Short-term sustainability, a defensive trade and a playoff run: Jets Nation mailbag

Be sure to check Betway to check out the latest Jets game day odds and bet on the NHL! Welcome to the first of hopefully many Jets Nation Mailbags. You, the fans, ask questions, and hopefully, I can give you a sufficient answer. If you have a question day or night, feel free to slide into the DMs of any of our social media, and we will try to get your questions in!

The Winnipeg Jets would start the first round against the Colorado Avalanche. I have the Jets finishing second in the Central and matching up against the Avalanche thus home ice advantage. I think the Jets could handle the Avalanche in six games. The Avs have a lot of injuries, and having them return to the lineup less than 100 percent isn’t going to be as helpful as they would hope. Even without Kyle Connor out of the Jets lineup, I think the Jets could make the 2022 Stanley Cup champs look like a bunch of chumps.

The way the 5-on-5 play by the Jets has gone all season, I am feeling good about playoff efforts. There are fewer penalties called in the postseason, so the Jets won’t need to worry as much about their poor special teams play.

Depending on how the other first-round match up in the Central goes, which would be the Nashville Predators vs. the Dallas Stars.  Let’s keep this simple and say the favored Stars win that round in seven games and sustain no new injuries. Jake Ottinger is still out for 10 days due to his week-to-week lower body injury.

With all of that, I think the Jets would find themselves at a major disadvantage in skill against the Stars. They have had the Jets’ number for the last few seasons. Unless the Jets have a couple of unsung heroes in this second round, I think the Stars have the talent to shut down the whiteout in Winnipeg.

Ultimately, I only see this going to five games, but with two OT losses for the Jets. As long as the Stars are in the way, the Jets will fall short of glory.

The Jets will do their typical song and dance of taking a step back after the All-Star break, but not to the same extent that we have come to expect over the last number of years.

The Jets have fewer undeserved wins at this point this season than they have had in years past. Last season, even though the Jets had one more win than they do at the same point this year, half of those games in 2022 could have gone the other way, whereas these wins this season feel way more secure.

Will they continue taking 65 percent of points? I doubt it, but if the Jets fall and only bring in only 50 percent of points after the All-Star break, they’ll be fine.

I do genuinely believe the Jets’ players are affected by seasonal depression, whether they admit it or not. The lack of vitamin D in the winter has an effect on these guys, and they can’t quite get out of that funk before the summer gets here. Take your vitamins, friends; they do help!

As of right now, I don’t know if I would make any changes in the defenseman department. For the current price, the Jets pay the defensemen; how would you make them better? Yeah, Nate Schmidt is the obvious player to trade out, but who is going to eat that contract? They will need to move at least a second-round pick to move his contract.

As well, the pairing of Schmidt and Dylan Samberg has an expected goals against of 5.9 which is second best in the NHL accord . I don’t know if I would break that up. But if I had to, I would go to Columbus to get the right-shot defenseman the Jets need.

Bruce Garrioch from Ottawa alleges multiple teams have interest in Logan Stanley. So let’s say the second-round pick acquired from the trade between the LA Kings and Stanley are the two pieces being moved out. The Jets have 4.8 million in cap space for the deadline.

I would like to see a guy like Andrew Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He is a big right-shot defenseman. He wouldn’t play on the top pairing with Josh Morrissey, but you have him with Brendan Dillon or even on the third pair with Samberg. He adds size and grit to the back end. The Jets could get him in for the rest of the season and the next two seasons for just 2.7 million.