Winnipeg Jets Trade Deadline: Bargains From the Blues

The Winnipeg Jets have a slim three-point lead over the St. Louis Blues in the Central Division. Creating a very real possibility of a first-round matchup between the two divisional rival. Is it possible that there could be trade options between the two?

The Winnipeg Jets are in a tough spot. 10 points separate the central division leading Nashville Predators from the outside of the playoff picture in the west. The standings can change weekly and a winning or losing streak can make or break a team’s postseason hopes. Clubs are always looking for ways to get better and deeper to keep their postseason in sight. The St. Louis Blues, like the Winnipeg Jets, have been fighting injuries as much as opponents all season long. With the loss of Robby Fabbri for the season and a revolving door of seemingly endless injuries, the Blues are in a tight situation.

St. Louis stands 5th in the NHL currently at standings points lost due to injuries. The answer to their need can be found by looking at two of the fellow teams in the top five: The Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Boston Bruins. Why are the 1st and 3rd teams on the list also 1st and 3rd place in the overall NHL standings?

Roster Depth

Hockey is brutal. 82 games in a season. 4 to 28 games in a postseason. The sport is as much a war of attrition as it is a march of skill and teamwork. Your roster’s talent depth will be tested. Smart GMs know this. Which is why you get a lot of underwhelming trades on the trade deadline. Stocking depth. Getting a top 6 scoring forward is a big step for a playoff team, loosing at top 4 defenseman without a suitable playoff ready replacement can’t take a team out of the running very fast.

What does this have to do with the Jets?

The St. Louis Blues have some prime talent. Their top seven point producers are some of the best talents in the west: Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Steen, Alex Pietrangelo, & Colton Parayko(I felt wary of including Paul Stastny here, which is why there is only six listed.) The roster list after that becomes mostly role players and prospects. The Blues have veteran depth but need scoring depth. This makes the Blues one of the rare teams that can be both sellers and buyers. They have veterans that other teams would be willing to deal in order to boost their own depth, while in return the Blues need depth scoring to make up for the loss of Robby Fabbri. As long as a team has that depth scoring, St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong will be willing to consider moving anyone on his roster outside of his top 7. If Kevin Cheveldayoff is looking to move some of his bottom 6 forwards before they need contracts, this is a good opportunity.

Salary Cap Armageddon

The Winnipeg Jets top 6 are solid: Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor, & Bryan Little.  All are under contract for at least another year. However, of the bottom 6 forwards both Shawn Matthias and Matt Hendricks with be UFA’s this summer. Adam Lowry, Joel Armia, Marko Dano, Nic Petan, and Brandon Tanev will be RFA’s. On defense, Toby Enstrom is a UFA with Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey, and Tucker Poolman as RFA’s. Oh, and Michael Hutchinson is a UFA with Connor Hellebuyck and Eric Comrie both as RFA’s. The following summer both Wheeler and Tyler Myers will be UFAs. Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor will be RFA’s. That’s a whopping 14 contracts to sign this summer. FYI, there is not enough cap space for everyone.

Now, stop hyperventilating and see where I am coming from on this. Moving some RFAs for cap-friendly similar players is a smart move for Cheveldayoff to make. If he is looking for a long-term replacement for one of his UFA’s or to ship out some of his RFAs for cheap replacements, now is the time to do it.

Winnipeg’s Options

The Blues RFA’s include Dmitrij Jaskin, Oskar Sundqvist, Robby Fabbri & Nikita Soshnikov for forwards. Paul Stastny, Kyle Brodziak, Scottie Upshall and goaltender Carter Hutton are UFA’s. The following summer St. Louis has five UFA’s, four of them defensemen. If the Jets are willing to package some prospects and picks with their RFA’s they can snag some of the Blue’s middle of the roster players. Jay Bouwmeester, Carl Gunnarsson, Robert Bortuzzo (on IR at the moment), Chris Butler, and Chris Thorburn are some players that could be had. While these are names that will not wow any Jets fans they are still viable bottom 6 forwards and depth defensemen. Exchanging a cap problem for a player that is not a cap problem is a smart move. While we could have quite the debate if any of these players are actually upgrades to this current Jets team we have to think beyond this April to next year and the years after that. A talented team in Cap Jail is not one that will be successful for very long. The Blues are up against the cap and will be forced to make hard decisions soon. Time to take advantage of that.

Next: Winnipeg Jets Trade Season: Could the Caps Match Up?

There is a myriad of trade packages that can be crafted to help both teams out. Especially when you factor in prospects, which both teams have a few good players that are moveable. While a trade between two playoff-bound teams seems highly unlikely in today’s NHL, it just maybe that sneaky good trade of lower tier players that helps both out. Possibly in the short run, most definitely in the long run.