The Jets aim to win four crucial divisional games over the Chicago Blackhawks next season.
The Winnipeg Jets are coming off a historic year with franchise best numbers across the board. If they want to find themselves in a similar position, they’ll need to win crucial games starting in the Central Division. The Central is tougher than ever and with only three available spots plus a pair of wild card spots, they need to win these games.
One of their key divisional opponents is the Chicago Blackhawks, who are looking to overcome another tough season as they’ve placed bottom two in the league in each of the last three seasons. The rivalry between Winnipeg and Chicago is a relatively recent one, with the two teams meeting just 59 times. The Jets hold the edge in the all-time series with a record of 33-20-6 including an active five-game winning streak dating back to December of 2023 being the last time the Blackhawks have won in this matchup.
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The Jets’ pure domination in this series has continued to help them keep a consistent footing in the Central division picture. As they battle for wins against top teams like the Avalanche and Stars, winning important games against bottom teams like the Blackhawks is crucial for the Jets to make the playoffs and keep momentum.
Chicago will be looking to build towards something this upcoming season as they will have 2023 first overall pick Connor Bedard entering his third NHL season. The young star center get another season to develop with recent breakout Ryan Donato as the pair begin to signal a turnaround for the Windy City Hockey Club. They made subtle adds like signing on Andre Burakovsky, Sam Lafferty and Dominic Toninato while making headlines with their historic seven-year extension with second line center Frank Nazer, that was the largest ever given to an NHL forward with so little professional experience at 56 career games.
Winnipeg heads into the matchup looking to maintain its dominant form after an outstanding season, finishing with the league’s best record at 56-22-4 led by their success was driven by a league-leading defense. The Jets repped a 2.32 goals against per game that finished well ahead of the next closest team in the LA Kings, who averaged 2.48 GA/PG on the season. Offensively, Winnipeg was just as strong, ranking in the top four with an average of 3.35 goals per game. They attempt to make up for the loss of a top six forward in Nikolaj Ehlers by adding a established veteran in three-time Stanley Cup Champion Jonathan Toews as well as a low-cost flyer on a former 75-point producer in Gustav Nyquist.
Next season’s matchups promise to be exciting, starting on October 30th with the Jets hosting the series opener versus the Blackhawks. Winnipeg will then head to Chicago on January 21st, for their first away game in the series. The Jets will return to Canada Life Centre for another home matchup on March 3rd before concluding the season series on the road, March 31st.
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