Behind the Bench: Scott Arniel Enters a Crucial Season in Winnipeg
Written by Josie Dinonsie
Scott Arniel’s first season as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets reached a level of success very few coaches achieve. His second made that achievement feel like a distant memory.
In the 2024-25 season, Arniel led Winnipeg to the best regular season in franchise history. With 116 points, the Jets claimed the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season team. The roster appeared to have found a formula that worked, with the team performing at a high level on both ends of the ice and looking capable of sustaining that success.
One year later, that foundation looked much less stable.
The Jets finished the 2025-26 season with a 35-35-12 record and 82 points, missing the playoffs. The 34-point drop from the previous season was more than a disappointing result for the defending Presidents' Trophy winners. It raised questions about what had changed in Winnipeg and whether Arniel could help the team find its identity again.
That contrast puts Arniel in a difficult position heading into 2026-27. His first season established him as a coach capable of leading Winnipeg to the top of the regular-season standings. The season that followed created a different kind of pressure: proving that success was not a one-season peak.
Arniel took accountability during the team's end-of-season media availability, pointing to areas the Jets needed to improve, including inconsistency and a lack of speed. He also acknowledged that reaching the team's goals would require work and collaboration between the coaching staff, players and management.
For Arniel, the challenge now goes beyond making adjustments on the ice. He has to help a group that experienced the highest point of the franchise's regular season and then watched that success disappear the following year find a way forward.
The Jets' struggles cannot be placed solely on Arniel. Front-office decisions, injuries, player development and individual performance all contributed to the team's trajectory. General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and the rest of the organization will have to play a role in determining what comes next.
But Arniel remains one of the people responsible for bringing the pieces together.
That task becomes even more complicated with the uncertainty surrounding Connor Hellebuyck. The star goaltender requested a trade in August and did not report to Winnipeg's training camp, resulting in a team suspension.
Hellebuyck was a major part of the Jets' Presidents' Trophy season, when he won both the Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy. Losing a player who has been such a central part of the team's identity would force Winnipeg to adjust far beyond simply replacing a goaltender.
If Hellebuyck's time in Winnipeg is over, Arniel will have to help establish a new defensive structure while the front office navigates a major change to the roster. The response will depend on both the players Cheveldayoff brings in and how Arniel adapts the team around them.
That is where this season becomes particularly important for Arniel.
He has already experienced what it feels like to lead Winnipeg to the top of the NHL. Now, he has to help the team respond after falling from that position. The answer will not simply be found in the standings. It will be in how Arniel and the Jets respond to the uncertainty surrounding the roster, rebuild their confidence and create a team capable of competing again.
The Presidents' Trophy remains proof of what Arniel and the Jets can accomplish together. But the season that followed complicated that success. Winnipeg is no longer simply trying to build on a breakthrough season; it is trying to recover the identity that made that season possible.
Whether Arniel leads that recovery or the organization ultimately chooses a different direction remains unknown. What has changed is the expectation surrounding him.
After reaching the top of the regular-season standings in 2024-25, Arniel enters 2026-27 with the pressure to show that Winnipeg's rise was not a one-season story.
