ANALYSIS: It’s not time for Jets fans to panic … at least not yet

So here we are, Black Friday. It’s around this time of year when fans and pundits around the NHL world start to claim to see trends that will show which of the 32 teams will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

History suggests about 75 per cent of teams in playoff spots today will make the post-season in April. With that in mind, and the Jets on the outside looking in, I think this is the one year when those statistics just might not be accurate.

Oh sure, Winnipeg doesn’t have its number one goaltender available for six more weeks … maybe longer. Oh sure, the team isn’t playing consistently with the same structure and depth we came to expect last season. Oh sure, they’ve lost three games since losing Connor Hellebuyck. But that doesn’t mean this coaching staff and these players can’t get themselves out of this funk and back into a playoff spot.

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But the question really is … when should the panic set in?

Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry are all long-time veterans of this league. They know what it takes to win. They know what it takes to play Winnipeg Jets hockey. They understand that every aspect of the way this team plays has to improve — on the offensive side of the puck, the defensive side of the puck, and certainly in goal, where Eric Comrie and Thomas Milic have the unenviable task of replacing the NHL’s MVP.

This is where we should see the character of this group.

Jets fans are feeling the strain of this losing streak, and you can bet the players are, too. The players know the stakes. The players know the stakes. And you can bet they know there are eight teams within seven points of a playoff spot today.

And as this road trip rolls to Nashville, Buffalo and Montreal (all teams that are struggling as well),  the urgency to right the ship will grow more intense, and the leadership — on the ice, not the coaches or the management group — will have to ensure that this team is an exception to the U.S. Thanksgiving playoff predictor. These are three winnable games.

So, now is not the time to panic. But this road trip might just be an early indicator of how serious this issue truly is.

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