The Winnipeg Jets were a wagon in December, going 10-1-2 and putting the league on notice for their historic stinginess. The team sits 22-9-4 on the season — their best record through 35 games in Jets 2.0 history — and is in a tight three-way battle with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division.
“We keep playing the same way. We’re a resilient group, It’s a hard-working group. We know we don’t give up much. We just stay in the fight,” head coach Rick Bowness told reporters after the Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on New Year’s Eve to end the 2023 portion of the schedule on a high note and sweep the home-and-home with their closest geographical rival.
The Jets got strong contributions from up and down their lineup, and in some ways it seems almost unfair — and was certainly difficult — to narrow things down to their top three players of the month. But narrow things we must, and narrow things we have.
3: Nikolaj Ehlers
Nikolaj Ehlers has extremely high standards, and he put them on display by both what he did on the ice and what he said off of it.
The dynamic Dane recorded five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in the month and is currently a part of a dominant top line of him, Mark Scheifele, and Gabriel Vilardi that’s been giving opponents fits with its offensive ability and creativity.
Related: Jets’ Top Line of Ehlers, Scheifele, & Vilardi Dominating
However, Ehlers was candid before Christmas that he is not satisfied with his play. “I’ve been playing pretty badly over the last couple of games, so you’ve gotta think it’s going to be a good one tonight,” Ehlers told the Sportsnet broadcast ahead of the game against the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 20.
Those comments came after he recorded six points in his past three games and had a four-point night on Dec. 13 against the Los Angeles Kings in a roaring comeback 5-2 win.
Ehlers put up two points against the Red Wings — and made a highlight-reel kick pass that led to the Jets’ final goal — but still wasn’t happy with his own performance, saying he “played like s—t” for the first and parts of the third periods.
Ehlers recorded just one more point in the last four December games after that, but is still up to 11 goals and 16 assists for 26 points to sit fourth on the team. He has left his slow start (he had just 11 points by the end of November) in the rearview mirror.
Perhaps his refusal to be self-satisfied and his continual push to improve are just byproducts of being a hockey coach’s son. Wherever that stems from, the Jets will certainly take it.
2: Connor Hellebuyck
Connor Hellebuyck has also left his poor start to the season in the rearview and is now playing up to the calibre everyone expected he would after signing a massive seven-year contract in September.
December was Hellebuyck’s best month of the season thus far, as he posted a 7-0-2 record with a 1.88 goals against average and .934 save percentage while allowing more than two goals in a start just once (he allowed three against the Canadiens on Dec. 18, and that game went into overtime.)
Overall, he has a 16-6-3 record, 2.35 GAA, .918 SV%, and one shutout and his goals saved above expected number at five-on-five is the best in the NHL. Those numbers are despite him allowing 14 goals in his first three starts and having a sub .900 SV% entering November.
The Jets have not allowed more than three goals in a game in 25-straight contests, a franchise and NHL record (the previous record was 22, held by the 2019-20 Tampa bay Lightning.) Hellebuyck’s “big-and-boring” play style — that is, his positional soundness and economy of movement — have been a big part of that impressive feat.
The 30-year-old also benefitted from the Jets’ team-wide defense being much tighter than at any point in recent memory. Jets’ squads of past seasons relied on the masked man to bail them out —and as went Hellebuyck, generally so did the team in the sense that if he struggled, they lost — but they’ve made his life comparatively easier this season.
1: Gabriel Vilardi
Gabriel Vilardi didn’t record a point in the final three games of December, which seems like a long drought considering how dominant he was for most of the month.
Related: Jets’ Gabe Vilardi One-on-One: Overcoming Early Career Adversity
It’s clear Vilardi is more than back up to speed after missing 17 games earlier in the season with an MCL sprain — quite plainly, he’s playing the best hockey of his career. The 24 year old, who is finally getting his shot to be a top-line player as the right winger on that top line with Ehlers and Scheifele, recorded seven goals and seven assists for 14 points and a plus-13 rating. Vilardi only got the chance after Kyle Connor went down with a lower body injury on Dec. 10, and he’s made good and helped the Jets keep winning.
Vilardi was especially prolific in the five games ahead of the Christmas break, as he put up six goals and six assists for 12 points, including a four-point effort against his former club in the Kings on Dec. 13 — a bit of a revenge performance considering former teammate Blake Lizotte caused Vilardi’s injury on Oct. 17 with a trip from behind Vilardi felt was stupid and intentional.
Bowness recently spoke on why Vilardi has been so successful of late.
“He’s so good around the net because he hangs onto it. He’s so big and strong, got great vision and has patience with the puck of when to pass it and when not to pass it and hang on to it. He’s been very, very impressive for us,” Bowness said after Vilardi had a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win over the Red Wings on Dec. 20.
While the top line hasn’t registered a goal in the three games since the Christmas break, the inspired brand of hockey Vilardi is currently showcasing after a 23-goal 2022-23 is a positive storyline heading into the 2024 portion of the schedule, which begins with a home matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 2.