Winnipeg Jets Trade Deadline: Canucks have plenty to offer
By Dylan Paré
Thomas Vanek, Nic Dowd, Daniel and Henrik Sedin. These are some players among the Vancouver Canucks UFA this summer. Could the Winnipeg Jets be suitors for any of these guys?
The Winnipeg Jets are clearly buyers going into the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline. It’s not out of the question that we go for some big names in the next few days. Will there be any Canucks among those players. Quite possibly.
Thomas Vanek
The Canucks signed Thomas Vanek later this offseason for a reason nobody could quite comprehend. Maybe Vanek was a way for Jim Benning to prove he wasn’t giving up before the season started, maybe not. Maybe for the reason of a deadline rental, like what he’s about to be used for.
Vanek has had a great season so far with Vancouver. 16 goals and 40 points on a bottom team really means a lot. Vanek is an older guy, 34 years old, and his contract expires at the end of the season. He’s the perfect rental that Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets are scouring the market for.
Vanek could provide good depth for us, as we aim at a long playoff run this year. Injuries are bound to happen and if they begin piling up, a trade for Vanek could look smart in the end. He’s a right handed left winger who we could move over to the right wing if necessary. I think that is a bonus for a team like Winnipeg who truly has no clue what side of the ice their next injury could be on.
How much of our future are we really willing to sacrifice for him though? Anything more than what Detroit got for Petr Mrazek is too much, and Jim Benning isn’t exactly the best deal maker out there. I would say maybe a third round pick at the most, but for a 34 year old UFA, even that’s pushing it. I think, knowing Cheveldayoff, we could get a really good deal for Vanek.
Nic Dowd
Nic Dowd. Many people wouldn’t know that name by heart. Dowd is a depth player on the Canucks who plays in games sporadically. He’s a center who shoots right. Dowd has 26 games to his name this season, with a fairly small tally of 2 goals and zero assists. He’s also a UFA this summer, but isn’t quite as old as Thomas Vanek, only 27 years old.
Trading for Dowd isn’t exactly what you’d call huge news. He’s not very significant, but is on a fairly small contract. If the Winnipeg Jets were to add him to our team, he’d likely end up on the Moose pretty fast. If we had a ton of injuries, then it might make sense to get him in the lineup, but I don’t think he’d be a difference maker. Dowd would likely be a small piece of a larger package sent to Winnipeg if a deal went down.
The Sedin twins
Oh the Sedin twins. Are they available? Yes of course, likely only if they’re packaged together. Are they a smart acquisition? Definitely not. I don’t think making a move to get the Sedin twins would be smart on the Jets part by any means.
They are 37 years old, and looking as if they are in the final few seasons of their career. They will be UFA’s this offseason, and wherever they go, it’ll likely be together. A trade for any team to acquire them would be quite tough, as they both have NMC’s (no movement clauses) and carry a total of $14 million against a team’s cap hit. ($7 million each).
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Even considering trading for these guys is a complete waste of time. They’d be to much against our cap hit, even if there salaries were retained. These guys aren’t good enough to sacrifice our future for either. Henrik only has two goals, and since they’re fairly old I wouldn’t say that there’s a great chance that their play improves near the end of the season. They’ll be completely worn down.