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Connor Hellebuyck sounds off on his future with the Jets.

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The Winnipeg Jets had their season come to a disappointing end on Thursday when they fell to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, doing so in just 5 games.

Many believe that the early exit for the Jets could mark the end of an era in Winnipeg, especially after fiery comments from Jets head coach Rick Bowness following the Jets’ elimination in Game 5. In fact, Bowness’ comments about his own players were so harsh that National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman was compelled to say that this current core of the Jets has in fact come to an end.

“If there was any question that it meant the end of this particular core, I think that eliminates it,” said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. “I think that ends the question, if there was any doubt.”

It’s one thing to hear these kind of comments from an NHL insider, but it is another matter entirely when members of that very same core also start hinting at a future outside of Winnipeg.

On Saturday, Jets star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made comments that left a great many questions about his future as a member of the Winnipeg Jets. If the Jets are intending to move towards a rebuild, it sounds like Hellebuyck doesn’t intend to be a part of that situation.

“I’m not interested in a rebuild. I just want to compete…” said Hellebuyck on Saturday.

Hellebuyck also added that he wants to win a Stanley Cup, and is cognizant of how much time he has left in his NHL career.

“My main goal is to win a Stanley Cup… I’m starting to run out of time,” admitted Hellebuyck.

As per Murat Ates of The Athletic, Hellebuyck also confirmed that he has not had any discussions about an extension with the Jets as he is set to head into the final year of his current deal.

Hellebuyck had another strong performance in the regular season with a 2.49 goals against average and a .920 save percentage over 64 appearances for the Jets, and he would almost certainly be one of the most highly sought after commodities as either a free agent a year from now or as a potential trade candidate prior to then.

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Blake Wheeler fires back at Rick Bowness on Saturday.

Former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler and his teammates were raked over the coals by their head coach Rick Bowness after being eliminated from Stanley Cup playoff contention, and now Wheeler is firing back.

On Saturday, Wheeler called out Bowness for publicly bashing the Jets players, implied Bowness had been dishonest, and suggested that his comments would have been better received had they been delivered in private.

“I thought Bones had an opportunity to address us as a team,” said Wheeler on Saturday. “He could’ve been honest with us, handled it behind closed doors… I didn’t like how he handled himself after the game.”

Earlier in the week, Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness unloaded on his players after they were eliminated in 5 games at the hands of the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Bowness went off on a tirade that you don’t often see from modern day coaches in the National Hockey League, one in which he made no effort to spare the potentially hurt feelings of the players in the Winnipeg Jets’ locker room.

“Overall thoughts? I’m so disappointed and disgusted right now… that’s my thoughts.” said a noticeably irate Bowness after Game 5. “No pushback, but it’s the same crap we saw in February,” said Bowness.

Although Bowness did not specifically call out any players by name during his rant, he made it clear that he wasn’t directing his ire at the team’s fourth liners.

“Their better players were so much better than ours, it’s not even close,” said a genuinely disgusted Rick Bowness. “Their better players were so much better than ours tonight, they deserved to win. They were the better team in the regular season, they were the better team in this series.”

It would come as a surprise to no one if Wheeler was included among the group of players that Bowness was calling out in his tirade and it may even be a sign that Wheeler, who was stripped of the captaincy prior to the start of the season, has worn out his welcome in Winnipeg.

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Jets confirm the bad news for Josh Morrissey.

The Winnipeg Jets have just confirmed some bad news.

According to an official announcement from Jets public relations, Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey will not return to Game 3 after he suffered an unspecified injury in the first period of today’s game.

It is unclear exactly how Morrissey was injured, but prior to leaving the ice he was involved in an awkward collision with Las Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud. Subsequently, Morrissey struggled to get off the ice before taking a seat on the Jets bench, but he would not return to the ice.

Morrissey was on the ice for just his second shift of the game when he suffered the injury.

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Dillon and Kolesar trade blows just 49 seconds into the game.

The Las Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets are all tied up at one game a piece in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and it is perhaps for this reason that tensions were running high during Saturday’s Game 3.

Tempers flared just 49 seconds into the game after the Jets’ Brenden Dillon took exception to a hit from the Golden Knights’ Keegan Kolesar, a relatively harmless looking hit to the Jets’ Adam Lowry.

Dillon immediately went after and challenged Kolesar who appeared more than willing to engage with his opponent, and the two men squared off for what would prove to be a back and forth bout. Both men traded jabs and body shots with Dillon appearing to land the harder shots, and eventually it would be Kolesar that would tie Dillon up which in turned forced the officials to separate the two men.

It was a great showing from both combatants, one that surely set the tone for the remainder of today’s game.

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Rick Bowness shares a devastating update on Josh Morrissey.

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The Winnipeg Jets have just confirmed the worst.

According to an official update from Jets head coach Rick Bowness, veteran defenseman Josh Morrissey will miss the remainder of the first round due to a “lower body injury” that he suffered in the opening moments of Game 3.

Morrissey was on the ice only briefly, less than a minute and a half of total ice time, before an awkward collision with Las Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud appeared to cause the injury. Morrissey could be seen struggling to get off the ice, but he would make it back to the Jets bench before eventually leaving the game for good.

It’s hard to oversell how devastating of a loss this is for the Jets on the blue line, especially considering the length of time that Morrissey is likely to be out with the team already ruling him out for the entire first round.