How do the Winnipeg Jets get over the hump?
After capturing the President’s Trophy and defeating the St. Louis Blues in a thrilling, seven-game first round series, the Jets bowed down to the Dallas Stars in six games.
While it was a disappointing end to an exciting season, the Stars are an excellent team, and Winnipeg gave them just about all they could handle. Perhaps the most important element of the Jets’ playoff series victory was goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
The three-time Vezina winner and Hart Trophy winner from this year had long been labeled a big-game choker. He shed that label and exorcised those demons against the Blues. Now, Winnipeg should enter the offseason with plenty of confidence in its franchise netminder and look for forward replenishments.
Chris Johnston of The Athletic said it, ”Would not surprise me in the least if the Jets are pretty aggressively going after Brock Boeser; he’s Plan A for Winnipeg at this point in time.”
Boeser, 28, is an unrestricted free agent and one of the top goal scorers on the open market. He had a relative down season with 25 goals and 50 points over 75 games, but he also notched 40 goals and 73 points the campaign prior.
The Jets also have to decide on fellow UFA Nikolaj Ehlers, and Johnston’s report suggests they could prefer Boeser to a 10-year Winnipeg veteran.
However, the Jets also have over $23.5 million in cap space, and while that is more than enough to both retain Ehlers and poach Boeser, it would leave them strapped for depth.
Winnipeg already has Kyle Connor to do the heavy lifting as a shooter and scorer, but adding Boeser would lighten his workload and solidify the Jets among the top Western Conference contenders.
