Jets need help finding back of net

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/07/2011 (5202 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It can be a foolish game to play, trying to connect the dots through the first weekend of NHL free agency and attempting to draw any kind of concrete conclusions.

But we’re going to wade in and do it anyway…

Fact No. 1: The Winnipeg Jets need a centre and/or winger to beef up their top two lines and provide punch to a squad that finished 20th in offence last year and lost 11 games by one goal.

Fact No. 2: The team signs six players — three defencemen in Randy Jones, Derek Meech and Mark Flood; three forwards in Tanner Glass, Rick Rypien and Aaron Gagnon — who have combined to score a grand total of 40 goals in 782 NHL games.

Our brilliantly insightful conclusion: The Jets still have some work to do to jump-start their attack.

So here’s the next question: How does the franchise find offensive help with the best available unrestricted free agents (UFAs) on the open market already picked over?

Some possibilities:

1. Chase what UFAs are left

Some of the names still remaining include:

— Antti Miettinen, RW, Minn.: Averaged 16 goals and 39 points over the past four seasons.

— Jason Arnott, C, Wash.: Scored 17 last year and has 400 in his career, but turns 37 in October.

— Teemu Selanne, RW, Ana.: Would be spectacular if he finished as a Jet — he did have 31 goals and 80 points last year — but he’s coming off knee surgery and, if he returns, it’s said that will likely be with Anaheim.

— Alex Kovalev, RW, Pitt.: Gifted when he’s into the game — he had 16 goals last year; 428 in his career — but he’s 38.

— Cory Stillman, LW, Car.: Has scored at least 20 goals eight times in his long career.

— Vaclav Prospal, C, NYR: Had 23 points in 29 games with the Rangers last year, but might be looking for a new home after they landed Brad Richards.

— Nikolay Zherdev, RW, Pha.: He’s just 26 and has a ton of skill, but coaches get quickly frustrated with his inconsistency.

 

2. Trade for offence

The Jets do have some intriguing pieces that could be moved — Zach Bogosian’s name came up a lot around the draft — but the organization might not make a drastic move until it at least gets a feel for the hand they’ve been dealt and what new coach Claude Noel can do with it.

 

3. Consider the restricted free agent market

It would cost to chase some of the talent here — they’d have to give up draft picks, depending on how much a player is signed for — and it’s not exactly the best way to make new friends in the NHL playground.

So debate among yourselves: Is Tampa superstar Steven Stamkos worth four future first-rounders? Should the Jets give up future picks for a player like Brandon Dubinksy or Ryan Callahan, both decent goal scorers with the Rangers last year?

 

4. Cross fingers and pray a young squad finds its goal-scoring mojo this winter

Evander Kane doesn’t turn 20 until August, has already posted 14- and 19-goal campaigns and many figure he’s got 35-40 written all over him.

Andrew Ladd is just 25 and finished with a career-best 29 goals last year. Bryan Little, 23, scored 31 goals in 2008-09 and has had the same over the last two seasons. Blake Wheeler has posted 21-, 18- and 18-goal campaigns over the last three years and Nik Antropov has flashed an occasional touch during his 679-game NHL career.

If those players continue their metamorphosis — and first-round draft pick Mark Scheifele is ready to jump to the pros — the Jets may have found their goal-scoring answer from within.

In the end — and as GM Kevin Cheveldayoff stressed Friday night in meeting with the press — there’s a whole lot of time left between the opening of the free-agent market and the drop of the first puck in October.

LEFTOVERS: Two more former Manitoba Moose players have found work: LW Josh Green with the Edmonton Oilers and Guillaume Desbiens with the Calgary Flames.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait

THE NHL FREE-AGENT WEEKEND IN REVIEW

Biggest splash

Brad Richards was THE marquee name on the free-agent list and he landed right where most figured he would: reunited with his former head coach John Tortorella with the New York Rangers.

 

Biggest makeover

 

Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon needed to get to the salary-cap floor and he did so in a huge way by adding LW Sean Bergenheim (4 years, $11 million); G Jose Theodore (2 years, $3 million); RW Scottie Upshall (4 years, $14 million); D Ed Jovanovski (4 years, $16.5 million); C Marcel Goc (4 years, $5.1 million); LW Tomas Fleischmann (4 years, $18 million) while trading for C Tomas Kopecky, RW Kris Versteeg and D Brian Campbell.

 

Shrewdest deal

 

Washington GM George McPhee sent a goalie that wasn’t in the team’s plans — Semyon Varlamov — to the Colorado Avalanche for first- and second-round draft picks, then signed veteran netminder Tomas Vokoun to a one-year, $1.5 million deal that might be the steal of the weekend. Couple that with the fact the Caps already have Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby on their roster and McPhee has significantly upgraded a key position for dirt cheap while scoring two draft picks, the first-rounder a possible lottery pick in 2012.

 

Hey, big spender

 

The Buffalo Sabres’ new owner Terry Pegula has flexed his wallet — Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News referred to his spending as Pegulapalooza by dealing for Robyn Regehr, signing Christian Erhoff (10 years, $40 million… for real?) and Ville Leino.

 

Mr. Risk Taker

 

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren trades Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, signs Ilya Bryzgalov to a huge deal (compare 9 years, $51 million to Vokoun’s contract) and then takes a gamble that Jaromir Jagr, now 39, has some game left. This is either going to turn the Flyers around or put Holmgren directly under the guillotine.

 

–Tait