Too early to speculate on deadline deals, says Jets GM

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This article was published 09/02/2022 (1305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the Winnipeg Jets currently outside the playoff line looking in, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was asked to peek into the near future of his team.

Boasting a record of 19-17-7, the Jets are seven points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot. The hope is they can continue to make up ground over the final 39 regular-season games, enough to leapfrog the five teams currently ahead of them for the final wild card spot.

But there’s another, shorter deadline looming in next month’s NHL trade deadline. And while the Jets will do their best to narrow the gap before Mar. 21, they, like all teams, will need to decide whether they’re in a position to buy or sell before the market officially closes.

Cheveldayoff was asked directly if the Jets are unable to make a notable dent in the standings over the next six weeks, if he’d be willing to sell off some pieces, perhaps shake things up at the deadline.

“It’s too premature to sit here and say where things are going to go. You can fall into that trap very, very easily of trying to look too far ahead,” Cheveldayoff said Wednesday in a nearly 30-minute chat with reporters. “As a management group, you’re preparing all the time for different things. But to try and sit here and crystal ball where things are going to be and what your mentality is going to be when things are still six weeks away and so much hockey that we have in front of us, it’s tough to say right now.”

Cheveldayoff is hoping the Jets can build off their effort Tuesday, in what was a gritty 2-0 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild. More games like that, he said, and the Jets should be in fine form come spring.

But finding consistency has been a struggle for Winnipeg this season, and the Jets GM and his staff have to be ready for whatever unfolds. Cheveldayoff said the team had its pro scouting meeting in Philadelphia earlier this month, where it was able to bring in much of the staff to discuss “a lot of different things.”

The Jets are also pretty tight to the US$81.5-million cap. So, any deal the Jets might make, whether they’re sellers or buyers come the deadline, a close eye will have to be kept on the dollars headed each way.

Cheveldayoff added he’s always keeping an eye out for potential opportunities, with a focus on “hockey deals” — otherwise known as swapping players rather than draft picks.

“People talk about what are you going to do at the deadline? Are you going to be a buyer? Are you going to be a seller? Where are you going to be at?” Cheveldayoff said. “So, certainly, there’s lots of things that you have to focus on. But the reality of the situation is if we are a healthy group, we are going to be at the cap. Anything we do, it will have to be money in, money out.”

Then there’s the two notable pending unrestricted free-agents in forwards Paul Stastny and Andrew Copp. How might the Jets handle these players will most likely be based on where they find themselves in the standings and where talks have gone regarding the possibility of inking an extension.

That’s not even taking into consideration restricted free agents, such as centre Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois is having a stellar season and will warrant a significant raise from the US$5 million he’s making this year.

“We haven’t really had, from a UFA standpoint, any discussions with any of them. Obviously, you’re anxious and hopeful to see some things and get some direction from a cap perspective,” Cheveldayoff said. “I know they talk about the fact that maybe (the salary cap) will go up a million dollars, so you’re essentially in a flat cap scenario as well.

“We’ve got, obviously, the RFAs. There are different summertime challenges, different summertime things that we may be in a different situation than we have in other years. I think it goes back to me telling you I was focusing more on hockey deals. So, we’ll see where things are at with us at that point in time. But right now, our sole focus is trying to push this group.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton