To quote one of my favourite movies, The Princess Bride…..
Vizzini: So, it is down to you, and it is down to me.
As the Winnipeg Jets and San Jose Sharks get set to finish the regular season of the National Hockey League’s 2025-26 campaign, the above quote is likely how the two franchises feel about each other. While there isn’t a playoff spot on the line or anything, the results of tonight’s game at the CLC will have an impact on the clubs’ lottery chances for the upcoming Entry Draft.
Currently, the Sharks are sitting with the 9th best odds in the NHL, but could increase that to 7th with a Jets’ win in regulation tonight. Yet if San Jose picks up a point or two tonight, they could rise as high as the 10th best chance. Winnipeg currently have the 7th best odds in the Lottery and only will drop to 8th if they win a clean 2 points this evening.
So both front offices will be motivated to improve their chance of picking a game changing prospect in the summer…..but typically the players on the ice will be looking to play a good game. So the results could be interesting.
WPG Jets @ SJ Sharks
Start Time: 7:00 pm Central – Canada Life Centre
Winnipeg (35-34-12) is in 26th place in the NHL with 82 points on the season, scoring 230 Goals For (tied for 25th) and allowing 254 Goals Against (tied for 17th). Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with 67 assists and 103 points. Kyle Connor is the goal scoring leader with 39 goals.
San Jose (38-35-8) is tied for the 24th best record in the league with 84 points, scoring 245 Goals For (20th) and allowing 291 Goals Against (30th). Macklin Celebrini is the Sharks’ leading goal (44), assists (68), and point getter (112).
Here is how the two clubs’ year-to-date stats compare when you look at the head-to-head data, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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Possibly a surprise to some fans, but it appears that back up Eric Comrie will be starting in goal in Game 82. Doesn’t appear any players will be coming in or out, but coach Scott Arniel did shuffle the lines up….though I am not sure I see the point of it.
I am glad that Ville Heinola will get another game, very much likely to be his last with the True North franchise since he is expected to reach free agency under the Group 6 rules (didn’t play enough NHL games to remain a RFA).
Here are the current line up projections for both clubs via PuckPedia:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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SAN JOSE SHARKS LINE UP
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What a sophomore season by Macklin Celebrini, as he increased his output from 63 pts (in 70 gms) as a rookie to 112 pts in 81 contests this year. The next closest scorers for San Jose are in the 50 pt range with guys like Will Smith (57), Alexander Wennberg (55), William Eklund (50), Tyler Toffoli (49), & Collin Graf (45).
Winnipeg only has four players in that range, with Mark Scheifele setting a career-high with 103 pts, Kyle Connor reaching the 90 pt plateau for the 3rd time in his career (93), Gabriel Vilardi also hitting a personal best with 69 pts, and Josh Morrissey clearing the 50 pt mark for the 4th straight season (55). JoMo would have had a shot at making it four years straight with 60 pts had he not missed 5 games due to injury. Cole Perfetti is only on a 40 pt pace for a full season (missed 14 gms), but over the past 4 months has increased that to 57 pts. So hopefully that is the Cole we will get next year if he is fully healthy and paired with at least one talented linemate.
That is all the time I have….but before I go, I will let you know that Jets’ prospect Sascha Boumedienne has opted to hit the NCAA portal, signaling that the defenseman will be moving on from Boston University to seek a new college squad. Can’t say I know a whole lot of the rationale behind the move, but I had thought since BU’s top LD had joined the Washington Capitals it was a sign that Boumedienne would have a bigger role with the club. But the team was not very good this season, so maybe the talent surrounding him has played a role in the decision.
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: San Jose Sharks 6 Winnipeg Jets 1
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): SJ 4.27 WPG 2.33
Expected Goals (5on5): SJ 3.50 WPG 1.49
On a night that there wasn’t much positive for the fans to appreciate, we could look to the performance of rookie Brayden Yager and his line against the Sharks. The 4th line had 7:21 of ice time and out-chanced San Jose 0.308 to 0.005 xG’s while out-scoring them 1-0 at even strength. The Lowry unit was good at limiting chances on the Jets’ goalie, but despite creating 0.401 xG’s and allowing the 2nd least against (0.173 xG), no goals went in for either club while they were playing.
Winnipeg’s other two forward lines had rough ones, getting out-scored 2-0 at 5 on 5.
Not surprising the defensive numbers are poor in a game the Jets lost 6-1, with only the least played duos (4 to 5 mins) winning the xG battle. Heinola once again ended the game with the best xG% of Winnipeg defenders…but the coaches thought he was only good enough to play for our team when they fell out of playoff contention. Best of luck in free agency Ville!!
A game to forget for Comrie….but it is very difficult to judge a tender when the team in front of him doesn’t show up to play.
Well, the NHL’s 2025-26 regular season has concluded…..and so has the Winnipeg Jets’ playing days until the next campaign. With their timely 4 game losing streak to end the year, the True Northers did lock up the 7th best odds in the upcoming Lottery Draft. That means they will have a small chance at earning one of the top 3 selections, but are more likely to end up in the 7th to 9th range.
Busy this morning, so will be brief with this final recap commentary….though I am planning on doing a couple articles looking at how the Jets’ season has played out. Are there any positives to take from the down year? Who does the statistics suggest should be moved out in the off-season? Feel free to share your thoughts on those things while I work on the new articles.
Enjoy your summer everyone and thanks for another good year at Arctic Ice Hockey. Your contributions to the discussion are always appreciated. Thanks.
