Plenty at stake in season finale

Meaningless game? Not so fast.

The Winnipeg Jets still have plenty to play for Thursday night as they wrap up the regular season, even if the result against the Vancouver Canucks doesn’t change the immediate future.

Whether they end the night with a record of 52-24-6, 51-25-6 or 51-24-7, the Jets will finish second in the Central Division and have home-ice advantage in their first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche.

It’s expected the best-of-seven series will start Monday, April 22 at Canada Life Centre.

However, dig a little deeper and there’s quite a bit at stake. Let’s count the ways:

1) Stingy squad — The Jets have a golden opportunity to get their hands on some hockey hardware in the form of the William M. Jennings Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL team that allows the fewest goals in the 82-game campaign.

It is theirs for the taking as long as they don’t give up four or more against the Canucks. Winnipeg enters play with 197 goals against, while the Florida Panthers have already played their final game and sit at 200. Two or less would give the Jets the prize to themselves, while three would mean sharing it with coach Paul Maurice’s crew.

“For sure, I think it means something,” defenceman Dylan DeMelo said Wednesday afternoon following an optional skate at the downtown rink. “It means we have a total buy-in from everybody. It speaks to our team play. It’s a nice thing to have, I’m sure, that we can kind of hang our hat on.”

DeMelo said the fact the Jets are in running shows how far they’ve come.

“It’s definitely been a big transition. The team when I first got here was a little more run-and-gun, OK with trading chances as long as we got ours,” said DeMelo, who is second in the NHL in plus-minus at plus-45.

He trails only Florida blue-liner Gustav Forsling, who is plus-56.

“I think you realize pretty fast you’re not going to win that way. It definitely took a mindset change. Obviously, different personnel too that kind of helped buy into that process. And obviously the coaching change with Rick coming in and the staff we have here emphasizing that,” DeMelo added. “I think we realize now more than ever what it takes to hopefully go far. I feel really comfortable with our game…”

2) Might as well jump — It’s false to say Thursday’s game has no impact on the standings. It actually does. A Jets victory vaults them over the Canucks and into second in the Western Conference, meaning they would have home-ice advantage against any opponent through the first three rounds other than the Dallas Stars.

The Jets would also leap ahead of the Boston Bruins and Florida in the Eastern Conference, meaning only the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes would have home-ice should Winnipeg ultimately meet either team in the Stanley Cup Final.

Hey, it doesn’t hurt to have every potential advantage in your back pocket.

Last but certainly not least, the Jets could lay claim as the best Canadian team in the NHL, at least during the regular season. Although that might not mean a ton to the players, no question fans would enjoy the bragging rights that come with it.

3) Making history — The 2017-18 Jets set a new franchise benchmark with 52 wins, which this current edition can match with a positive result against Vancouver.

Doing so would mean concluding the campaign on an eighth-game winning streak, which would also tie a franchise high established earlier this season.

Sure, the playoffs are “a whole new animal,” as DeMelo said Wednesday. But these records demonstrate how well this group has performed, especially down the stretch,

4) Rest vs. rust vs. risk — Jets coach Rick Bowness wasn’t ready to reveal his lineup for Game 82, but he admitted it’s a safe bet to assume the five players who were healthy scratches in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken would all see action in order to stay sharp while also allowing some regulars to rest (and avoid any risk of injury).

That means forwards David Gustafsson, Cole Perfetti and Rasmus Kupari and defencemen Nate Schmidt and Colin Miller will all play.

“It’s a huge deal for us,” said Gustafsson, who has performed admirably in spot duty but now finds himself squeezed out of a deep, healthy roster. “It’s the last game of the regular season to really show something in, and if you have a good game you might have a chance to be a player in the playoffs.”

With Morgan Barron suffering a lower-body injury on Tuesday, Gustafsson would likely be the next man up if the fourth-line winger can’t be ready in time for the start of the playoffs. (Bowness wouldn’t rule Barron out, only to say he won’t play Thursday).

The Jets have seven players who have appeared in every single game this year — DeMelo, Josh Morrissey, Nikolaj Ehlers, Mason Appleton, Adam Lowry, Alex Iafallo and Neal Pionk — so, how many of those guys will be lobbying to keep their perfect attendance streak intact?

“I’d definitely like to play,” said DeMelo, who has never had an 82-game season on his resume.

“Early in my career I was healthy scratched a lot. Then you have some tough injuries along the way. Broke my wrist (and) I was out two months. Broke a finger, out six weeks. Things like that, that are kind of out of your control. Some bad bounces. To play 82, that’s something to take a lot of pride in.”

It’s not clear who, along with Barron, might take a seat. It’s also possible the Jets decide to call up a handful of players from the Manitoba Moose — who were scheduled to play Wednesday night in Milwaukee — to give them an NHL game.

Laurent Brossoit will make his 22nd start in net, as Connor Hellebuyck finishes with a total of 60. The game will likely mean plenty to Brossoit, a pending unrestricted free agent who has established himself as arguably the best backup in the league and will likely get a more lucrative contract offer from another club this summer.

In that sense, this could be his swansong with the Jets.

Regardless of what the roster looks like, Bowness said it’s important to keep building momentum.

“You want the playoffs to start. But we have a game to play (Thursday) night. We want to go out there and play with good habits and play the right way and get ready for Colorado,” said Bowness.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg