Jets fan survey results, part 2: What to do with pending free agents, best chants and more

The Winnipeg Jets are off to a league-leading 16-3-0 start. They’re on pace for the best season in franchise history. They recently showed an ability to make game-by-game adjustments, deep-diving the defending Stanley Cup champs in a Monday video session before beating them 6-3 on Tuesday.

They’re also one of the few teams in playoff position projected to have plenty of cap space on deadline day.

With great potential comes great responsibility, and thankfully almost 1,000 Jets fans were up to the task in part 2 of our fan survey. You plotted the Jets’ course through the trade deadline, sorted through Winnipeg’s long list of unrestricted free agents and named your biggest wish — other than the Cup itself — for the Jets this season. When you were done with signings, trades and charting Winnipeg’s course, you took a moment to reflect.

This Jets fan survey was a treat to put together, with your passion shining through at every stage. Read on to deep dive into the decisions you made on behalf of the NHL’s top team.

What should the Jets do about Nikolaj Ehlers’ future?

Five of Winnipeg’s roster players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this summer. Most of them are scoring at a pace that would be the best of their career if they keep it up by season’s end.

Nikolaj Ehlers is at the top of this class; he’s on pace for 95 points and his position on Winnipeg’s top power-play unit gives the elite even-strength producer plenty of opportunity to maintain his scorching early results. But Ehlers is not without his detractors. Some point to his injury history, while others look only at point totals while overlooking context or point to his more underwhelming playoff history.

What should the Jets actually do about Ehlers’ future?

It turns out you’re not all that divided about it.

Seventy-two percent of you want to see Ehlers signed to a long-term contract, while 18.4 percent prioritized a short-term extension. Either way, that’s over 90 percent of you who want the all-time leading Danish-born scorer retained beyond this season.

SCHEIFELE ON HATTY WATCH AFTER GOAL NO. 2!👀#NHL pic.twitter.com/bijrvRZ0lZ

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 20, 2024

What will they do?

Ehlers’ future changed quite a bit when you were made to guess what the Jets would do.

The “long-term” option took massive losses in this question, with voters shifting toward Winnipeg letting Ehlers walk as an unrestricted free agent. It’s interesting that the majority of you see Ehlers retained for the stretch run and playoffs — only 3.5 percent of you foresaw a midseason trade — but you’re not convinced he’s here to stay.

It should be noted any contract takes sides getting on the same page. One of the write-in votes was “Ehlers determines what happens” and while the Jets do have a major role to play, you might ultimately be right.

I have no issue saying that I don’t know what comes next. I’ve long thought Ehlers’ time in Winnipeg would end with his current contract but it’s too soon to say anything is certain. I’d believe it if all options were on the table — and while I don’t expect a midseason trade, I’d put those odds a little higher than 3.5 percent.

What should the Jets do about Neal Pionk’s future?

Most of you want the Jets to keep Neal Pionk beyond this season but you were less sure than you were for Ehlers.

Pionk is only one year older than Ehlers, so I’m interpreting the move toward signing Pionk to a short-term deal as more about your view of his ability than his age. (It could also be about your view of the way different players age, I suppose, or your assessment of Winnipeg’s depth chart.) Either way, two-thirds of you want Pionk preserved.

Since that same number of you wanted him traded last summer, I guess he’s impressed you with his quickness and coverage en route to 17 points in 19 games thus far. You picked him as your most pleasant surprise in part 1 of this survey. Mind you, not everybody is sold on Pionk’s resurgence: 22.9 percent of you hope he’ll walk as a free agent.

What will they do?

Three-quarters of you see the Jets signing Pionk to a contract extension. I feel similarly confident.

Here’s what Pionk had to say about his current home.

“I would love to play here. I would love to win here,” Pionk told me in September. “I’m going into my sixth season now. Our daughter was born here. We have a house here. It’s six and a half hours away from home for both of us. Our parents come up all the time. Our friends and family come up all the time. We feel like we’re home here.”

What should the Jets do about Mason Appleton’s future?

Your votes for Mason Appleton were similar to your votes for Pionk. Most of you want Appleton retained beyond this season — just not with quite the same fervour as you had for Ehlers. Half of you want Appleton to sign a short-term contract, 16.7 percent want him to sign long-term and a quarter of you are A-OK if Appleton walks as a free agent.

What will they do?

Your view of the Jets’ plans marched almost in lockstep with your hopes. Roughly half of you expect a short-term extension, while a long-term deal narrowly edges letting Appleton walk to claim a distant second place.

I recently wrote that “pay me like you my linemates” would be a reasonable request on Appleton’s part. I’m not sure a Nino Niederreiter-esque $4 million is in his future, mind you, so I think Winnipeg would be happy to retain Appleton if it can.

The fervour returns: 84.5 percent of you want Vladislav Namestnikov brought back.

The overwhelming majority of that overwhelming majority prefers a short-term extension. That seems sensible, given the versatile forward just turned 32 and hasn’t had a contract longer than two years since his ELC. He’s up to 12 points in 19 games centering Winnipeg’s secondary scoring line after a cold start.

What will they do?

It certainly seems as though there’s a good fit here, and 61.7 percent of you foresee a short-term Jets contract in Namestnikov’s future.

But the Jets can’t sign everyone, can they?

It turns out you don’t think they will.

What should the Jets do about Alex Iafallo’s future?

This is the first and only time more of you voted to let a player hit the free agency market. I suspect you’d be warmer to Alex Iafallo’s future if he were earning less than $4 million or playing higher up the lineup than the fourth line — he’s a versatile, hardworking, smart forechecker with a good defensive stick.

He also has six points in 19 games; 45.1 percent of you hope he walks as a UFA while 30.9 percent are hoping for a short-term extension.

