Many may look to the lack of star power on the Winnipeg Jets roster and believe they need upgrades to their offense to improve, but their 2.70 goals for ranks in the top half of the league and their 5-on-5 ratio was a more than respectable 0.99. Instead, it is their goals against (2.95) that is cause for concern. Sure, their leading scorer was Blake Wheeler, who only had 64 points, but Evander Kane is a bona fide top-line winger after his first of many 30-goal seasons. Captain Andrew Ladd can score with anyone around the front of the net and is a top-six guy. The fact of the matter is, they are fast and get contributions from up and down the lineup. Their offense is also young and sure to improve. Kane is only 20-years-old; last year’s top pick Mark Scheifele will make the roster at 19-years-old; Ladd, Wheeler and Brian Little are 26-, 25-, and 24-years-old respectively. But that 2.95 (26th in the league) goals against number really stands out as something that needs fixing. Sure, some of those are a product of their up-tempo game, and yes, backup goalie Chris Mason had a porous .898 SV%. But if the team is truly committed to Ondrej Pavelec (24-years-old) as their goalie of the future, they will need him to really improve his game, as last year’s numbers were average at best (29-28-9, 2.91 GAA, .906 SV%). Pavelec shows flashes of brilliance, but he lacks the consistency that starting goalies on playoff teams provide. I think he and the team would be better served by employing a backup that could not only teach but push Pavelec for starts. Tomas Vokoun would have been perfect, but the Penguins have already nabbed him. Other potential targets: Martin Biron, Jose Theodore, Johan Hedberg, Joey McDonald, Scott Clemmensen, Antero Niittymaki, Al Montoya, Jonas Gustavsson, and Michael Leighton. Another problem is their defensive depth: they have none. They have a fairly decent top-four with the offensive dynamos Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom with the solid defensive-minded Ron Hainsey and Zach Bogosian. Of course one problem is that the two offensive guys play on the same pairing, which makes them vulnerable. Look at the L.A. Kings’ pairings in the playoffs, where each has an offensive guy with a defensive guy. After the top-four, they saw eight different defensemen see time on the bottom pair, but none of them project as a true top-six guy on a playoff team. They also don’t have any high-ceiling defensemen in their system, with only Paul Postma projecting as a decent NHL player (according to Hockey’s Future). The Jets will have a ways to go to reach the projected salary cap floor, so they can afford to target at least two defensemen in free agency. While they aren’t likely to be in the Ryan Suter sweepstakes, they should make strong efforts for the likes of Matt Carle, Dennis Wideman, Michal Rozsival, Filip Kuba, Barret Jackman, Bryce Salvador, Hal Gill, Kurtis Foster and Bryan Allen. The Jets averaged the exact same number of shots for and shots against, yet were outscored by 21 goals on the season. Addressing their goaltending situation, while spending to improve their defense should help them take a step forward next season. Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan