What we learned from Jets exit interviews, Day 1: Contracts, charters and cracked ribs

Josh Morrissey spent part of his Game 6 warmup fighting back tears, in awe of the man he called his best friend.

Morrissey knew more about what Mark Scheifele was going through behind the scenes than most people did. The suddenness of Brad Scheifele’s death was a surprise, but Mark Scheifele had shared with Morrissey that his dad had been ill. Brad Scheifele was familiar to Morrissey — someone he’d gotten to know on Jets dad’s trips and on golf courses through his friendship with Mark.

“It was just a devastating day,” Morrissey said. “Scheif’s my best friend, and we’ve been close for a long time … And what he was able to do mentally to play that game and play as well as he did — and obviously score that goal — it’s inspiring to me as his best friend.”

Morrissey has firsthand experience grieving his dad, Tom. He made it clear everybody’s situation is different, but: “Until you lose your dad, especially when you’re close with him like Mark was and like I was, you don’t really know how to handle it.”

So Morrissey did his best to be there for Scheifele. He picked up the phone when Scheifele called him first thing Saturday morning and went to Scheifele’s hotel room to be with him when Scheifele told him the news. Morrissey remembered Scheifele being there for him during his own grieving process and did his best to channel what he learned when his own dad passed away.

It was striking to hear Morrissey refer to his dad’s death as one of the toughest things he’s ever been through — and then to hear him express gratitude that it happened.

“I’m grateful in a way that I had the experience, as tough as it was, to be able to support my friend.”

Morrissey’s framing of the moment was selfless and showed the depth of his desire to be there for Scheifele in his toughest moments. Morrissey and Scheifele are not alone on the Jets; Kyle Connor’s dad also passed away in August 2021. It’s a bond that Morrissey acknowledged nobody wants to share, but that he’s tried to use to be there for Scheifele in recent days.

“Everyone knows how proud Brad would have been watching him play,” Morrissey said. “Even before the game, my mom texted me and I think she shared it with Mary Lou (Scheifele), but Mark and I talked about it — that our dads and KC’s dad would be up there having their drink of choice and watching the game. My heart goes out to the family. And I’ll miss Brad. One incredible person.”

Appleton, ‘haunted’ by Game 6 miss, on UFA uncertainty

Roope Hintz, Evgenii Dadonov and Miro Heiskanen all hit the post in Game 6. In the first period, Tyler Seguin put a backhand opportunity wide with Connor Hellebuyck down and out. But Dallas won the series, giving its players the gift of moving on from their mistakes.

Mason Appleton doesn’t get that same gift.

When Appleton cut up the left wing in the third period, the game was tied 1-1 and it was becoming clear the next goal could win it. Connor made a great pass to Adam Lowry, who beat Jake Oettinger with a seam pass across the slot.

It gave Appleton Winnipeg’s best chance to keep its season alive.

BY GOLLY, THAT’S OTTER’S MUSIC! 🦸‍♂️🦦 https://t.co/fZr8z7KD2Q pic.twitter.com/2s51UVUjs7

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) May 18, 2025

“The puck didn’t really settle how I wanted it to so I didn’t really hit it how I needed or wanted to,” Appleton said. “You look back at it, you score the goal and you’re winning the game. So, yeah, obviously it’s kind of haunting.”

Appleton used other words, too. It was “frustrating.” Oettinger’s save was “incredible.” It sounded clear that he’s still processing the pain of a missed opportunity.

“You think about those things for days,” Appleton said. “It’s athletes competing. It’s not pen and paper where you’re just figuring out stuff and it’s yes or no answers. That’s not how the game of hockey works. There’s what-ifs in everyday life, but there’s a million in hockey with two teams competing at that pace for 60 minutes.”

Appleton has been a key role player for Winnipeg since the Jets re-acquired him from Seattle in 2022. For the past three seasons, he’s played right wing on Lowry’s line with Nino Niederreiter, contributing to one of the best shutdown lines in the NHL. The role has often come with big minutes — in Game 6, he had the fifth-highest ice time among Jets forwards — which exposes his lack of offensive production relative to other players who play that often. From a human standpoint, it would be a shame if Appleton’s missed opportunity is what he gets remembered for in Winnipeg after all these years. From a storytelling perspective, it’s almost a perfect fit; multiple coaching staffs have promoted Appleton well beyond his offensive ability in the name of defensive play.

