Copp, Stastny deal with uncertainty

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This article was published 17/03/2022 (1270 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paul Stastny and Andrew Copp stood beside one another and together they fielded questions on the looming NHL trade deadline set for Monday afternoon.

Both Winnipegs Jet forwards have been rumoured as potential trade targets, with each on a contract that expires at the end of the season. While their situations are similar, they have differing perspectives on their current realities, most notably because of their tenure in the NHL.

At 36 years old, Stastny is in 16th NHL season, a career that has included 1,051 regular-season games. He’s been traded twice before, including once at the deadline, when the St. Louis Blues shipped him to Winnipeg during the 2017-18 season for a first-round pick that summer.

Stastny has been around long enough to watch several teammates get traded, making it a rather normalized process for the veteran winger. While he might have felt a little uneasy as a player earlier in his career, worried about having to suddenly adjust to a new hockey home, it doesn’t have nearly the same effect now.

“You realize that teams want you, they see something in you, they value something so that’s a positive if you get traded,” Stastny said. “Now being older, I kind of just enjoy the situation in the present and if something happens, something happens. Kind of out of my control, but at the same time you also worry about what we’re doing as a team here.”

The Jets (28-23-10) continue to scratch and claw their way into the playoff picture. They’re in a much better position in the NHL standings compared to a couple weeks ago, with victories in four of their last five games moving them just two points shy of the Vegas Golden Knights for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference heading into Thursday’s action.

For Copp, seeing the Jets climb the standings even just a little bit leaves open the possibility he’ll stand pat come Monday. Had Winnipeg continued to lose, there’s little doubt he’d be on the move.

While Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff might see his team’s recent surge as an excuse to stay quiet over the weekend, maybe even add a piece of two, nothing is guaranteed. The Jets still have three teams — the Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars and Vegas — that they must leapfrog for that final post-season berth and doing so won’t be easy.

“It’s just like, anxious, a little bit,” Copp said when asked to explain the emotions around being a potential trade target. “It’s really hard when you don’t know where, and one phone call feels like it could be, ‘OK, you’re changing countries,’ all that kind of stuff. I’ve been here for a long time and have a lot of close friends on this team, so just trying to spend a lot of time with them over the next four days and if I get a couple more months or whatever after that, then great. And if not, then try and enjoy my time here while I can.”

Copp noted he’s had some moments in recent days that have made his heart race. Once when he was texting to a friend and while he didn’t specify what was being talked about, he said the communication seemed to hint at a potential deal.

To help keep his mind off things, he said he’s finding any excuse to stay busy. He’s leaned on players like Stastny to help him process his feelings.

Copp missed Tuesday’s win over the Golden Knights with an upper-body injury, which he said provided him time to process the prospect of being traded.

“You’re going to hear about it in the room, in the media, so it was nice that I was able to do that while I was hurting and not focus on it but focus on how to understand it and how to compartmentalize it,” he said. “Then when I got back to playing hockey, just playing hockey. It’s definitely been a little bit of a weird time.”

This is the first time Copp has been in serious contention to be dealt at the deadline. He’s 27 years old and has played all seven of his NHL seasons with the Jets. He’s evolved into a versatile player, capable of playing in all situations, including on the power play and penalty kill.

Not afraid to share his opinion, there was a feeling Copp might possess a hint of animosity from the potential of donning another team’s jersey by next week. He reiterated what he had said over the summer, that he hoped to sign a long-term commitment in Winnipeg prior to this season.

Cheveldayoff went in a different direction, trading for a pair of defencemen in Nate Schmidt and Brenden Dillon, both of whom came with years and cash still remaining on their contracts. The Jets GM also re-signed Stastny to a one-year deal at US$3.75 million and inked defenceman Neal Pionk to a four-year, US$23.5-million contract, leaving Winnipeg with little wiggle room under the NHL’s US$81-million salary cap.

“At the end of last year I was looking at houses around here. And I was preparing to sign a long-term deal, and with the acquisitions that were made turned out to not be given an opportunity for me to do that,” Copp said. “So, at that point I kind of knew it was going to be one more year and see what happens. Didn’t envision that I’d be moved at the deadline. I envisioned us being in a playoff spot and envisioned us adding to our team. But circumstances are what they are, and I just want to enjoy the time here while I have it.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton