5 questions for Jets in Stanley Cup Qualifiers

NHL.com is looking ahead to the Stanley Cup Qualifiers by examining five of the biggest questions facing each of the 24 remaining teams. Today, we look at the Winnipeg Jets.

The Winnipeg Jets were 37-28-6 (.563 points percentage) and will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference. They will play the No. 8 seed, the Calgary Flames (36-27-7, .564 points percentage), in one of eight best-of-5 series. The West qualifiers will start Aug. 1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Here are 5 key questions facing the Jets:

1. How quickly can goalie Connor Hellebuyck regain top form?

The answer needs to be "immediately" for the Jets. Hellebuyck was Winnipeg's most important player this season and he'll likely get Vezina Trophy consideration in voting for the top goalie in the NHL. Hellebuyck was 31-21-5 with a 2.57 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 56 starts. His six shutouts, 1,656 saves and 1,796 shots against led the NHL, and he was second in time on ice (3,268:33) behind Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (3,439:49).

2. How healthy are they?

The Jets won their last four games before the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus with a lineup that was as close to healthy as they'd used all season. In the 27 days before the pause, defensemen Josh Morrissey (four games, upper body) and Tucker Poolman (12 games, lower body), and forwards Mathieu Perreault (16 games, upper body) and Adam Lowry (20 games, upper body) each returned to the lineup. At the pause, forwards Bryan Little (upper body) and defenseman Luca Sbisa (upper body) were on injured reserve, defensemen Sami Niku (lower body) and Anthony Bitetto (upper body) were out of the lineup, and forward Mark Letestu (myocarditis) was on a conditioning assignment after missing 64 games. All except Little are believed to be healthy and able to play in this series.

3. Will special teams make a difference?

Through Dec. 31 (40 games), the Jets were 15th in the NHL on the power play (19.2 percent) and last on the penalty kill (71.4 percent). That's a combined percentage of 90.6 percent, well below the NHL average of 100. It was a different story in the 31 games from Jan. 1 until the season was paused. During that span, Winnipeg's penalty kill was at 85.5 percent, fourth in the NHL, and its power play was 10th at 22.4 percent. The combined total was 107.9, well above average.

4. Can their top forwards carry them?

Though the Jets were 17th in the NHL averaging 3.00 goals per game, their top forwards were solid. Winnipeg was the only NHL team with five forwards with more than 50 points this season: Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had 73, Blake Wheeler had 65, Patrik Laine had 63 and Nikolaj Ehlers had 58. The Jets (Connor, 38 goals; Scheifele, 29; Laine, 28; Ehlers, 25; Wheeler, 22) and Florida Panthers (Mike Hoffman, 29; Evgenii Dadonov, 25; Jonathan Huberdeau, 23; Aleksander Barkov, 20; Noel Acciari, 20) were the only teams with five 20-goal scorers. If Winnipeg's top forwards can find their rhythm quickly, it will bode well for their chances against the Flames.

5. With health and depth, how good can their defensemen be?

Morrissey emerged as the Jets' top defenseman this season, and Neal Pionk, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers on June 17, scored an NHL career-high 45 points (six goals, 39 assists) and led Winnipeg with 23:23 of ice time per game. Defensemen Dmitry Kulikov, Poolman, Bitetto and Sbisa were regular contributors, and Dylan DeMelo was acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 18. With Niku, Nathan Beaulieu and Carl Dahlstrom, the Jets will have 10 healthy defensemen to choose from against the Flames.