Don’t expect big Jets moves in free agency

Opinion

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This article was published 12/07/2022 (1153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets haven’t exactly made a big splash so far in this all-important off-season. Barely a ripple, in fact. And that trend might continue Wednesday as general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff dips his toes into the free-agent waters — but likely sticks to the shallow end of the talent pool.

In other words, don’t expect the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Johnny Gaudreau, Nazem Kadri, Claude Giroux or John Klingberg to be shopping for real estate in River City once signings can start happening at 11 a.m. CT.

Those established stars will have plenty of suitors, and Winnipeg simply doesn’t currently have the salary cap space, nor the on- and off-ice draw, to get into a bidding war. Such is the nature of being situated in the league’s smallest market, one that is covered in snow for much of the hockey season, with nary a Stanley Cup Final appearance on the resumé.

Still, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a quiet few days around here. The Jets have numerous holes to fill, both on the big-league roster and on the depth chart with the Manitoba Moose. Unless the team plans to hold open tryouts for fans this fall, there will have to be signings or trades. Or both.

Here’s a handy, dandy guide to get you ready for what’s to come:

WHO’S ALREADY HERE?

Winnipeg currently has just 10 forwards signed for next year with NHL experience. Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Adam Lowry, Dominic Toninato, Cole Perfetti, Morgan Barron, Kristian Reichel and Mikey Eyssimont. Only the first six would be considered regulars at this stage of their careers.

Five others — Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jansen Harkins, Mason Appleton, David Gustafsson and Jeff Malott— are restricted free agents who were tendered qualifying offers Monday and remain under team control (with details of their next deals still be worked out).

It’s a different story on defence, with Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo, Brenden Dillon, Neal Pionk, Nate Schmidt, Logan Stanley, Dylan Samberg, Ville Heinola and Declan Chisholm all under contract. Johnathan Kovacevic, who also has a handful of NHL games under his belt, is an RFA.

In net, former Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck is locked up. His backup as of right now would be Mikhail Berdin, who has yet to play past the AHL level.

WHAT HAPPENED TO EVERYONE ELSE?

Andrew Copp was traded at the deadline last season. Paul Stastny is a pending UFA. So is Evgeny Svechnikov, who surprisingly wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer, as are Zach Sanford, Adam Brooks, Austin Poganski and C.J. Suess. And Kristian Vesalainen has signed to play in Sweden starting this fall. That’s a lot of forwards out the door in one fell swoop.

Goaltender Eric Comrie could be a goner, too. The Jets have made the UFA a contract offer, but he hasn’t accepted it. It’s a smart move, coming off an impressive campaign with a thin goalie market likely to drive his price up. Still, there’s a solid chance he circles back to the team that drafted and developed him and is back in the fold.

HOW MUCH MONEY DO THE JETS HAVE TO WORK WITH?

The salary cap is going up to US$82.5 million next season (it was US $81.5 million the past two years). Winnipeg currently has close to US$68 million accounted for on a roster of 18 players (9F, 7D, 2G) taken from the above. That doesn’t include the RFAs. Even if they were to accept their qualifying offers, that would add approximately US$9 million to the tab. And expect that number to be a bit higher, as Dubois will certainly be in line for a more significant raise. In other words, there’s not a lot of cash to play with to fill out a 23-player lineup.

Throw in the fact the group from last season clearly wasn’t good enough, and now it has lost (or is facing the loss of) multiple pieces. There is much, much work to be done on a limited budget.

WHY DON’T THEY CREATE SOME CAP SPACE?

Great idea! And, to be honest, we were expecting that to occur. At the draft last week in Montreal, rumours were heating up about potential salary-dump moves involving Wheeler (US$8.25 million) and Dillon (US$3.9 million). Neither has happened to date.

Wheeler would be a more complicated deal, with the Jets likely needing to retain salary (teams can do so up to 50 per cent) and/or add a sweetener such as a draft pick or prospect. They’d also then have to fill the top-six forward spot. But Dillon (or someone like Pionk, Schmidt or even DeMelo) makes so much sense, along with dollars and cents.