He’s an unrestricted free agent now. As a 29-year-old and a new father, Appleton is hoping for term on his next contract. He made it clear that he loves Winnipeg, the Jets organization and his teammates, but he also said contract talks haven’t begun in earnest.

“If we could work it out, I’d be happy to be a Jet,” he said. “We haven’t really had much communication with them. I guess hopefully in the next little bit here maybe we could get to work and see what both sides want and go from there.”

Connor, Tanev talk contracts

Kyle Connor is under contract until the end of next season. He’s also eligible for an extension this summer beginning July 1.

Winnipeg will make signing Connor a massive priority. The two-time 40-goal scorer hit 97 points this season while improving his two-way play and then added 17 points in 13 playoff games, including the assist that led to Cole Perfetti’s “Manitoba Miracle” in Game 7. He’s also an avid lover of the outdoors, spending plenty of time in ice-fishing shacks with Connor Hellebuyck throughout Manitoba’s cold winters.

It’s difficult to imagine Winnipeg coming by another 97-point player who loves Manitoba as much as Connor does; expect the Jets to be willing to pay Connor’s lofty asking price next year. If he signs, Connor is very likely to be the Jets’ first player to make north of $10 million.

He said on Tuesday he’s not too worried.

“My philosophy throughout my career is that it will always take care of itself,” he said. “I don’t stress too much about it or worry about it. When it comes, it comes. I haven’t really thought about it much. Time will take care of itself.”

Brandon Tanev’s contract will cost much, much less, but it’s more urgent if the Jets would like to retain him. Tanev, 33, made $3.5 million last season — too much for a fourth-line player — but is a big fan of the organization that signed him out of college in 2016.

“I enjoy playing here in Winnipeg. I love the city. The team’s great,” Tanev said when asked about his future. “We’ll tackle (contract talks) in the next few weeks here.”

It seems likely the Jets will explore contract discussions with Tanev, appreciating his energy level as they do, while keeping their budget in mind — as they did when Tanev signed his $3.5 million contract with Pittsburgh in 2019.

What did Hellebuyck learn this time? Will it last?

Connor Hellebuyck was the subject of two goaltending deep dives at The Athletic during these playoffs — and neither for good reasons.

Hellebuyck got his game sorted out in time to deliver two shutouts against Dallas and made several highlight-reel saves, but his overall performance was a disappointment. He demonstrated vulnerability and bravado along the way, alternating comments about having studied goaltending more than anybody with admissions that he needed to be better.

Last year at this time, Hellebuyck made waves by saying it was time to revamp the way he plays goal. He’d put too much weight on his own shoulders instead of committing to team play, he said after getting shelled by Colorado — but he’d tossed out that approach by training camp of this season. When he got shelled again by St. Louis, the criticism piled up as Hellebuyck looked genuinely rattled by the results. It’s easy to imagine fan outrage boiling over had Hellebuyck not won Game 7 or pieced himself back together in time for Round 2.

HELLE WITH THE PADDLE 😱 pic.twitter.com/pc5wJFHR7b

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) May 3, 2025

Hellebuyck said his biggest takeaway from these playoffs is that it’s possible to overcorrect his game as a response to goals against.

“That’s exactly what was going on in the first round,” he said. “Just me and the way I’ve gotten to the level I’ve gotten to is because I’ve always had an answer. I’ve always tried to fix a problem and I’ve always looked at the smallest little details and found an answer. When bad things happen when you’re doing things right, it makes you stand back and really question, ‘Maybe those tweaks weren’t right.’ But I think what I learned the most is you can’t over-tweak your game. That’s the biggest learning curve this year. You might be able to find some tweaks but you don’t want to go find a ton of tweaks in your game — it’s one little thing here and there.”

To use a made-in-Manitoba analogy, it sounded like Hellebuyck knew he’d hit an icy patch of highway but made it worse for himself by oversteering in his attempt to recover. He’s a problem-solver by nature; when the goals were piling up through traffic and screens, Hellebuyck got in his own way. Had he done enough to adapt his game? Had he done too much? Hellebuyck had fallen out of his flow state and started to doubt himself.

