this season, which would easily smash his career high. He’s also been a key part of a Detroit Red Wings team that is currently sitting first on the Atlantic and looking poised to end a lengthy playoff drought. DeBrincat is a great finisher and could help the Americans on the power play and at even strength find the back of the net, so he definitely should be worthy of consideration for the Olympic squad.
Overreaction? No
DeBrincat is having a phenomenal campaign and has done an excellent job of working his way into the conversation when not many had him in the mix when the season started. When I wrote that I thought Jason Robertson should be included on the U.S. squad team a few weeks back, these were the 14 American forwards I had:
Auston Matthews
Jack Hughes
Jack Eichel
Matt Boldy
Matthew Tkachuk
Brady Tkachuk
Dylan Larkin
Clayton Keller
Tage Thompson
Jake Guentzel
Kyle Connor
J.T. Miller
Cole Caufield
Jason Robertson
I didn’t initially have DeBrincat in there but now I think I’d slot him ahead of Clayton Keller. He’s simply been a little better and more dynamic than the Utah forward this season. Brock Nelson, Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider come off the 4 Nations squad for me and with the extra forward they can bring to the Olympics, Robertson, Caufield, Thompson and DeBrincat should jump in. DeBrincat also gives them another right shot forward in a left-heavy lineup.
Wild will finish with the most shutouts in modern era
Most of the attention around the Minnesota Wild this season has been related to the massive Kirill Kaprizov extension and Quinn Hughes blockbuster trade, which has overshadowed how solid their goaltending has been. Minnesota ranks first in the NHL in save percentage and leads the league in shutouts with seven, which puts them on pace for 16 on the year. That would be the most since 1928-29 and tied for the second most of all time.
The Wild have two goaltenders contributing to the cause, with Filip Gustavsson tallying three and Jesper Wallstedt notching four. That gives them a pair of quality of options that can potentially steal a game on any given night. Plus, the Hughes trade should give the goaltenders a big boost, too. The former Canuck is tremendous at breaking the puck out of the zone and should help keep the play at the other end of the ice more regularly.
Getting a shutout isn’t easy, but it does seem like the Wild in a great spot to finish with a significant total.
Overreaction? Yes
Getting to 16 shutouts is going to be much easier said than done. Only one of the best single season shutout totals by a team has come after 1977, with the St. Louis Blues getting 15 in 2011-12. The game is faster than ever now and some rosters are more watered down because of the salary cap, making it hard to keep the puck out of your net. It’s also likely that Wallstedt regresses a bit at some point. He’s been phenomenal but is also inexperienced, with only 18 career games to his name. Wallstedt’s .936 save percentage will start to come down sooner rather than later.
Let’s also keep in mind the Wild are in the best division in hockey, with the Stars and Colorado Avalanche. There are still a handful of games against those teams to come, along with Pacific powers like Edmonton and Vegas, who can all fill the scoresheet. I think the Wild will easily clear double-digit shutouts but will ultimately fall short of setting a modern era record.