What will they do?

Your prediction of Iafallo’s future is similar to your hopes for it: Just over half of you think he’ll depart as a free agent. I suspect the soon-to-be 32-year-old has some playoff production in him if the Jets go on a run of any kind, but wonder what it would take for you to project a reunion.

Cole Perfetti – Winnipeg Jets (1)
Power Play Goal pic.twitter.com/SRPQnVmQkb

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 19, 2024

What do you think Kevin Cheveldayoff will do at the trade deadline?

Kevin Cheveldayoff has a propensity for making big moves whenever the Jets are legitimate threats to win a playoff round or two. He hit a home run with Paul Stastny in 2018, went big again with Kevin Hayes in 2019, took smaller swings for a few years, then went big again last season to acquire Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli and Colin Miller.

This year’s Jets lead the NHL after a record-setting start to the season and they’ve been building up cap space throughout the season. PuckPedia projects them to be able to add over $10 million in contracts on deadline day. Doesn’t it seem reasonable to project another big swing?

No, it doesn’t — at least not according to Jets fans; 46.3 percent of you project one big, smart move, while only 11.3 percent expect something more earth-shattering than that. As much fun as it would be to see the Jets draft and develop like they did in the days of yore, I think your GM is going to go bigger than you’re projecting for him.

Pick a dream trade deadline

I gave you the opportunity to spend big on a No. 2 centre and a top-four defenceman but you decided the Jets don’t need that kind of roster surgery. Instead, you’re prioritizing one big, smart addition and I wish I made you specify. Would you prefer a centre or a defenceman? Is there some other move you’d have the Jets make instead?

Thankfully 118 of you decided to spell out your dream deadline in more certain terms.

Or describe your own

Sifting through your dream trade deadline scenarios yielded four themes:

A lot of you do want the Jets to upgrade at centre. You want someone big, strong, fast and great at faceoffs, with a few of you hoping that player is so good he supplants Mark Scheifele from the No. 1 role. That would constitute a huge swing in my opinion — the only name that comes to mind is Sidney Crosby, who many of you asked for by name. Other suggested additions that caught my eye were Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri and Andrew Copp.

Even more of you wanted Winnipeg to add a big, mean, Dustin Byfuglien-esque defenceman for the playoffs. While Byfuglien himself was a unicorn of a player — all of those qualities, a great scorer and one of the game’s all-time characters — players who fit your wishlist do get moved, on occasion. I’m thinking of Mattias Ekholm, who Edmonton acquired from Nashville, or Chris Tanev, who Dallas picked up from Calgary last season. It looks like the Flames are back on track, otherwise, I’d suggest MacKenzie Weegar as a dream addition. Some of the suggestions you made included Rasmus Ristolainen, Ivan Provorov and Jamie Oleksiak.

“Our team is full of nice guys,” wrote one subscriber. “We need more mean, tough and dirty players.” To that end, another subscriber named Corey Perry and Pat Maroon as the ideal type of shift disturber. Another asked for more “filth” in terms of playing style.

Are the Jets too nice? That would be a fun column for another day.

I should make it clear a sizable number of you wanted the Jets to stand pat. “Don’t fix what isn’t broken,” wrote one subscriber. “Be careful not to mess with team chemistry,” wrote another. Some of you thought the Jets should have stopped after adding Monahan last year, citing Toffoli as a luxury who wasn’t ultimately worth it. One of you even wanted Monahan back by name.

The final wrinkle was a sizable minority of you who are sick of rental players. Some of you saw what Cheveldayoff did by adding Dylan DeMelo, Niederreiter and Namestnikov in recent seasons and then re-signing them, and you’re sick of players walking as free agents.

Here’s one response that encapsulated the group.

“Go big fish hunting only. Don’t disrupt the chemistry by adding a player only slightly better on paper since it may not lead to better results. Only add depth pieces (for the press box in case of injury) or an actual elite player.”

Do you have an all-time favourite Canada Life Centre chant?

No. 1: “Silver medal”

You threw this one at Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, referencing his loss to Canada in the gold-medal game of the 2010 Olympics.

No. 2: “Crosby’s better”

This is a Canada Life Centre staple, with Alex Ovechkin as its obvious target.

No. 3: “Where is Rutger?”

This brand-new chant made light of Rutger McGroarty, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward whose request to be traded by Winnipeg was thought to be about his desire to play NHL minutes.

No. 4: “U.S. backup”

You showered this one upon Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger as he was chased from Winnipeg’s record-setting win — and presumed American starter Connor Hellebuyck looked on:

No. 5 “Who’s your captain?”

If I’m being honest, I think this is the most ruthless one you ever pulled off. You aimed it at Joe Thornton, wearing an “A” after being stripped of the captaincy in San Jose, and it was mean:

What’s one wish, other than the Cup itself, that you have for the Jets this season?

Finally, a list of your deepest, dearest wishes:

1. Good health
2. Better attendance/more sellouts
3. Avoiding a second-half collapse
4. Cheaper beer at concessions
5. Ehlers signs long-term
6. Getting out of the first round
7. The Presidents’ Trophy
8. Playoff success, defined vaguely so as to skillfully dodge “other than the Cup”
9. Proving the haters wrong
10. Respect

Most of you kept your answers short. I thought I’d highlight these few sentences by way of celebrating your positivity to start the season.

“My wish has come true, all I want is good entertainment and they have more than fulfilled that wish. They are all giving their best effort every game. As a fan, I can’t ask for anything more. Win or lose, they’re a class act. Go Jets.”

(Photo of Nikolaj Ehlers and Neal Pionk: James Carey Lauder / Imagn Images)