Los Winnipeg Jets they were left with the last position of Wild Card in the Western Conference. The team of Rick Bowness He knew how to win the key matches at the end of March and the beginning of April. The Calgary Flames changed to Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers and instead came Jonathan Huberdeau. Florida if passed to playoff in the Eastern Conference but the Flames were left out. The Jets are a team that arrives hot and puts together a solid goalie like Hellbuyck and a group of veterans like Scheifele or Wheeler complemented by fast players like Connor and Ehlers.
The other Wild Card from the West went to the Seattle Kraken that for the first time in his history (one year after debuting in the league) goes to the postseason. The work of Dave Hakstol it has been huge. The Winnipeg Jets right with the arrival of Rick Bowness to replace the long era of Paul Maurice. Bowness with the Stars (whom he led to a Cup Final), distinguished himself by giving defensive order and that has been established in Winnipeg this season.
Los Jets with 95 points they secured second place in Wild Card. Those kinds of points would have been needed to secure one of the 3 direct tickets into the Central Division. Wild, Avalanche and Dallas got more than 100 points each. Josh Morrisey has had a campaign to be nominated for the James Norris Memorial Trophy. Morrisey leads the team in assists. Kyle Connor is the points leader in the team and Mark Scheifele in goals. Those items are very well distributed with Winnipeg and that shows the depth of the team.
Connor, Scheifele and Morrisey were the engines of the Jets to achieve the pass to the playoffs
Kyle Connor is one of the best wingers NHL scorers. Connor is fast and his 31 goals and 49 assists are very complete numbers. Connor has helped a lot to get players like Luc-Dubois (63 points) back to the expected level. Mark Scheifele he went from a player who wanted out of Winnipeg to the Jets’ goal leader with 42. That Winnipeg front line is sorely underrated in the Western Conference.
In the second lineDanish sprinter Ehlers and Wheeler give a lot of assists. Vladislav Namestnikov It was a long shot at the trade deadline, but it could pay off with his playoff experience. Mason Appleton He has had injuries but in the lane era he could help Nino Neiderreiter (acquired from the Preds at the trade deadline) finish a lot of plays in playoff. The key to Winnipeg is that they have an all-round defenseman in Josh Morrisey. Morrisey has 76 points and would win the Norris in any other year (Erik Karlsson of the Sharks already added 100 points in the campaign). Morrisey has 60 assists on the season.
Morrisey has also been very productive in the power play with 28 points. Morrisey also leads the team in ice time. Adam Fox o Cale Makar They get more press, but Morrisey needs to be in the current conversation of the top 5 offensive defensemen in the entire league. The Jets have in Connor Hellebuyck still goalie Insurance (GAA 2.59). Winnipeg is a defensive team with the 4th best percentage in the penalty kill. They also have the 10th best record in the NHL in conceded goals. Bowness’s formula is the usual one for teams that usually surprise in the playoffs despite not being favorites. He grinding hockey in playoff and playing good defense has been a recipe for success for many in recent history in playoff.
Darryl Sutter’s Calgary Flames fell short of last year’s expectations
Calgary reached the second round of playoff last year and fell in a great series against their archrivals Edmonton Oilers. This year the team changed by not having its leader and franchise face, Matthew Tkachuk. Jonathan Huberdeau It came in the trade with Florida. Sutter put Huberdeau on the second row alongside Mangiapane and Mikael Backlund. Nazem Kadri It also arrived as a brand new reinforcement of the champions Colorado Avalanche. The problem is that Calgary relied heavily on frontline and overall production of Tyler Toffoli y Elias Lindholm.
Outside of Toffoli and Lindholm, Kadri and Huberdeau They barely went over 50 points in somewhat disappointing campaigns for what they usually offer. veterans like Blake Coleman y Milan Lucic they were lowered to the fourth line. The Flames didn’t want to go for a total rebuild and the team has gotten too old. Either way, Calgary was projected to make the postseason. The Flames placed fifth in the tough Pacific with 95 points.