The holiday trade and transaction freeze is now underway in the NHL, and the Winnipeg Jets continue to remain at the top of the league standings. The Golden Knights, Devils, Capitals and Wild are all within reach of that number 1 spot though, so the Jets will be hoping to get back in the win column when they take on the Minnesota Wild in Winnipeg tomorrow night at 6:00 pm CT. Following that game, the Jets will head to Toronto for a Monday afternoon (1 pm CT) puck drop to take them into the 5 day holiday break.

Today, I wanted to take a shot at predicting what the Jets’ 1st and 2nd quarter century teams will look like before being announced on January 10th. If you’re unaware of the details of this announcement, check out THIS article that breaks down how the NHL will honour its best players from over the past 25 years (2000-2025). Every team will have their 1st and 2nd “lineups” announced between December 30th to January 31st.

The Jets are in a unique situation for this selection process, as the Atlanta Thrashers will very likely be included as part of the “Jets” franchise. The Thrashers played their 1st season in 1999-2000 and were around until 2011, so you should except a few players from the Trashers to be apart of these Jets quarter century teams. I know the Thrashers “aren’t the Jets”, but you can still except the league to recognize some of their franchise best players in this list, as they are technically connected to the now Jets 2.0 franchise.

It’s also important to remember and consider that these players are those that excelled IN that franchise, so they aren’t simply the best players to have ever played a game for that franchise, but rather those who contributed for that franchise the most between the years 2000-2025. Here are my best predictions at who you could expect to see included as the 3 forwards, 2 defencemen and goalie for the Jets 1st and 2nd quarter century teams.

Despite a rocky conclusion to Wheeler’s time with the Jets, he’s still one of the best players to ever put on the Winnipeg Jets colours. After joining the Trashers in their final season, Wheeler went on to spend 12+ seasons with the Jets, ranking 1st in the franchise in games played (897), assists (550), and points (812). Wheeler’s leadership qualities helped him earned captaincy, and he was a much respected player around the league during his time with the Jets. This should be the easiest choice for a lock on the 1st quarter century team forwards.

Mark Scheifele is a Jets legend still in the making. At 31 years old, Scheifele ranks 3rd in the franchise in games played (831), 2nd in goals (315), 2nd in assists (440), and 2nd in points (755). Since being drafted 7th overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft, Scheifele has been nothing short of a leader on this Jets team. It may have taken a season or two for Scheifele’s development to really get going in the NHL, but after his 1st full season with the team, he’s been nothing short of a consistent top line forward on the Jets. With 38 points in 34 games this season, Scheifele is showing no signs of slowing down his production, and will hopefully be able to do much more of the same for the Jets in the remaining 6 years of his contract. Easy choice for this 1st team.

The 1st Thrasher, who never played a game for the 2.0 Jets, but entirely deserves a spot on the 1st team is Ilya Kovalchuk. One of my personal favourite players growing up, Kovalchuk was a goal scoring machine for the Thrashers during his 8 seasons with the team. The 1st overall pick from the 2001 NHL entry draft ranks 10th in games played (594), 1st in goals (328), 5th in assists (287) and 3rd in points (615). I know it might feel weird to include someone who never played a game in a Jets jersey on this 1st team, but Kovalchuk played nearly 600 games with the Thrashers and was one of the league’s top goal scorers during his prime. Kovy deserves 1st team recognition.

Without question, Dustin Byfuglien is currently the best Jets 2.0 defenceman of all-time. After joining the Trashers in their final season, Byfuglien spent the remaining 8 years of his career with the Jets. The 245th overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft was a one of a kind defender, who transitioned to the position after being a forward in his early part of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks. Among defencemen, Byfuglien ranks 3rd in games played (609), 1st in goals (122), 1st in assists (294) and 1st in points (416). Big Buff should easily be included on this 1st quarter century team.