“The second you over-grip it and start overthinking, that’s when you lose your edge,” he said. “That applies to every sport. If you start thinking the game and start overthinking the game, then you lose the ‘it’ factor — that’s what I’ll call it. Because when you’re just out there playing, you’re just reading the game and you’re a small, tiny step ahead because you’re just playing — you’re in a zone where you’re not overthinking what’s going to happen here, here and here. You’re just like, ‘OK, that’s going to happen now and I’m expecting that.’”

A charter to Kitchener

The Jets have arranged a charter flight from Winnipeg to Kitchener, Onta., on Thursday so players and staff can attend Brad Scheifele’s funeral. It’s the type of gesture that True North consistently gets right.

They did the same for their Minnesotan players with respect to Adam Johnson’s funeral in 2023, while also helping Luke Schenn take time away from the team to see his wife and kids after the trade deadline this season. Multiple players have told The Athletic publicly and privately that these gestures help them feel valued as people, not just as players, and it’s easy to imagine it having an impact on player retention down the line.

The Jets have succeeded in extending veterans like Neal Pionk, Alex Iafallo, Vladislav Namestnikov, Dylan DeMelo and Nino Niederreiter in recent seasons — not to mention Scheifele and Hellebuyck in 2023. They each have their own reasons and their own personal situations. It would be inaccurate to say Winnipeg re-signs players solely because it treats them well during crisis moments, but the Jets have shown up for their players when it’s been needed. The players appreciate that.

Schenn’s cracked ribs and a look at next year’s defence

Luke Schenn was the first player to reveal an undisclosed injury at exit interviews, sharing that he cracked his ribs delivering a body check in Game 2 against St. Louis. The injury was painful enough for Schenn to cede his roster spot in Game 2 and Game 3 against Dallas and it stayed with him through the rest of the playoffs.

“It’s not an excuse. It’s just, you’re trying to battle through that while not being hesitant,” Schenn said. “But the training staff did an incredible job and (I) just sort of tried to push through and help the team any way I could.”

The Jets lost Schenn’s minutes by a 12-3 margin at five-on-five. He also put the Jets shorthanded six times in 11 games, tying him with Logan Stanley for the sixth-most minor penalties in the playoffs to date. Schenn was unlucky to be outscored quite that badly given Winnipeg had 48 percent of shot attempts with him on the ice, but his performance was not superior to that of third-pairing alternative Colin Miller.

Schenn did share a funny story from the handshake line against St. Louis. When he ran into his brother Brayden, the two Schenns exchanged injury information.

“He comes up after Game 7 and he goes, ‘Yeah, I’m pretty banged up,’ and I go, ‘Point,’ and he shows me the spot, and I’m like, “That’s literally where I’m sore, too.’ And my dad knew, and he didn’t tell (either) of us.”

Winnipeg has seven NHL defenceman under contract next season: Morrissey, DeMelo, Pionk, Stanley, Schenn, Miller and Ville Heinola, along with Manitoba Moose standout Elias Salomonsson. (Second-pairing stalwart Dylan Samberg is a pending RFA.) Schenn probably has more to give than he showed in the playoffs, but I’m not convinced he’s one of Winnipeg’s six best options next season.

Haydn Fleury, who is not under contract next season, said he’d “love to” stay in Winnipeg.

“I really enjoyed my time here,” he said. “My wife and kids really enjoy it. And being able to play in a city where hockey matters, for me, is huge.”

What they’re saying about Ehlers

Winnipeg’s players were all asked about Nikolaj Ehlers’ impending free agency. They sung his praises while acknowledging that the business side of the game is what it is.

“He’s one of our best players and he carries the play so much when he’s on the ice,” Connor said. “He’s a big part of our power play this year too. He’s a huge piece for us and big in our locker room too. He’s got a big voice.”

“I try not to think about those things too much, but certainly love playing with him and hope he can be back,” said Morrissey.

“I love Nik and I hope he stays, but that’s the business side of it and it’s out of my control,” Namesntikov said.

“He’s such a big part of this family and the heart and soul of a lot of things we do here,” said Hellebuyck. “Not only does he bring it on the ice, but just around the rink he’s a pleasure to be around. You know he’s going to have your back no matter what you’re going though. He’s a big part of the group and the business side is up to him and his group coming up.”

Ehlers is missing exit interviews to play at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. He scored for Denmark on Tuesday, helping the Danes qualify for the quarterfinals.

(Top photo of Connor Hellebuyck and Josh Morrissey: Cameron Bartlett / Getty Images)

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