If I told you 18 games into the 2016-17 season the Winnipeg Jets would be second overall in the Western Conference would you have believed me? If I had told you that Mark Scheifele was tied for the lead in the NHL in points and Patrik Laine had the most goals in the NHL (and leads all rookies in scoring) would you have believed me? The answer to at least a few of those clearly rhetorical questions would likely be no but here we are almost 1/4 of the way into the season and all of the above is true.
Points leader:
We (here), along with many others (here and here), have documented Mark Scheifele’s rise in the NHL rankings of top centres in the game. While he has played the most games (18) to date his 10 goals and 11 assists continue the torrid pace he was on last season. His shooting percentage is a lights out 22.2%. About the only place he isn’t dominating is in the faceoff circle where he is currently sitting at 44.1%. Couple of the advanced stats for Scheifele (via hockey-reference) show his corsi for % at even strength is 52.8% and his fenwick for % at even strength is 51.4%. Scheifele sits just two assists shy of the 200 mark with the Jets.
Rookie leader:
So much talk of Patrik Laine vs. Auston Matthews and while I suspect this will be going on for their entire careers (Ovechkin vs. Crosby) for now the Jets rookie has commanded most of the attention. His 12 goals leads the entire NHL (rookies and veterans) and while he has played the most games he currently holds a two point lead over Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (17 vs 15 points). We had some fun with the Teemu Selanne and Patrik Laine goal to goal comparison (both had 11 in 14 games) and while he sits a few back of the Finnish Flash from his impressive 1992-93 season the fact that we are even discussing them in the same context is quite remarkable. This road trip may prove a tall task for the 6’4″ rookie as he has scored 10 of his 12 goals within the friendly confines of the MTS Centre.
Strength of goaltending:
Not to be overlooked is the strong play of netminder Connor Hellebuyck who seems to be assuming the mantle of starter with the Jets. After some early season hiccups he has looked a lot more sound in net (four wins and one loss in last five games) and last night’s 27 save shutout performance over the Chicago Blackhawks (top team in the Western Conference) exemplified his improved play.
His stats (via hockey-reference) are really starting to show it as well as his save % is up to .916, his goals against average is now 2.45 while his goals saved above average is 0.91 and his adjusted goals against average is 2.82. With goalies who have played at least 10 games this season Hellebuyck ranks 15th in GAA and 13th in Save%.
Jets are 2nd in the Western Conference:
This is the one that might have caught everyone by surprise. Coach Maurice has been very cautious about what the team is building towards (generally speaking about long term goals) and yet his squad sits just four points back of first overall in the West. While they have played the most games they are well above the line with just eight days to go until the critical U.S. Thanksgiving mark which generally indicates whether a team will or won’t be a playoff team. The possession numbers for Winnipeg have been solid and steadily improving. The team has gone 4-0-1 in their last five games as they get ready to depart on a five games in 10 days road trip starting out east in Philadelphia. We recognized that November (16 games – six at home 10 on the road) would be a major test for this young Winnipeg squad and so far they have weathered the storm. In fact they could ride the wave (currently 5-2-2) to a possible second playoff appearance if they are able to bank enough early season points this month.
