There are countless reasons the Winnipeg Jets are suddenly in a world of hurt against the St. Louis Blues.

Spotty goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck. Shoddy special teams. Failing to get to the point — literally — and prevent all the offence coming from the defence. Uncharacteristic breakdowns and turnovers. A lack of scoring. The ghosts, if you believe in them, of playoffs past perhaps wreaking havoc with their collective heads.

Here’s another factor to consider and something that actually occurred off the ice but is becoming increasingly notable as this gruelling first-round best-of-seven series wears on, now tied 2-2 after a pair of lopsided road losses: The Jets made a costly mistake by failing to take advantage of the rules that apply to every NHL team.

Connor Hamilton / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Winnipeg Jets’ Vladislav Namestnikov (left) has recorded no points in three playoff games and hasn’t scored a goal since March 11.

Specifically, allowing approximately US$6 million worth of salary cap space to inexplicably gather dust as the trade deadline came and went last month. That’s a huge potential weapon left in the holster, one we’d now suggest is shooting them in the foot with every passing game.

Consider this: Winnipeg iced a 20-man lineup on Sunday afternoon that was nearly US$15 million below the regular-season salary cap of US$88.5 million, which doesn’t exactly scream going “all in” for a team fresh off winning the Presidents’ Trophy. A cap, we remind you, which disappears for the playoffs and allows teams to go over as much as they like.

Take the Colorado Avalanche, for example, who had nearly US$95 million worth of players shredding the Dallas Stars in Saturday’s 4-0 victory. The timely return of captain Gabe Landeskog, who had been buried on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), has paid off in addition to the key adds they made through trades include Martin Necas, Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle.

While the Jets didn’t have any LTIR players at the time the March 7 deadline approached, they didn’t need any to create financial flexibility. They had plenty of that already — yet only brought in bottom-six winger Brandon Tanev and depth defencemen Luke Schenn, who together accounted for not even half of their projected US$12 million available.

Hindsight will always be 20-20, but leaving millions unspent in a season like this is now looking like a major, self-inflicted wound. You could understand the restraint if they were barely clinging to a playoff spot at the time. But this was a team supposedly built to win now, one that we’ve seen spend to the cap ceiling in previous years. Yet, financially, they acted more pretender than contender.

What happened shortly after the deadline passed has really made this a tough pill to swallow with nearly US$10 million worth of players going down with injury.

Forward Gabe Vilardi suffered an upper-body issue on March 23 and hasn’t played since, a span of 15 straight games and counting. There’s optimism he could return for Wednesday’s crucial Game 5. The Jets sure could use him, especially on a sputtering power play that is just 2-for-12 so far. How quickly might he able to return to form and help the team?

Forward Nikolaj Ehlers went down with a serious lower-body ailment on April 9. He’s not even skating, which is a bad sign, and was recently spotted in a walking boot. The Jets sure could use him, especially for an offence that has mustered just five goals in the last three games. Has the pending unrestricted free agent already played his last game with the team?

Matt Slocum / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi last played on March 23, suffering an upper-body injury.

These are not minor losses. Vilardi and Ehlers are the top scoring forwards on the Jets aside from Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, who suddenly find themselves without a pair of talented teammates to help carry the offensive load. Have you seen how aggressive the Blues are targeting Scheifele and Connor? They know keeping those two in check is a huge key to success.

The domino effect of being without two top six wingers is significant and has really challenged Winnipeg’s depth. It’s exactly why general managers of very good hockey teams will usually empty the bank account. You can never have enough insurance this time of year, especially if you’re planning on a two-month march to the Stanley Cup.

At this point, it’s starting to look like the Jets might not even make two weeks.

A scoring winger would have been a valuable add with the Jets struggling to put the puck in the net. A top-four defenceman could have helped the cause, too, with the Jets getting shredded in their own end, including Schenn on several occasions.

But the most glaring area of omission when it comes to all that unused cap space was the second-line centre spot. It’s gone from a serious concern to a five-alarm blaze at this point with Vlad Namestnikov, who has held down that position for the majority of the season, going ice cold.

He has no points in three playoff games and hasn’t scored a goal since March 11 — a span now of 19 games. In fact, he has just two goals in his last 46 games overall. Those are ugly numbers for an important player who averages nearly 15 minutes a game, including power-play time. However, head coach Scott Arniel doesn’t really have any better options at this point.

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Money can’t buy you a championship, of course. We’ve seen the Jets take big swings before, most notably centre Sean Monahan and winger Tyler Toffoli last season, only to come up short. But it’s hard to imagine this organization won’t have some regrets at how the deadline was ultimately handled if they are once again one-and-done in the playoffs.

Karl DeBlaker / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers went down with a lower-body injury on April 9.

We know general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff tried to make deals which ultimately fell through. Whether it was another team swooping in with a better offer or a player with trade protection refusing to waive to come to Winnipeg, the reasons don’t really matter much right now.

This is a results-based business and, when it comes to the on-ice product, the Jets are looking a day late and many dollars short.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.