Jets GM Cheveldayoff defends inaction amid losing streak
Posted January 5, 2026 2:52 pm.
Last Updated January 5, 2026 7:40 pm.
The Winnipeg Jets have plummeted to last in the NHL during a nine-game losing streak that is the longest since the team returned to Manitoba in 2011.
Yet since that losing streak began on Dec. 15, the Jets have stuck with the same roster even as veterans Jonathan Toews, Nino Niederreiter and Gustav Nyquist, among others, have been mired in long scoring slumps. Defenceman Elias Salomonsson is the only skater who has been shuttled between the NHL and AHL’s Manitoba Moose in the past month, and he was re-assigned to the AHL on Dec. 5.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff defended his decision not to look for a spark from within during a press conference with local media on Monday.
“For us, roster does come into play,” Cheveldayoff said. “You are limited to a certain extent with the roster as it is.”
Later, Cheveldayoff was asked further about placing a player on waivers and recalling someone else from the AHL for a fresh look.
“The big thing, again, you can call players up, you can put players in lineups, (but) I think what everyone needs to understand is if you take a look at our roster right now, there’s a lot of veterans on this team… And over the course of their careers, a lot of these guys have had tremendous success and over the course of this season, a lot of these guys have had some real frustration. And that’s difficult,” Cheveldayoff said.
“As a player in the National Hockey League, the line to success is not straight but the forgiveness or the ability to last a long time and have a consistent career, that’s difficult. So if you put a player in the wrong situation, and they can’t achieve the success that they need to advance their career, that’s a dangerous thing. It’s easy just to say, put a guy in the lineup and play them. But if you’re supposed to be a top-six player or you’re supposed to play to your identity as a player and you don’t, that’s a very difficult thing as an athlete and as an individual to try to push forward.”
The top three scorers on the Moose this season are veterans David Gustafsson (20 points), Walker Duehr (19) and Mason Shaw (19). Only four Jets skaters have more points in the NHL.
The Jets will get another chance to snap their losing streak when they return home to host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
