Here at Jets Nation I’ve been looking ahead at what to expect from certain Winnipeg Jets players in the 2025-26 season. I’ve set some general goals for each player, and I take a look at what would be considered a satisfactory, bad and good season. You can never truly tell how a player will perform before a season begins, there’s always a few surprises (both good and bad), but you can usually predict a rough stat line using their previous career totals. Today’s Jets player in the “goals and expectations” spotlight is a very consistent forward from Switzerland, Nino Niederreiter.

Niederreiter ranks 3rd all-time for points by a Swiss NHL player. His 969 games played in the NHL is the most all-time by a Swiss player, and he pretty much ranks in the top 3 for almost all stats among Swiss players, even including +/- and penalty minutes. The 32-year old from Chur, Switzerland was originally drafted 5th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders. Niederreiter was launched into the NHL likely a little early, appearing in 9 games in his draft year. The following year he infamously had one of the worst 1st full seasons for a 1st round pick, playing 55 games and only scoring 1 goal and 0 assists.

After a strong season in the AHL the following season, Niederreiter requested a trade, and was sent to the Minnesota Wild. The 2013-14 season was when Niederreiter began to live up to his potential, collecting 36 points in his 2nd full NHL season. After six seasons with the Wild, including the 2016-17 season where he recorded a career high 57 points, Niederreiter was traded to the Hurricanes. Niederreiter played four seasons in Carolina, where he remained consistent in scoring 30-40 points a season. In the 2022-23 season Niederreiter joined the Nashville Predators, but he was moved at the trade deadline to the Jets. Fast forward to today, and Niederreiter finished his 2nd full season with the Jets with a full 82 game season where he scored 17 goals and added 20 assists for 37 points. Niederreiter ranked 8th on the Jets for points, and he’s gearing up for year 2 of of his current 3 year, $12 million contract.

Compared to some of the other Jets players, it’s rather simple to know what to expect from Niederreiter. He’s consistently been a 15-20 goal scorer throughout his career, so you should expect another 15 goal season from him in 2025-26. With the departure of Nikolaj Ehlers, Niederreiter might get some playing time on the 2nd line (depending on how Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist perform), but even if he doesn’t he should play a role on the Jets 2nd powerplay unit. These responsibilities will allow Niederreiter to showcase his skills as a powerful scoring winger.

Niederreiter’s name doesn’t always appear on the scoresheet, but that doesn’t mean he’s off the hook if he goes on a scoring slump. The projected Jets 3rd line of Nino Niederreiter, Vladislav Namestnikov and Alex Iafallo provides a good mix of offensive and defensive skill, which should fit with Niederreiter’s play style. Niederreiter hasn’t shown signs of slowing down yet in his career, but it wouldn’t be a good season if Niederreiter failed to reach at least that 15 goal and 30 point mark.

As you can probably tell by the satisfactory and bad seasons, the margins are pretty close for a player like Niederreiter. There isn’t a big range between how Niederreiter can perform because of the simple fact that he’s stayed so consistent throughout his career. If Niederreiter gets some playing time on the 2nd line this season, I could see him push for a 20 goal season. Niederreiter last scored 20 goals back in 2021-22, so it’s not out of reach for him to push for this total again next season. Regular time (and success) on the 2nd powerplay unit could be what allows Niederreiter to reach 20+ goals and 40+ points in the season.

Nino Niederreiter is easily one of the most consistent players on this Jets team. He never has been a “#1 scoring option”, but you can always count on him to be a reliable secondary scoring option. I’m excited to see if Niederreiter gets more opportunities this season with the departure of Nikolaj Ehlers on the left wing. I’m confident he’ll be able to gain chemistry with the other forwards he’s paired with, and fans should expect much the same (if not more) of what they saw from Niederreiter last season.