Adam Lowry the Captain to lead the Winnipeg Jets deep into the post season

The Winnipeg Jets’ 2024 NHL playoffs journey starts TOMORROW! Our boy Connor has written two articles outlining some key Jets players who will be important pieces in the postseason. This Jets team might be the deepest they have ever been. With all of that depth, the Jets need a leader who could take them to the promised land of the Stanley Cup Finals. Luckily, they have it in Adam Lowry, who isn’t just an off-ice leader but also leads by example on the ice.

Lowry was named captain on September 12th, 2023. I saw him as the perfect leader for the team. The guy works hard, talks to the media when needed, defends his teammates, and is consistent on the ice game in and game out. Think really hard, when was the last time you saw #17 play a game half-heartedly? You probably haven’t ever seen that guy not care about a game.

A lot of the time when you have a new leader, sometimes the pressure gets to them, and they flounder when times get tough. Things got tough a couple of times this past season. The Jets lost their head coach early on, had a six-game losing streak along with a four-game losing streak earlier in the season. But guess who is stepping up and talking to the media during those tough times? Adam Lowry is out there, talking to the media and not being disrespectful and is taking it off the chin. That’s the kind of guy I want to follow into battle.

I’m not expecting Lowry to score five or more goals in the postseason (although I wouldn’t be sad about it). I don’t even expect the third line to score ten goals. I do fully expect Lowry and the third line to shut down any big threats. Lowry starts in the offensive zone only 10.5 percent of the time and yet still has a Corsi For percentage of 46.1 percent. Even though that Corsi For percentage is under 50 percent, he’s still able to be a threat on the ice during his offensive game.

Lowry does struggle to finish on scoring goals, as he had an expected goals of 21.1 goals, which is sixth amongst Jets players. He eats up 26 percent of ice time among centers on the Jets, which is without a doubt third. The Jets captain would play an average of 16:06 this season, which is a career high.

Lowry won’t be scoring goals, but he will be putting his body on the line. He threw 187 hits this season, an average of 2.3 hits, and in the playoffs, that number goes up significantly to an average of 3.4 hits in playoff games. In the regular season, the third-line center blocked 65 shots; in the postseason, he has 27 blocks in 44 games (an average of 0.63 blocks in the postseason).

The Jets’ captain was only on the ice for 50 goals against this season, a massive decrease from the last few years; in 2022-23, he was on the ice for 75 goals against. You can see the guy thinking a lot more while he is playing, and it comes to him a lot easier having the same steady linemates of Niederreiter and Appleton, which helps move the needle forward for Lowry.

Other hard-nosed players generally lose their cool and end up costing their team a penalty or even a suspension in the postseason. In the last three playoff runs, Lowry has only had four minutes in the box. We all know the American-born forward can fight and kick some butt, but he doesn’t risk it in the postseason because he knows his value.

Lowry isn’t going to go down as an NHL great for his play on the ice. But he will go out there and change the course of a single game in a series that will impact the team. He had an assist in the first Jets home playoff game in 2015, and my gut tells me we will see him on a highlight reel for years to come because of a great play. The Jets’ captain is a quietly humble leader, and that’s who I want to follow into battle. Because of who he is as a leader, I think he will lead this team to great places.