Josh Morrissey, much like Mark Scheifele, is a Jets legend still in the making, but on defence. The 29 year old is a former 13th overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft, and like Scheifele, took a few years to really get going in the NHL. The big “breakout” year for Morrissey came in 2022-23, where he collected 76 points in 78 games and finished top 5 in Norris trophy voting. Morrissey ranks 2nd in the franchise among defencemen in games played (616), goals (69), assists (272) and points (341). The “next best” behind Byfuglien is currently Morrissey, and he’s got many years to go to continue to climb the Jets all-time leaders in all categories.

Perhaps the easiest choice of them all is the Jets goalie on this 1st quarter century team. I mean, come on, Hellebuyck is easily the best Jets goalie in franchise history, and is on track to be a hall of famer and maybe even one of the best goalies overall of all time. Hellebuyck ranks 1st in Jets franchise history in all of the important goalie statistics, including wins (295), games played (531) and shutouts (40). Not much more explaining needs to be done on this one, as the 31 year old has been miles better than any other goalie in Thrashers / Jets 2.0 history, and he hopefully still has many greats seasons ahead of him in his career with the Jets.

The 2nd quarter century team for most teams will be where the difficult choices will have to be made. You could make an argument for a lot of different players to make this 2nd team for different reasons, but I went with a mix of talent and overall impact on this franchise over this quarter century. To keep this article from going on way too long, (because I could start listing why these players might have the edge over a handful of other considerations) I’ve kept to a minimum explanation for the reasons why these 3 forwards, 2 defenceman and goalie could be included on this 2nd quarter century team.

Marian Hossa is the 2nd Thrasher to appear on this list. Although Hossa only played 3 seasons in Atlanta, he made a big impact during his time there, posting 248 points in 222 games. The hall of famer collected over 1100 points in his career, and he was a respected member of the Thrashers franchise during the prime of his career. Hossa’s best season was with the Trashers in the 2006-07 season, where he scored 43 goals and added 57 assists for 100 points in 82 games.

Kyle Connor, alongside Mark Scheifele on the top line, is another Jets legend still in the making. The 28 year old is a former 17th overall pick from the 2015 NHL entry draft, and has been the “go to goal scorer” of this Jets team for 8+ seasons. Connor already ranks 3rd in the franchise in goals (262) and 4th in points (527). Many more goals are still on this horizon during Connor’s time with the Jets.

Bryan Little is one of those players that deserves a spot for his reputation with this franchise. The talent and skill was there as well, but Little remains one of the most respected players in Trashers / Jets history. Little ranks 2nd in the franchise in games played (843), 5th in goals (217), 3rd in assists (304) and 5th in points. This fan favourite deserves the final spot on this 2nd quarter century team.

Toby Enstrom was a staple on the Trashers / Jets blueline for many years. Behind Byfuglien and Morrissey, Enstrom is the next name that people think of when they think of great defencemen in this franchise’s history. Enstrom spent his whole NHL career with the Trashers / Jets, and he ranks 1st among defencemen in games played (719), 3rd in goals (54), 3rd in assists (254) and 3rd in points (308).

The final spot for defence on this 2nd team was tough to choose. Between Neal Pionk, Jacob Trouba, Zach Bogosian, Tyler Myers and Ron Hainsey, I went with the current Jet: Neal Pionk. Just playing his 400th game with the Jets, Pionk ranks 4th in the franchise among defencemen in points with 201. Pionk’s future with the Jets was a little uncertain entering this season, but after collecting 24 points in 34 games and improving his overall abilities to be a consistent defenceman, Pionk has been an important member of the Jets current roster.

No Thrashers or Jets goalie comes anywhere close to Connor Hellebuyck, but the “next best” has to be Ondrej Pavelec. Ranking 2nd in most goalie statistics in franchise history, Pavelec was known as the 1st “reliable” starting goalie in Jets 2.0 history. Pavelec had 5+ seasons with an over .900 save percentage, and he was “the guy” in net for the Jets before Connor Hellebuyck’s arrival in 2015-16.

There you have my predictions for the Jets 1st and 2nd quarter century teams! I’ll be posting a graphic of these teams on our socials shortly, so make sure to check it out and let me know what you would change. January 10th, 2025 these two teams will be officially announced, so we’ll see how close I am on that upcoming day.