Winnipeg has many young blue-line prospects (Samberg, Heinola, Kovacevic, Chisholm) just waiting for a chance, at a fraction of the cost. Not to mention last year’s regulars weren’t good enough as a collective group. It truly could be a case of addition by subtraction, especially if they can bring a solid forward back in return.

WHAT ABOUT ANY OTHER POTENTIAL TRADES?

Dubois is the potential wildcard, especially with his stated position that he doesn’t want to sign a long-term extension and will become a UFA in the summer of 2024. The Jets have been listening to offers, but clearly aren’t buying what others have been selling to this point.

Rumours heated up again Tuesday, with some Montreal-based media suggesting a potential deal between the Habs and the Jets was brewing. Moving the 24-year-old power centre would leave a major hole on a Winnipeg roster already filled with them, so the return would have to be huge for a team that believes the window to compete for a championship remains open, despite missing the playoffs last year for the seventh time in 11 years.

Frankly, other than a handful of players (Connor, Ehlers, Perfetti) there really shouldn’t be any untouchables on this roster. And yes, that includes Hellebuyck, who is a pending UFA in two years (along with Scheifele and Wheeler and Dubois). But trading him would mean a seismic shift in direction for True North, going from essentially a retool to a complete rebuild. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards, considering they just hired a 68-year-old head coach. Rick Bowness is not coming to Winnipeg to oversee a long-term project, that’s for sure.

WON’T LAST WEEK’S NHL DRAFT HELP MATTERS?

Not for this season it won’t. As intriguing and promising as some of the young prospects they selected appear to be, none will be on the radar for the current campaign. Any help they can provide is still likely a few years away. And there’s not a lot of other NHL-ready options ripening on the vine aside from the players already named above.

WHO MIGHT BE ON WINNIPEG’S RADAR?

While they’re unlikely to be in on the high-end free agents, they have enough financial flexibility and roster spots to at least target some middle- to lower-tier players. It’s important to remember all 32 NHL clubs are operating under the same salary cap. A lot of these decisions boil down to a combination of compensation and opportunity, which could be knocking quite loudly around here starting this fall.

Since we believe Comrie is a good bet to come back, and any blue-line adds are likely just of the extreme depth variety, we’ve opted to focus on the forwards. There should be a priority on right shots, something that was sorely lacking last year.

Here are a dozen names that could be potential fits if the price and term was right.

LW Andre Burakovsky, 27

Colorado

6-3, 201 pounds

80 GP, 22G, 39A, 61 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$4.9 million

***

LW/RW David Perron, 34

St. Louis

6-0, 200pounds

67 GP, 27G, 30A, 57 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$4.0 million

***

C Ryan Strome, 29

New York Rangers

6-1, 191 lbs

74 GP, 21G, 33A, 54 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$4.5 million

***

C Vincent Trocheck, 29

Carolina

5-10, 183 pounds

81 GP, 21G, 30A, 51 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$4.75 million

***

C Dylan Strome, 25

Chicago

6-3, 200 pounds

69 GP, 22G, 26A, 48 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$3.0 million

***

LW/RW Evan Rodrigues, 28

Pittsburgh

5-11, 184 pounds

82 GP, 19G, 24A, 43 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$1.0 million

***

LW Sonny Milano, 26

Anaheim

6-0, 194 pounds

66 GP, 14G, 20A, 34 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$1.7 million

***

C Danton Heinen, 27

Pittsburgh

6-1, 188 pounds

76 GP, 18G, 15A, 33 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$1.1 million

***

LW Ilya Mikheyev, 27

Toronto

6-2, 192 pounds

53 GP, 21G, 11A, 32 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$1.645 million

***

RW Ondrej Kase, 26

Toronto

6-0, 187 pounds

50GP, 14G, 13A, 27 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$1.25 million

***

C Calle Jarnkrok, 30

Calgary

5-11, 186 pounds

66 GP, 12G, 18A, 30 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$2.0 million

***

RW Daniel Sprong, 25

Seattle

6-0, 193 pounds

63 GP, 14G, 6A, 20 PTS

2021-22 cap hit: US$725,000

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg