Winnipeg's story started in August, when Connor Hellebuyck went public with a trade request. He skipped training camp and the Jets suspended him, and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has said the door is still open. In the meantime the net belongs to Stuart Skinner, who signed for 2 years in July, with Thomas Milic behind him. Cheveldayoff admitted it will take more than one player to cover for one of the best goalies of his generation. No board is posted for this one yet.
So far the Jets have gotten by. They opened 4-1-1, but look at how the wins came: 3 straight 3-2 games against Detroit, Pittsburgh and Colorado, then a 5-1 home loss to Anaheim, then a 5-2 win over Minnesota. That's a team living on the edge and mostly getting away with it. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor are still the engine up front, and Mario Ferraro came over from San Jose to add some bite on the blue line.
There's a game in between for Winnipeg. The Jets visit Chicago on Thursday, October 15, before coming home for this one, so whatever their form looks like now could change, and their goalie rotation could too. Carolina, meanwhile, sits on 3 days of rest. Those Blackhawks are the same team the Hurricanes beat 5-2 last weekend, so Thursday is also a decent measuring stick for how the Jets stack up.
The Jets have their own blue-line problem. Josh Morrissey left the Colorado game after hitting the boards and is day-to-day with a wrist injury. He missed the Wild game, and whether he plays Thursday in Chicago is the first clue about Saturday. Without him, Winnipeg's defense has to handle a Carolina forecheck that has been rolling 4 lines and burying teams.
This game probably gets decided down the middle. Carolina's offense has kept going without Hall and Jarvis, but losing Staal takes away the shutdown center who soaks up the tough minutes against guys like Scheifele. If Winnipeg's top line finds room against a thinner Carolina middle, the Jets can grind out another one-goal game at home. If the Hurricanes keep shooting from everywhere, a goalie who isn't Hellebuyck is going to be under siege all afternoon.