The Winnipeg Jets are now exactly 0 days, yes 0 days, from opening their 2026-27 NHL regular season at home against the Boston Bruins. Today’s that day. The Jets are around three weeks away from hosting the Montreal Canadiens at Princess Auto Stadium for the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic. Tickets for all Jets games throughout the 2026-27 season are on sale now. The 2026-27 NHL season started Tuesday, and today the Jets are back.

Tonight at Canada Life Centre the Jets will play their first of 84 games in the 2026-27 NHL regular season. The Jets and Bruins are one of just five games on the NHL schedule tonight, as the Jets will get a chance in the “spotlight”, with all five of these games having different start times. The Jets will face off against a team that they only play usually once or twice a season: the Boston Bruins. The Jets are just 3-7-0 against the Bruins in their 10 matchups, and this Eastern Conference opponent has found a way to win both close and one-sided games against the Jets in their recent history.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets to start the season has just one name: Elias Salomonsson. Despite initial reports stating that Salomonsson was targeting a return in late October, there’s a chance that Salomonsson could return in mid-October. The Bruins also open the season with just one player on their injury report: Matthew Poitras. The Bruins placed Poitras on the injured reserve on Sunday with a lower body injury that he suffered during a team practice two weeks ago. Poitras has returned to practice and should make his season debut early this season.

Connor – Scheifele – Perfetti

Rosen – Bjork – Vilardi

Barron – Lowry – Lambert

Niederreiter – Namestnikov – Iafallo

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Ferraro – Bauer

Skinner

Stevenson

The Jets starting lineup is almost identical to what they used for their final pre-season game against the Avalanche with the exception of their new backup goalie Clay Stevenson, who was claimed off waivers. The confirmed starting goalie for the Jets is Stuart Skinner, who is making his official Jets debut, with the distraction of Hellebuyck’s ongoing trade request no longer in his mind.

Cole Perfetti gets an opportunity on the top line, as Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele will look to spark a bounce back season for the newly extended Canadian winger. Isak Rosen gets a chance in the top 6 with Viggo Bjork, the highly anticipated Jets top prospect who will be making his NHL debut tonight. Gabriel Vilardi will serve as the “veteran” for this line, and should help to stabilize this young scoring driven line. Brad Lambert gets an opportunity on the 3rd line in his second straight season making the opening night roster, and the fourth line is a veteran trio that should provide depth scoring when needed.

The Jets top four defencemen remains the exact same from last season. The second pairing of Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk will be looking to have bounce back seasons, with both recently signing new contracts. Mario Ferraro makes his Jets debut after joining them in free agency, and his defence partner (while Salomonsson remains injured) for tonight is Tyrel Bauer. The 24-year old physical defensive defenceman is making his NHL debut after spending the last four seasons with the Manitoba Moose.

The Bruins’ top line will feature the newly acquired JJ Peterka, in a deal this summer which the Bruins sent two first-round picks to the Mammoth. David Pastrnak will not only lead the Bruins offence in scoring this season, but he’ll be the new leader of this team as he was recently named Captain. The Bruins 3rd line has a young prospect in James Hagen who should be in the running this season for the rookie of the year award. Charlie McAvoy won’t be on the Bruins defence tonight as he continues to serve a six-game suspension from a major slashing penalty in the playoffs. Jeremy Swayman is the Bruins starting goalie, and he’ll likely get the majority of starts this season with an inexperienced Michael DiPietro currently serving as the backup.

Puck drop in Winnipeg is set for just after 7:00 pm CDT, following player introductions. Tonight’s game will be an exciting Western Conference – Eastern Conference matchup to open the Jets season, and fans will have plenty of returning players to cheer on and some new faces ready to make a good first impression on home ice.

Stay tuned here on Daily Faceoff Winnipeg for the latest news on the Jets regular season, as well as an article when the Jets prepare to play their first round game of the season in Detroit on Sunday morning.

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