With just a month left until the Winnipeg Jets, and the rest of the National Hockey League begin their season, we still see one of the Jets premier players without contract for the upcoming season. Jacob Trouba news has gone from often, to few and far between, to well… when’s the last time we have heard news? So as the days countdown to the regular season, where do we stand as to options for the Jets?
Re-Signing Options:
The most likely scenario is that the two sides agree on a contract, but they both sacrifrice. This would be around five years at something around five million per season. Morgan Rielly, the Toronto Maple Leafs ace defenseman signed a similar contract, at six years, five million each year. They are around the same age as well, so the comparison bodes well for Trouba.
The Winnipeg Jets want to re-sign Jacob Trouba to a two or three-year bridge deal, and if Trouba is concerned whether he may need to sit out the start of the season, he may quickly sign a deal before the season starts, to guarantee a spot on their opening day roster. A two-year deal around $2.8 million like Cody Ceci received early in July could be a comparison, as they have similar potential.
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Trade Options:
These days, trades in the NHL are fairly rare, and to construct a deal for both sides in under a month is tough. But what has to be done can be done, and if a trade is the only option, what are the Jets choices?
Since Trouba is a roster player for the Jets, they’d need to get one in return. The Jets ideal scenario would be receiving a top 3 left-handed defenseman in return. Maybe Travis Hamonic is not quite settled in New York, and is still interested in moving to Manitoba. Imagine Dustin Byfuglien and Travis Hamonic lining up on the blue line together! If the Jets added in one of their extra forward prospects, say Jace De Leo, or Marko Dano, we may have a potential trade.
The Boston Bruins really need to win now, if ever, and they won’t if they don’t receive help on the back-end. They would be willing to trade, Jakub Zboril, a left-shooting first round pick defenseman, for Trouba, who could take them into the playoffs again. The Jets future on the left-side would look really strong then, with Josh Morrissey, and Jakub Zboril lining up one-two. The Jets organization wouldn’t be satisfied with that return, so a first, or second round pick would have to be added.
Offer Sheet?
At the start of the summer, the Boston Bruins showed interest in extending an offer sheet, which confirms their potential interest in a trade. A potential option would be the Bruins offering Trouba 7.5 million, and as compensation would only have to give up a first, second, and third round pick. Unfortunately they don’t own all three of those picks, so that could complicate things, and they only have 5.8 million in cap space, so realistically the offer sheet is not a possibility in this situation.
So many options are viable, and luckily for us, one of these three possibilities will be a done deal by the Winnipeg Jets, and Jacob Trouba within the next month!