There are a lot of categories to lead the league in, but age usually isn’t one that comes to mind – nor is it something one would typically strive for.
As of the first week of the 2025-26 NHL season, the Winnipeg Jets are the league’s eldest team. Yes, they are older than Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang’s Pittsburgh Penguins. They are older than Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals and Brad Marchand’s Boston Bru…. err, Florida Panthers.
A veteran-heavy team in last year’s postseason, the President’s Trophy winning club only got older as the calendar flipped to 2025-26. Sure, the elevation of Nikita Chibrikov and Parker Ford certainly helped bring that number down, but other offseason additions did the exact opposite.
Thirty-seven-year-old Jonathan Toews, Tanner Pearson and Gustav Nyquist singlehandedly raised the average right up to almost exactly 30 years of age.
As it currently stands, the Jets are the No. 1 team in terms of age, with an average age of 29.73 years. Montreal is the youngest at 25.27 years of age. Only four other clubs see averages begin with the digits 29.
But with that age comes experience, right?
Correct.
The Jets have the second-most total NHL games played within their roster among all NHL clubs, trailing only the back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning Panthers (13,236 games played). Winnipeg’s 13,112 career games played is No. 2 on the list.
Teams such as Montreal and Buffalo are sitting in the low 6,000s.
With the veteran additions, Winnipeg is hoping to build upon its second round finish from last season and model its roster after Paul Maurice’s club, in hopes of capturing the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
Will the older, more veteran team get the job done?
Time will tell.
