The 2024-25 Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets had a number of players post extremely-strong campaigns, but these three will be looking to bounce back in 2025-26 after some rough times.
1: Nikita Chibrikov
Chibrikov was coming along nicely in his sophomore season through mid-January, with 18 points in 30 games for the Manitoba Moose and three points in four games for the Jets during an impressive December callup.
However, the now 22-year-old Russian right winger had his season cut short due to an ankle injury. In a Jan. 19 home game against the Toronto Marlies, his leg buckled while attempting to check Mikko Kokkonen near the end boards and the damage required surgery to repair.
Chibrikov — a feisty, high-motor guy who never shies away from a battle and possesses a great shot — is one of the players who will push for a full-time NHL spot this season with Mason Appleton and Nikolaj Ehlers’ departures. Considering he had 47 points in 70 games with the Moose in his rookie 2023-24 and showed strongly there last season prior to the injury in a top-six role, the 2021 second rounder likely won’t benefit much from another entire season in the American Hockey League (AHL.)
That being said, considering he won’t have played a game in seven months by the time the season begins, he may benefit from some AHL games to get back up to speed.
2: Ville Heinola
Six years removed from being drafted 20th overall, it seems as though Heinola barely exists to the organization.
If they still remember who he is, he certainly hasn’t been in their plans. The now 24-year-old defender played just 18 games last season, tallying one assist, and is stuck at 53-career NHL games played through six seasons.
It seems every time the Finn has a chance to establish himself as a regular, he either suffers an injury — he broke his ankle during the 2023-24 preseason when he had already earned a spot in the opening-night roster and then got an infection in the surgically-repaired ankle in the 2024-25 preseason — or gets sat in favour of someone the coaching staff likes better. Nathan Beaulieu, Dylan Coghlan, Derek Forbort, Haydn Fleury, and Logan Stanley have all gotten playing time on the bottom unit over him since 2019-20.
Considering his lack of NHL experience to this point and that he cannot improve any more by playing in the AHL, whether Heinola…
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