No time like Now
With six weeks left until the trade deadline, the Jets need to add depth for a playoff run
Kevin Cheveldayoff has made a habit of keeping his cards close to the vest during his tenure as general manager of the Winnipeg Jets.
Although Cheveldayoff has mostly made calculated and conservative moves when it comes to trades, might this be the year where he pushes a few more chips to the middle of the table and goes all in?
As the Jets enjoy the fiveday break mandated by the collective bargaining agreement, Cheveldayoff and his staff now have fewer than six weeks until the arrival of the NHL trade deadline to decide which route to go.
With the Jets in first place in the Central Division with 59 points and 36 games to go, the options for consideration are different than they have been in the past.
One thing you can be sure of is that the Jets won’t be selling.
Their level of buying — and what they might be willing to pay — very much remains a mystery.
Thanks to a record of 26-137, the Jets are considered a legitimate contender in the Western Conference at this stage of the proceedings.
There’s plenty of hockey left to be played, but the Jets have only suffered one three-game losing skid this season (and that third game was an overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning), so they’d need to stumble badly in order to miss out on qualifying for the post-season for just the second time in seven seasons.
The Jets have more organizational depth at each position than they’ve had since the franchise relocated from Atlanta, but that should only encourage them to add a piece or two.
One of the things the Jets don’t have much of is playoff experience — and history has often shown a franchise needs to endure some post-season heartache before making a deep run.
The Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise doesn’t have a single playoff victory yet, so adding a bit of experience while not sacrificing a great deal of the future is the challenge Cheveldayoff has as he searches for a dance partner.
Historically, the Jets haven’t dipped much into the rental market for players with expiring contracts and I wouldn’t expect that to change much this time around — unless the health of Steve Mason becomes a concern.
Mason was sent back to Winnipeg on the weekend because he wasn’t feeling well and the last time the Jets said he wasn’t feeling well was after he suffered a concussion.
If this turns out to be another concussion, it would be the second for Mason in fewer than two months.
Although Connor Hellebuyck is expected to carry the bulk of the load during the stretch drive, the Jets are going to need someone else to play some games.
With Mason’s availability in question, the Jets are expected to recall Michael Hutchinson later this week but it remains to be seen if they’re willing to go with Hutchinson for an extended period as the backup or if they would be in the market for someone else (most likely on an expiring contract).
How long is it going to take for first-line centre Mark Scheifele to return from the suspected shoulder injury that knocked him out of the lineup on Dec. 27?
The initial diagnosis was that Scheifele would miss sixto-eight weeks, but the arrival of the bye week and the allstar weekend later this month could cut into the number of games he’ll miss, provided the recovery goes smoothly.
Given his makeup, Scheifele will do everything in his power to get back as quickly as possible, but adding a scoring winger or even a centre to this group makes plenty of sense even once he’s back.
With the Ottawa Senators struggling after getting to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final last season, one player that immediately comes to mind is Derick Brassard.
Brassard, who has one more season beyond this one on a contract that carries an average annual value of $5 million, has 12 goals and 28 points in 48 games this season.
Brassard’s playoff pedigree should appeal to the Jets.
A gifted playmaker, Brassard has 22 goals and 55 points in 78 playoff games — the bulk of those coming with the New York Rangers, who advanced to the Stanley Cup final in 2014 before losing to the Los Angeles Kings.
Although Brassard, who is 30, carries a substantial cap hit, his salary is $3.5 million for this season and next, so that could make acquiring him more appealing to teams like the Jets (and other potential suitors).
On the back end, the Jets are happy with the development of Tucker Poolman and Sami Niku and have Ben Chiarot as the seventh defencemen, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them bring in another experienced insurance policy for Toby Enstrom, who is due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Making an in-season deal is never easy, but the Jets have some salary-cap space available to them, several prospects that shoulder garner interest and for the first time since 2011, they might be willing to part with a first-round pick, especially if it was closer to the bottom of those 31 selections.
That’s why the Jets should be more active than usual in the weeks leading up to the NHL trade deadline.