A couple years ago, Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba had quite the dramatic holdout. He wanted a ton of money that the Jets weren’t willing to pay. We had to settle with a bridge deal, and at the end of this year, it’ll be up.
Jacob Trouba is clearly a good defenseman, but he’s not elite. He was asking for something around $6+ Million per year which was absolutely insane. Trouba is an important part of our lineup but he also does make many mistakes. He’s still young, and will improve with experience.
I can’t say that I think he wants to be here. Although it was a long time ago, I still feel like he wants a trade. He’s going to want way too much, and he could just play elsewhere. This offseason, I feel that there’s likely going to be another holdout from him. It’s time to move on, and find a suitor to trade him to. We also must remember that he has tons of trade value, and we shouldn’t deal him away at the first decent offer we stumble upon.
Why going to Ottawa makes sense
Maybe Ottawa isn’t quite where Trouba would like to be, but it isn’t really his choice. I think it would make sense to package Trouba up to Ottawa in exchange for Erik Karlsson. It truly makes sense for both teams. The Winnipeg Jets snag the NHL’s best defender, and no longer will have to worry about Jacob Trouba waiting on his contract. We get someone who can take us to where we want to be a lot sooner than Trouba, but isn’t too much older. The Sens get rid of Karlsson who’s not going to re-sign anyways. His time in Ottawa is done, and he wants more than they’re willing to pay. It wouldn’t be a straight up deal, and Ottawa would receive more than only Trouba.
Related Story: Jets Should Trade For Erik Karlsson
Long vs Short Term Contract
If we’re looking to keep Trouba, it has to be on a long term contract. We CAN NOT sign him to a short deal where he will become a UFA. It makes no sense, and he likely wouldn’t return. It basically would be able to keep the deal fairly cheap, but it would be pointless. There is no way he would stay, so Chevaldayoff should steer clear of that. A one year deal does and doesn’t make sense. It makes sense because he wouldn’t become a UFA at the end of his deal, and it would keep his value high. The part that doesn’t make sense is how he will end up in the same situation once again. One of the points of signing him is to have this figured out and leave it to playing hockey. We want to do everything we can to prevent this situation from happening.
A long term deal, about seven or eight years would make the most sense, but Trouba wouldn’t bite. He’d ask far too much, and it would be a horribly painful process to sign him. We can’t overpay, or else we’ll end up like the Chicago Blackhawks with barely any cap space.
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Final Thoughts
The Winnipeg Jets will have a hard time signing Jacob Trouba, so I say it’s time to trade him. It might make sense to offer him a one year deal, but if he won’t accept for a fair price, it’s time to move on. All we can do now is hope that we can find a good trade. If we can’t, we need to pray for him to ask for far less than last time.