For the last 18 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 19th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer/fall. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Mason Appleton, Mathieu Perreault, Trevor Lewis, Nate Thompson, Tucker Poolman, Derek Forbort, Jordie Benn, Laurent Brossoit

Incoming – Riley Nash, Nate Schmidt, Brenden Dillon

Impact of Changes – The Jets didn't make any major changes to their core, with the most significant changes on the team coming on the defense. By adding Schmidt and Dillon, life might become easier for Connor Hellebuyck. Both could log top-4 minutes for a defense that took a hit two offseasons ago when it lost Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot.  

This will also be the first full season in Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois. He may be more settled after the turmoil of the end of his time in Columbus, followed by the quarantine before he could join his new teammates. All of that may have affected him, as he finished the season at below a half point per game (21 PTS in 46 GP). Because he's slotted in as a second-line option with second-unit power-play minutes, Dubois' upside with his new team might be limited.

Ready for Full Time – There's a good chance that Kristian Vesalainen will play his first full NHL season.

The 2017 first-round pick has taken a few years to get to the NHL, and it might take him a few more before he hits his stride. That's because he's a big-bodied (6-4, 209 lbs.) forward, and these types of forwards typically need 300-400 games before they become worth starting in fantasy leagues.

Because of the forward depth on the Jets, Cole Perfetti may be back in the OHL again. After playing for Team Canada at the World Juniors, Perfetti scored 17 points in 13 games with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL last season. He is still technically ineligible for the AHL, playing there because of the COVID exception to the rule. He has considerable upside as a playmaking center, yet the Jets have no need to rush him.   

Ville Heinola appears NHL ready, and there may be a roster spot for him. He surprisingly made the Jets in his draft year, but since then he has played in a number of different leagues, including the AHL, the World Junior, and Liiga. He has provided decent scoring in all three of these levels and even did so in his NHL stint (five points in eight games). However, don't expect the Jets to rush him into important situations right off the bat.    

Fantasy Outlook:

The Jets have plenty of fantasy options to choose from. Mark Scheifele has been a point-per-game player for five consecutive seasons and the likely team-leading scorer again. Blake Wheeler is still maintaining close to a point-per-game pace, but at age 35 how long will that last? Kyle Connor's goal pace and point pace were slightly down, but he has still been the Jets' leading goal scorer for the past two seasons. Even without first-unit power-play time, Nikolaj Ehlers was a point-per-game player (46 points in 47 games), so imagine what he'd be like if he could get onto the first unit. Paul Stastny has re-signed with the Jets and could be back on the first-unit power play. Andrew Copp broke out with his best season, which was helped by some time in the top 6.

Josh Morrissey ended up with more power-play minutes per game than Neal Pionk. In spite of that, Pionk has established himself as the better fantasy option in both pure scoring and peripherals. Morrissey's point totals have declined in each of the last two seasons, although some of his advanced stats suggest a bit of bad luck. Morrissey logs the most minutes of any blueliner overall, but which defenseman will start the season on the first-unit power play remains up in the air.  Schmidt had scored at a near half point per game pace in his three seasons in Vegas, so he will look to bounce back after a rough season in Vancouver. 

Hellebuyck played the most games (45) and faced the most shots (1335) of any goalie in 2020-21. The shot total was 100 more than any other goalie. Since the Jets didn't sign a veteran backup, and since Eric Comrie likely won't push him for starts, Hellebuyck could be the most worked goalie again. As a result, expect high win totals and decent ratios.

Fantasy Grade: B+ (last year was also a B+)

Check out the rest of the Dobber team previews here.