Jets GM vocal on ‘frustrating’ free fall in 2025-26 season

The Winnipeg Jets’ struggles this season are difficult to understand. The group fell short in last year’s playoffs, but they took home the President’s Trophy for the NHL’s best regular season team, and also had the league’s MVP in net with Connor Hellebuyck. Despite some playoff shortcomings, the future looked bright for the small-market team. However, at the mid-way point of the season, Winnipeg shockingly sits three points behind the Vancouver Canucks in last place in the entire league.

Winnipeg isn’t a team that can struggle for too long. It’s already challenging to get players to come there for various external reasons, and a tumultuous attendance tends to dip even further when things aren’t going well. No one understands those challenges more than Jets’ general manager, Kevin Cheveldayoff, according to NHL.com reporter Derek Van Diest.

“Certainly, fans in our market are very, very passionate, and that is something we care deeply about,” Cheveldayoff said on Monday. “Again, this isn’t something you plan out, and obviously, sports are unpredictable. That’s the nature of the game here now.”

While the team didn’t look as strong for the 2025-26 season, not many expected it to go this bad so quickly. The Jets still have some great players on their roster, but team speed is a concern for an aging team. With nine losses in their last 10 games, it’s getting close to the point of no return.

“I think if you look at the situation here, again, over the course of time, certainly we’ve had a lot of success. This is a results-oriented business, and you live in the moment right now,” Cheveldayoff continued. “And again, just going through the last couple of games, it’s a frustrating thing.”

With the team 11 points back of a playoff spot, the time to fix it is getting short.

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