New Year's Resolutions: Consistency, Special Teams & Good Health
In 2023 the Jets saw a lot of ups and downs, but moving forward into 2024, there are some resolutions that they should work towards.
The Winnipeg Jets have had a fantastic start to the 2023-24 season, but that doesn’t mean there is room for improvement. One of the resolutions that would have been set for the Jets last year would have been to pick a direction. There is a debate on whether they actually did or not, but either way, it is working out.
For 2024, the Jets need more consistency from the special teams, a healthy group of players, and, as THW’s Conrad Jack put it, don’t fall off a cliff in the second half of this season like they did last season.
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Leave your thoughts and questions in the comment box of this post and start a discussion on the biggest changes you think the Jets need in 2024!
A Clean Bill of Health
Having no injuries is an impossible ask. Every team is going to deal with some. But for two of the Jets’ top three forwards to miss significant time sucks. Gabriel Vilardi missed 18 of 34 games so far this season, and Kyle Connor has missed eight games but still is set to miss a few more weeks.
Connor and Vilardi are first and third in points-per-game on the Jets. Having only seen them in action for nine games together is a tragedy for the Jets. Luckily, they haven’t had to deal with both players being out at the same time.
Other Jets have dealt with injuries that have either been a short turnaround in terms of missed time, or they continued playing with the injury bugging them.
Part of the slow start for Nikolaj Ehlers was a nagging injury, but he has certainly re-found his game since the beginning.
Special Teams Improvements
The Jets sit in 24th among all teams in power play percentage with a success rate of under 17 percent. Given the talent on the top unit, with a strong second unit, that is unacceptable.
Depending on who is healthy, the units look a bit different, but with a full lineup the Jets have:
Unit 1: Connor, Scheifele, Ehlers, Vilardi, Morrissey
Unit 2: Perfetti, Iafallo, Niederreiter, Pionk, Schmidt
There is not much to complain about with those units. Sure, maybe another upgrade on the second unit could suffice, but that is just getting greedy.
All of these players are producing well this season to their standards. To have a power play with such poor execution is disappointing. Brad Lauer is in his second season with the Jets, and he has not done a good enough job with the power play. Last season, the Jets finished with the 23rd-best percentage at under 20 percent, and this year is worse. Something has to change.
Don’t Fall Off A Cliff.
Is consistency too much to ask for?
Last year the Jets had a fantastic start to the season, but by the end of the season, they were just barely crawling their way into the playoffs. Now, they haven’t shown signs of a collapse like that yet this season, but who knows what the turn of the calendar could bring?
The Jets desperately need to have some on-ice success that lasts. They have only sold out one home game this season and now is the time for them to show just how good of a team they really are. Most people had counted them out before the start of the season, but they are neck-and-neck with the two juggernauts of the Central division, the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. If they can keep up their play and stick with the two big kids, they are more than capable of making some noise in the playoffs, especially with a favorable matchup.
They don’t need to change much, other than maybe the aforementioned power play, but they do need to keep it up. Motivation seemed to be the killer last year. This year, they know exactly how things go if they lose focus.
This is a better, younger group, and having them get the chance to really show who they are will have a great impact on their development as a team.
Let us know what you hope to see from the Jets in 2024! Be sure to subscribe, share with your friends, and leave a comment on your thoughts!
J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!!!