Winnipeg Jets superstar centre Mark Scheifele says he still believes in the team, even following a disappointing campaign which saw the team finish 26th in the NHL and former Hart Trophy-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck request a trade in the off-season.
The 33-year-old Scheifele - the long-tenured member of the Jets and a member of the team since it was moved to Winnipeg in the 2011-12 season - is an alternate captain and coming off the most productive season of his career, where he scored 36 goals and finished with a career-high 103 points.
That was one of the few bright spots for the team this past season, as the Jets finished 35-35-12 and missed the playoffs for the just the second time in their past nine campaigns. That followed an impressive season two years ago in which they won the Presidents’ Trophy before falling in the second round of the playoffs.
Scheifele is entering year three of a seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension, which is the exact same contract Hellebuyck signed in the off-season in 2023. The two star players signed matching contracts following conversations with management that general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff characterized as “heart-to-heart.”
Hellebuyck is not convinced the team can compete for a Stanley Cup title and went public with his trade request in August. Per The Athletic’s Murat Ates, Hellebuyck is not expected to attend training camp while he waits for a resolution on the trade front.
Scheifele is viewing the team in a different light than his superstar teammate: “I still believe in this team,” he said at the NHL media tour in Las Vegas this week.
Scheifele highlighted the ability of teammates such as Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi, pointed out the influx of team speed in off-season additions, citing Mario Ferraro and Stuart Skinner as “some really good pieces” and praised Winnipeg’s top young players, including this year’s top draft pick Viggo Björck, Elias Salomonsson, and Brayden Yager.
The 21-year-old Yager was selected with the 14th-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was acquired in a trade ahead of the 2024 season in exchange for Rutger McGroarty. Yager put up 30 points in 68 games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose a season ago, and made his NHL debut with the Jets in April.
“When you get the chance to skate with him, it’s not just him watching you and then going home,” Yager said of Scheifele’s attention to detail in their practice sessions in August. “He watches you and tries to help you with your game, which is an even better quality. As a leader, he cares about his future teammates.
“If you were to watch him, you’d think he’s just doing backhand passes and turning,” Yager said. “If you ask him about it, it’s so much more detailed than what it looks like.”
Scheifele is entering his 16th season with the team, and is the Jets’ franchise leader in games (961), goals (372) and points (907). He’s taken a completely different outlook than teammate Hellebuyck.
“I’m excited for the future, too,” Scheifele said. “We think we got a really good player in Viggo. And at the same time, I was in Winnipeg and skating with Brayden Yager, who looks really good. He looks like he had a great summer of training. Brad Lambert, even Danil Zhilkin, and I skated with him a couple of times in the summer.
“We got some young guys, Elias Salomonsson, who obviously had surgery in the offseason but showed some real promise last year. I’m really excited to see some of the young guys come into their game and hoping I can be a part of helping them learn the game a little bit, too.”
The Jets open their preseason schedule against the Edmonton Oilers on Sept. 19, before playing their season opener on Oct. 2 against the Boston Bruins in Winnipeg.
