Winnipeg’s scoring core is still driving the play with its feet and finishing from every layer of the offensive zone. NHL EDGE tracking from last season points to Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi and Josh Morrissey as the Jets’ central puck-moving and goal-producing threats heading into 2026-27.
Jets notebook: Connor, Scheifele and Morrissey set the pace
Quick facts
- Kyle Connor covered 292.98 miles in all situations, ninth in the NHL and third among forwards.
- Mark Scheifele scored 18 goals from the mid-range area, tied for fourth League-wide.
- Gabriel Vilardi posted a career-best 30 goals, including 23 from high-danger ice.
- Josh Morrissey scored five long-range goals and remains eighth among NHL defensemen in goals since 2021-22, with 66.
Connor remains the Jets’ most dangerous volume shooter. The 29-year-old finished at or above the 93rd percentile among forwards in goals from mid-range ice, high-danger territory and long range, producing 14, 17 and two goals in those areas, respectively.
His 108 mid-range shots were tied for sixth in the NHL. He also generated 64 high-danger shots and 31 from distance, placing in the 88th and 97th percentiles among forwards.
The skating load behind Connor’s offense was substantial. He logged 238.33 miles at even strength, fifth among forwards, and 41.64 miles on the power play, 10th at the position.
Connor’s shot profile included a 90.91 mph hardest shot, 104 attempts between 70 and 80 mph and 39 attempts in the 80-to-90 mph band. His average shot speed was 56.62 mph, while his transition work showed up in 688 bursts between 18 and 20 mph and 162 bursts above 20 mph.
He also started 47.0 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, a 99th-percentile mark. The production follows a 2024-25 campaign in which Connor had 119 mid-range shots, tied for second in the NHL, and 18 mid-range goals, fourth overall.
Scheifele keeps finding the slot
Scheifele’s 18 mid-range goals matched Connor’s 2024-25 total and left him tied for fourth in the NHL last season. He also had 18 wrist-shot goals, tied for 11th in the League, and six slap-shot goals, tied for seventh among forwards.
The 33-year-old put 70 shots on goal from mid-range ice and 66 from high-danger areas, while scoring 11 high-danger goals. Those totals placed him in the 91st, 89th and 78th percentiles at forward.
Scheifele was one of Winnipeg’s busiest skaters, covering 290.63 miles in all situations, fourth among NHL forwards. His 246.87 even-strength miles ranked second at the position, and his 39.93 power-play miles were in the 98th percentile.
On Feb. 27 against the Anaheim Ducks, Scheifele skated 4.43 miles. That was tied for the ninth-highest single-game distance recorded by a forward last season.
His offensive-zone start rate was 47.0 percent, also in the 99th percentile. Scheifele added 693 speed bursts between 18 and 20 mph and reached a top speed of 23.44 mph, a 94th-percentile result.
The recent record is just as strong around the net. In 2024-25, he scored 25 high-danger goals, fourth-most in the NHL, while adding 10 mid-range goals, 84 high-danger shots and 56 mid-range shots.
Vilardi’s net-front value
Vilardi’s breakout to 30 goals came with a heavy dose of work near the crease. His 23 high-danger goals were tied for eighth in the NHL, and he recorded 85 high-danger shots, putting him in the 96th percentile among forwards.
He handled 45.0 percent offensive-zone starts and spent 44.8 percent of his tracked ice time in the attacking zone. Vilardi also skated 232.38 miles in all situations, a 91st-percentile total for forwards.
The trend was already visible in 2024-25, when he scored 22 high-danger goals, tied for 10th League-wide, and produced 73 high-danger shots. Those figures ranked in the 94th percentile at his position.
Morrissey remains a scoring threat from the blue line
Morrissey continues to give Winnipeg a defenseman who can finish from the point, the circles and the interior. Last season, he had five long-range goals, tied for 10th in the NHL, plus six mid-range goals and three high-danger finishes.
Among defensemen, Morrissey was tied for third with seven slap-shot goals. He put 77 long-range shots and 34 mid-range shots on net, while recording 69 shot attempts between 80 and 90 mph.
The 31-year-old covered 282.27 miles across all situations, a 97th-percentile mark for defensemen, and 34.91 miles on the power play, in the 96th percentile. He also had 53 bursts above 20 mph.
Morrissey started 42.0 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone and held a 44.3 percent offensive-zone time share. Both figures ranked strongly among defensemen.
His 2024-25 tracking file showed the same all-area shooting profile: six long-range goals, four high-danger goals, 90 long-range shots, 38 mid-range shots and 10 high-danger shots. Each category landed at or above the 90th percentile for defensemen.
Since player and puck tracking began in 2021-22, Morrissey’s 66 goals rank eighth among NHL blue-liners. For a Jets club built around its established scoring leaders, the data shows the attack is not leaning on one shooter or one patch of ice.
