Jets’ Cole Perfetti Excelling in Contract Year

Of all players on the Jets, he leads the team at even strength in points on a per 60-minute basis. Nino Niederreiter , Mark Scheifele, and Mason Appleton trial him in that category as he continues to produce at a high level.

The storylines surrounding the Jets forward group have been focused on the top line, and Adam Lowry’s line, and rightfully so given how well they’ve produced. The lack of coverage results in the second line flying under the radar as an analytically dominant line, even with Nikolaj Ehlers continuing to work his way back up to full speed.

According to Money Puck , the second-line of Ehlers, Perfetti, and Vladislav Namestnikov is currently holding a 56.7 percent expected goals percentage, a 59.4 percent Corsi %, and have outscored their opponents 4-3 in 101 minutes together.

Gabriel Vilardi is currently four weeks removed from suffering an MCL sprain, which was set to sideline him for 4-6 weeks, making his return imminent. When he is able to return, you may see him slide in between Ehlers and Perfetti on that second line, therefore bumping Namesntikov back down to the fourth line. That could elevate the second line even further and put them in the same conversations as the lines around them.

Cole Perfetti Has Been Responsible at Both Ends of the Ice

Much of the conversation around Perfetti’s start to the season was focused on him being benched late in games while the Jets are trying to protect leads. That conversation has cooled a bit as Perfetti has seen an uptick in ice time during November. In Oct, he averaged 13:18 minutes per game, and that number has climbed up to 15:10 in the month of Nov.

A lot of that can be attributed to him being promoted to the top power-play unit, but he is also beginning to gain the trust of the coaching staff in his own end of the ice. This player card from Evolving Hockey shows that he has been a net positive defensively, at least by the analytics, through the first 14 games of the season.

Perfetti posting positive defensive analytics in his third season is a massive development for the Jets organization, and an awfully good sign going forward. Plenty has been said about his 5-foot-11, 185-pound frame, and his inability to win puck battles along the wall, and yet he has still been able to post those positive results.

Jets Continue Five-Game Home Stand on Tuesday vs. Devils

The Jets have secured points in eight of their past 10 games, and they look to continue that stretch of play on Tuesday, Nov. 14 against the Devils. Their home stand wraps up with a back-to-back on Friday, Nov 17 and Saturday, Nov 18, against the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes.

The Jets have been able to flex their five-on-five muscle early on in the season, leading the NHL in expected goals against per 60. They have been a dominant group at even strength, and if they can bring their special teams’ units to league average, they could find themselves on a winning streak sooner rather than later.