It’s far too early to call it an identity crisis.

But for the Winnipeg Jets, the first eight games of the new season have provided more questions than answers when it comes to what this team is going to eventually look like.

After putting together a three-game winning streak, the Jets have dropped consecutive games and find themselves at the .500 mark, with four wins and four losses.

Following Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, captain Blake Wheeler spent several minutes discussing the subject of identity.

“We have the majority of our season left. I think we’re still trying to establish ourselves and figure out our identity as a team,” said Wheeler. “We’re very much a work in progress. We’re a competitive group and we’ve come to work every single day since training camp. That’s a great thing to fall back on. Tighten a few things up.”

But what’s that identity going to look like when the Jets have a bit more time to figure some things out?

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I wish I had a better answer. I’m not sure exactly,” said Wheeler, who quickly collected his thoughts and provided some insight. “We want to be a real good defensive team and work from there. We’re confident in our ability to put pucks in the net, but if you’re constantly chasing the game from two or three back, you just can’t do it every night.”

When Paul Maurice took over as Winnipeg’s head coach from Claude Noel in January 2014, one of his first – and most important – tasks was to help forge an identity for the group.

The three pillars he quickly identified were that the Jets were young, they were fast and they would need to be tough to play against.

The first two pieces of the foundation definitely still apply, while the third is still a work in progress and the definition has changed a bit over the years.

Back in those early days, the Jets were hard to play against because they played a physical brand of hockey that was reliant on finishing every check – as evidenced in the 2015 first round series with the Anaheim Ducks, where the hits piled up on both sides.

But the Jets came to an organizational decision after that sweep, one that saw them inject more skill into the lineup.

That didn’t mean they planned to eliminate the hard to play against part of their mantra, it just meant they were making a bit of a philosophical shift.

The Jets still wanted to be difficult to play against, but now it was the combination of skill and speed that would make life tough on their opponents.

As the influx of talent came into the mix, the Jets became a group that scored more goals and found the offensive part of the game less of a challenge.

However, it made making the commitment to playing defence that much more important.

So where are the Jets at so far in 2019-20?

Well, the top-end talent is undeniable and the Jets still have ample firepower.

With 25 goals (3.13 goals per game) through eight games, the Jets are in the middle of the pack.

No issue there and it’s a number that could be sustainable.

However, the Jets have surrendered 30 goals (3.75 goals per game) and that leaves them near the bottom of the league (25th overall).

It doesn’t take a mathematician to see that running into the negatives in goals for/goals against differential isn’t a recipe for success in the NHL.

Nor does it take a rocket scientist to know that allowing goals at that rate is going to make it incredibly challenging on the Jets’ offensive attack.

But it’s important to remember that a blowout like the 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins can skew the early numbers.

That doesn’t change the fact the Jets are going to need to clamp down defensively if they want to be a playoff team.

“Well, first of all we don’t have everybody in our lineup and I don’t know if that day comes for us,” said Maurice. “Our forward group isn’t that much altered from last year. It’s slightly different, so we still think we can play a real fast game and score goals. We’ve got enough offensive firepower. Our back end looks a whole lot different.

“We’re going to have to identify and become a team that plays a five-man defensive game. On the fourth goal, we took some unusual routes in the defensive zone that we need to clean up. That would be a work in progress all year. That’s not getting a switch flipped next week and now we’re a defensive juggernaut. We’re going to have to work really, really hard to be a solid defensive team.”

One of the biggest areas of concern for the Jets to date has been a leaky penalty kill.

After allowing two more goals (in just two opportunities) to the Coyotes on Tuesday, the Jets are operating at a 60 percent efficiency rating.

Yes, it’s early but the penalty kill was a major area of concern last season and winning the special teams battle more often than not is incredibly difficult if a hockey club isn’t more proficient in this area.

“We have 74 games left, so obviously it’s something to work on,” said Andrew Copp. “We have to get better if we’re going to compete in the Central.”

Of course it takes time to sort through early season issues, but the Jets seem to realize there’s an urgency that comes along with that.

“We have a lot of confidence in terms of the players we have in the room. We feel like we should be one of the better teams in the league and we should give ourselves a chance to win on any given night,” said Copp. “Obviously trying to figure out how we mesh together and what our identity is, like (Wheeler) said, is part of the process through the first 15-20 games. But we can’t just give ourselves 15-20 games to figure it out. We’ve got to figure it out right now.”

Part of figuring some things out for the Jets could be linked to personnel.

Bryan Little is making progress after sustaining a concussion in the final game of the preseason and could return later this week.

But the biggest question pertains to when and if defenceman Dustin Byfuglien might return to the fold.

TSN insider Darren Dreger reported Tuesday there was some growing optimism that Byfuglien may decide to play this season.

I spoke briefly with Byfuglien’s agent Ben Hankinson on Tuesday night, though he wasn’t about to provide any hints or clues about which direction his client was leaning.

Given the personal nature of the decision, the approach Hankinson is taking is understandable.

When the time comes for Byfuglien to make a decision about his immediate future, it will certainly have a big impact on what type of team the Jets are and what their identity ultimately becomes.

Byfuglien is a game-changer, a special talent who has the ability to provide a big boost to the Jets defence corps (after undergoing a mini training camp to help him make up for lost time).

But until that time comes, the Jets are going to need to forge ahead and figure out what type of team they have and how they’re going to play.

As Wheeler said, right now these Jets are definitely a work in progress – which is perfectly normal at this stage of the season.

(Photo: Adam Hunger / USA TODAY Sports)