ANALYSIS: Jets’ Connor 1 point away from career milestone

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Peggy

Based on his low-key personality, Wednesday might just be another game for Kyle Connor. But what stands to come out of it could be considered anything but inconspicuous or insignificant.

Entering the contest in Detroit, the Winnipeg Jets’ star left winger sits on 499 career points. A single point in the form of a goal or an assist Wednesday evening to begin this two-game road trip would make Connor the fastest in Jets history to reach 500 points since relocation.

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Yes, quicker than Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele. In fact, potentially 23 games faster than his former captain and 30 sooner than his longtime linemate.

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And fittingly for Connor, the milestone could come before family and friends in his hometown Wednesday, while extending a nine-game point-scoring streak in the process.

Now in his eighth full season with the Jets, Connor is just entering his prime. And unlike any other player since 2011 to call Winnipeg home, the Michigan product continues to pour in goals and accumulate points. His eight goals and 14 points in nine games to date have him leading the team and among the top scorers in the NHL.

Moreover, he’s well on pace for another career year, one that might surpass his 47 goals and 93 points from just three seasons ago, and one that could deliver Winnipeg’s first 50-goal NHL scorer since Keith Tkachuk in 1996.

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Simply put, Connor is the best pure goal scorer to wear a Jets uniform in decades – an absolute edge-of-your-seat type of player and truthfully one of the best in the league.

And with the potential to prove that Wednesday – in his hometown, no less – by adding one more point for 500 in his career and reaching the milestone faster than any relocation Jets player before him, there won’t be anything inconspicuous or insignificant about Wednesday being just another game.