Frauds? The Winnipeg Jets Aren't That Bad — But They Aren't As Good As They Should Be

Nathan MacKinnon shoots on Connor Hellebuyck James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports

WINNIPEG — For the second straight year, Rick Bowness peeled back the curtain and revealed where the Winnipeg Jets truly stand when addressing reporters following their first-round playoff exit.

This time around, the coach’s comments were nothing like last year’s infamous minute-long “pushback” rant – where Bowness said he was “disgusted” with his team’s lack of response.

However, what Bowness said less than an hour after the Jets lost 6-3 to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 on Tuesday evening was telling in its own right.

“In the (last) two years, that’s by far the best playoff game we’ve played,” Bowness said.

The best? Well, it’s not like the Jets have necessarily set a high bar for themselves.

While the 69-year-old bench boss made it clear there are no such thing as a moral victory in the NHL, the way in which he spoke about Jets sounded more like he was referring to an up-and-coming rebuild — not a roster that was supposedly vying for a Stanley Cup.

“We grew a lot,” said Bowness. “You compare this team to last year, honestly, there’s very little comparison. This years team is much better. Much tighter. And we made a lot of huge strides.”

Make no mistake, Bowness and his staff should be proud of finishing the 2023-24 regular season with the second-best record in the Western Conference. But in a results-oriented business like professional sports, it’s hard to find solace in those silver linings when you’re a team like the Jets, which have made it clear they want to contend for a Stanley Cup now — not two years from now.

Given the way the first round unfolded, those “fraud watch” comments are ringing loudly. And that’s a massive problem for an organization like the Jets, given the struggles they’re facing and may encounter in the not-so-distant future.

Let’s revisit what former NHL player and Spittin Chiclets Podcast co-host Ryan Whitney said nearly two months ago.

“I had a player in the NHL, on a team currently sitting in a playoff spot, tell me that the Winnipeg Jets are the biggest frauds in the league and that they’ll lose in the first round,” Whitney said. “He goes, ‘They’re not nearly as good as anyone says.’ ”

Unfortunately for the Jets, who used Whitney’s comments as bulletin board material, we saw signs of them not being as good as their position in the standing suggests against the Avalanche. And that player’s prediction was right.

After being the NHL’s best defensive team in the regular season – thanks in large part to Vezina finalist and William M. Jennings Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck — Winnipeg became the first team in NHL history to allow five-plus goals in each of their first five playoff games.

After priding themselves on being a stingy defensive team during 5-on-5 play, the Jets were outshot 152-116 and out-chanced 140-107 by Colorado in those situations, according to naturalstattrick.com.

After an 82-game season where they seldom got away from their identity as a well-structured team in all three zones – the Jets’ effectiveness in their first four games of the series was a shell of the team they had tried to tell us they were.

“We need to figure out a way to all get better this off-season because we just saw what it looks like to play against a team that knows how to win,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said.

Give the Avs credit. They were a force to be reckoned with. Colorado looked nothing like the team that was bounced from the first round by Seattle a year ago. Instead, they looked more like the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2022.

Colorado was leaps and bounds better than Winnipeg. And the Avalanche are not going anywhere. Neither are the Dallas Stars. For the Jets, who play in arguably the toughest division in the NHL, it means that the next few years are going to be a challenge.

The Jets have made it clear that they intend to vie for a Stanley Cup. It was part of their pitch to re-signing cornerstones Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele. And it’s something they’ve tried to sell to a once rock-solid season ticket base that has evaporated in recent years.

But let’s be honest: the Jets must be better to reasonably contend for a Stanley Cup.

Up front, they’ve got depth and talent, albeit no true superstars. Josh Morrissey is an elite No. 1 defenseman. But after him, the back end is bleak. For instance, Avalanche defenseman Sean Walker – a player the Jets were in on ahead of the deadline – would be Winnipeg’s second best. He’s currently playing on Colorado’s third pairing.

Connor Hellebuyck remains one of the best — if not, the best — goaltenders on the planet, but he hasn’t stolen a playoff game for the Jets in quite some time. And even if he had, his efforts alone aren’t enough to prop a team like the Jets into Stanley Cup contention.

Given that Winnipeg was having trouble filling their arena in the fall, when they sat atop the league’s standings, what would things look like for the NHL’s smallest market if they were a bottom-feeder team? The Jets are crossing their fingers they don’t need to weather that inevitable dilemma anytime soon. That said, they need additional playoff revenue.

But is this group of players capable of going on a legitimate Cup run? Or does something need to change for Winnipeg to become more fearsome?

“Well, those are questions we have to answer over the course of the summer,” Bowness said.

It’s as strong as an indicator that this off-season could be one of the biggest for Winnipeg.