The NHL playoffs continue to roll along, with almost all of the first round matchups complete. Entering the month of the May, the Jets will fully enter “off-season mode” as they begin to prepare for the 2026-27 season. Whether it was the eleven game losing streak, the lack of depth scoring, or just the overall loss of talent on the Jets, next season should be an opportunity for the Jets to get back in the playoffs. There’s no “magical formula” to a successful off-season, but following this basic road map in May could put the Jets on the right track for the summer.

The first “stage” of the May off-season road map is of course the NHL Draft Lottery on May 5th. The Jets finished 7th last in the NHL league standings, giving them a 6.5% chance at selecting 1st overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Jets were in the playoff race until late in the season, but the reason why the Jets were in it until very late was because of the Pacific Division struggling as a whole, with no teams clinching a playoff spot until just a few games left.

If the Jets are very lucky they’ll pick 1st or 2nd overall, meaning that Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg will be a Jet. If that doesn’t happen, the Jets can start to plan who they’d like to select with the 7th (or 8th / 9th). It’s an unpredictable draft after the top two this season, so at the Jets draft position they’ll be able to draft a player who will likely become the Jets new top prospect in the organization.

The IIHF World Championship will feature five players from the Jets: Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, Dylan DeMelo, Nino Niederreiter and Ville Heinola. This “year end” tournament is a great way for players who didn’t make the playoffs to have the chance to play meaningful games to officially end their hockey season.

For players like Scheifele, this tournament will be a chance for him to get on Canada’s radar for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. Some players (such as Josh Morrissey) choose to decline invitations to their National Team as their season may have been impacted by injuries and other tiring moments along the way. The Jets will watch and hope for the success of their players who will look to take home a medal while wearing their national team’s jersey.

Kevin Cheveldayoff and the rest of the Jets staff can use the month of the May to start looking ahead to the rest of the off-season. In terms of the draft, the draft lottery will decide where the Jets pick in round 1, but the rest of the draft should be a chance for the Jets to improve their prospect pool in all different areas. Free agency is the next big off-season “event”, where the Jets will need to have a clear plan about how they want to improve this team for the upcoming season. A clear plan now will go along way to prevent any “panicking” when things change during a sometimes hectic off-season.

The 2nd line is a big talking point about how the Jets can be a better team next season. After losing Nikolaj Ehlers to the Hurricanes in free agency, the Jets were never able to properly replace Ehlers with another player of his calibre on the 2nd line. Free agency is only one way of finding a new 2nd line forward, but the Jets might also go the trading route to get this “task” done the right way. Once the Jets get a good understanding of which free agents will be staying and which will explore the market, the management should zero in on some players they think can fit with the core of this team. Improving the 2nd line will go a long way towards making the Jets a playoff team in the 2026-27 season.

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