The Winnipeg Jets are 3-0-0 through their first three games of the 2024-25 season, posting a 6-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers and 2-1 overtime wins over the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild. It’s the first time in 2.0 history they have rattled off three-straight wins to begin a campaign.
There’s been plenty to glean from the first 120-plus minutes of hockey played under new head coach Scott Arniel and his staff. Here, we’ll dive into three takeaways.
1: Scheifele Off to a Scorching Start
Will Mark Scheifele ever not be involved in a Jets’ goal again? The Jets’ first-ever draft pick has picked up a point on the team’s last six tallies, assisting the 5-0 goal against the Oilers, scoring the 6-0 goal, scoring both goals against the Blackhawks, scoring the tying goal against the Wild in the final second of the first period, and assisting Kyle Connor’s overtime winner. His six points leads the team.
The 31-year-old’s torrid start has included a couple of milestones: his overtime winner was his 300th-career goal and the game against the Wild was his 800th. It’s hard to believe he was considered by most to be as good as gone before signing a massive contract last October to likely remain a Jet for life.
Scheifele is currently on pace for 164 over 82 games, and while he obviously won’t reach that, his bids to lead the team in points for the second-straight season and operate at a point-per-game-plus clip for the eight campaign of his career are both off to good starts. Could he also be the first 2.0 Jet to reach 100 points in a season?
2: Special Teams Making an Impact
One of Arniel’s main goals this season was to improve the special teams and have them make a more frequent positive impact than last season. It’s so far, so good on that front in a small sample size.
The power play — which finished 22nd last season with an 18.75 per cent efficiency — is rocking a 42.85 efficiency via three goals in seven opportunities. The regime, now run by assistant coach Davis Payne, hasn’t been perfect but hooked up for two goals against the Oilers and one against the Wild in overtime. They went zero for two against the Blackhawks, with one opportunity looking disjoined and one looking more dangerous.
Connor and Scheifele have scored on the man advantage so far, and that’s a promising sign things are diversifying. Gabriel Vilardi…
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