Random Thoughts on the Winnipeg Jets for Dec. 22, 2025

Mitch Kasprick is now the “Westdale Curmudgeon.“ Odds and Ends, Thoughts, and Questions from this past week in Hockey

I am a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, the Manitoba Moose, and all Team Canada Hockey teams.  I am NOT a fan of Gary Bettman, or as I call him, Count Chocula.  I am a big believer in the 7Ps, or is it the 8Ps?  You’ve been warned.

For a more in-depth look at these Random Thoughts, check out the new WHT YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@WpgHockTalk

Host Harley Friesen and Winnipeg Hockey Talk writer Mitch Kasprick discuss his Random Thoughts on the Winnipeg Jets, Manitoba Moose, and the National Hockey League. 

1. Jets:  The Winnipeg Jets went 0-2-2 this past week and sit 6 points out of a playoff position.  The good news is they have games in hand on all the teams ahead of them; the bad news is games in hand don’t mean much if you can’t win a hockey game.  

2. Jets:  Although I doubt this could really happen, the Jets are officially in the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes.  

3. Jets:  I haven’t done any in-depth calculations, but I believe the final wildcard position might be had with as few as 88-90 points this season, based on no easy pickings at the bottom of the league.  This year, the bottom-feeders in the standings are not an automatic 2 points.  The Western Conference has much more parity than in years past.

4. Jets:  From the “Put that in your pipe and smoke it” file.  

Sports fans like to analyze what is going wrong, what has gone wrong, and who’s to blame when things go south with their favourite sports teams, and Winnipeg Jets fans are no different.  I have seen a lot of venom being spewed in all sorts of directions, and most are valid for the most part, but I must defend my man, Jonathon Toews.  JT was a risk and a gamble that most fans were excited about, but up until now, it hasn’t worked out exactly as we would have liked.  Fair point, but I don’t think Toews is our biggest problem.

My “blame game” list starts with Kevin Cheveldayoff, who is the architect of this mess.  We have two underachieving forwards that are killing this team, named Gus Nyquist and Cole Perfetti.  We have Dylan DeMelo, who is becoming a liability to his partner, Josh Morrissey, more often than not.  We have Luke Schenn, who does bring some intangibles to the team, but not enough to outweigh his poor analytics.  The inconsistent play of our highest-paid defenceman, Neal Pionk, is concerning and the inconsistency from our best defensive defenceman, the usually reliable Dylan Samberg.  How much of this is on head coach Scott Arniel?  I believe he has to share some of the blame, as he has done some strange things as far as roster decisions, but the man only has the option to play what he has available to him, which brings us back to the top of the food chain.  Mark Chipman and Kevin Cheveldayoff are the ones who are steering this ship, but unfortunately, it is heading straight for an iceberg.  There is still lots of season left and enough time to right the ship, but the boys in charge better get right to it as soon as the Christmas trade freeze is over.  The bottom line is there is plenty of blame to go around, but Jonathon Toews is far, far, far from the biggest problem, so …  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.  

5. Jets:  I don’t consider the Jets a small team, but I’ve never seen a team that loses so many puck battles.   At times, they look incredibly feeble.

6. Jets:  Question for Scott Arniel:  Hey, coach, what were you thinking with your forward choices in overtime vs Ottawa?

1st shift: 81-55-44  2nd shift:  17-14-4  3rd shift: 7-91-54.

Then, to make matters worse, on Sunday night versus Utah, he starts 17  in the OT, where he loses the faceoff, then goes for a big hit and misses, creating a 2 on 1 against and bing, zing, the game is over in a whopping 13 seconds.

Adam Lowry is 51.3% at the dot, and Jonathon Toews is 62.2%.

I don’t want to hear from Scott Arniel that 17 was on the ice in OT for the crucial faceoff when the Jets’ best faceoff man is 19. That makes 2 OT games in a row, the coach with very questionable personnel decisions.  A great way to ruin a gutsy comeback.

— Winnipeg Hockey Talk (@WpgHockTalk) December 22, 2025

7. NHL:  FYI:  Reminder: The NHL holiday roster freeze is currently in effect until 11:59 pm ET on December 27th.

8. Moose:  The Manitoba Moose went 1-1 again last week, making their record 15-11-2-0.  The Moose are in 2nd in the Central Division and are in 6th place in the 17-team Western Conference.  The Moose are starting to get a little healthier, which will be important as their schedule gets a little tougher in the new year. 

Watch the WHT YouTube channel live every Monday at 7:00.   Winnipeg Hockey Talk on YouTube

9. Jets:  I don’t usually do Money Puck’s playoff percentage odds until the midway point of the season, but I’ve already had requests, so let’s give the readers what they want.

As of Monday morning, after last night’s game in Utah, the Jets’ chances of making the playoffs are sitting at 24.0%.  As you can see, the percentage fluctuates daily, whether the team plays or not; however, the days following games exhibit larger fluctuations.  

10. Things that make me go hmmm: #1 🤔  I don’t disagree with this decision, but are you telling me that Cole Perfetti has been the only player deserving of a benching (3rd period vs Col) all year?

#NHLJets Scott Arniel told me it was a “coach’s decision” to sit Cole Perfetti for the third period. Not injury-related.

— Mike McIntyre (@mikemcintyrewpg) December 20, 2025

11. Jets:  Special Teams:  Rule of thumb.  Have the power play and penalty kill (PK and PP) numbers total at least 100% when added (as your minimum).

• PP: 11th at 21.00% up from 12th at 20.10% last week (net 13th at 19.00%)*
• PK: 16th at 80.90% up from 21st 78.40% last week (net 13th at 84.30%)*
• FO: 10th at 51.60% up from 12th at 51.30% last week

12. Jets:  Goaltending:

• Connor Hellebuyck:  9-6-2 … 2.48 GAA … .912 SV%
• Eric Comrie:  6-8-1 … 3.30 GAA … .886 SV%

13. Jets:  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly this past week.

• Good:  Kyle Connor might be getting hot again.
• Bad:  Until Kyle Connor and Morgan Barron scored in the 3rd period versus Utah, a Jets forward hadn’t scored a goal at 5 on 5 since last Saturday night’s 5-1 win over Washington.  Try wrapping your head around that.       
• Ugly:  The Jets are 2-7-2 in December and 0-2-2 since the return of Helle. 

14. Jets:  I thought Jonathon Toews showed a few flashes of his former self in Colorado on Friday night. 

15. Things that make me go hmmm: #2 🤔

For a team that lacks footspeed and looks slow most nights, I don’t understand why Scott Arniel continues to make Cole Koepke a healthy scratch.  Tanner Pearson took 2 penalties on Sunday versus Utah basically because of his lack of footspeed.

16. WJHC:  Team Canada World Juniors 2026 Schedule

17. Jets:  Two top Jets prospects to keep an eye on at the U20 WHC.

Alfons Freij, D (Sweden)
Sascha Boumedienne, D (Sweden)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays To All

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