The Winnipeg Jets Biggest Enemy Moving Forward is the NHL Salary Cap

We’ve discussed how the Winnipeg Jets had a great chance to win the Stanley Cup last season. Well, the other NHL teams want to stop them, but so does the salary cap.

The Winnipeg Jets seem as though they’d be able to sustain success quite well. A young roster, a new breakout goaltender, good special teams. What’s not to like? Well, the NHL’s salary cap, for one.

I understand why the salary cap is in place, I really do. It’s to keep teams like the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs from expanding their payroll past what other teams in small markets, kinda like the Jets, could handle. It’s for competitive balance.

And more importantly for the players, there’s a salary floor. I mean, Clayton Kershaw makes about seven million dollars less per year than the entire Carolina Hurricanes. So, while MLB doesn’t have either, I think they’re fine. But I think the NHL salary cap could use a jump. And it gets one, every once in a while.

But right now, it sits at $79.5MM. The Winnipeg Jets current projected cap hit is $69.3MM, which is pretty nice. So, you’re sitting at around $10MM free, with Josh Morrissey still unsigned. Oh, by the way, WHY IS JOSH MORRISSEY UNSIGNED?

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Regardless, that’ll take…maybe $4-5MM out of that chunk. Which doesn’t leave much for now, but they don’t need much, for now. It’s the future that’s the problem.

Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine are going to need extensions soon. Connor’s will hurt, Laine’s will be insane. That’s what happens when you score 44 goals at 19. Good for both of them, honestly. They are earning it.

But then you have Blake Wheeler‘s UFA status next off-season, as well as Tyler Myers. Maybe Myers gets less than his current $5.5MM, but Wheeler is getting more than his current $5.5MM cap hit. Myers might go, but the Winnipeg Jets need Wheeler. Even at 31, he needs another good-sized deal.

The Jets are in cap trouble. Not now, but it’s coming.  And the best way to avoid it is to get out ahead of the thing. Bryan Little makes over $5MM per until 2024, which sounds like it’s so far in the future they’re putting it in the title of movies about robots.

If he doesn’t improve, he could be a buyout candidate. The Jets keep needing the farm system to produce depth pieces. Mathieu Perreault is awesome, but $4.125 is a bit much for him. He may needed to be traded. It’s funny this all comes full circle, no?

The Winnipeg Jets acquire Dustin Byfuglien due to the Blackhawks being in cap hell. The Jets get good with Byfuglien, and now they’re running low on cap space. Would the team trade Nikolaj Ehlers and his $6MM cap hit in the near future?

I love Ehlers and he’s really good, but he’s not a star. I could see it. I wouldn’t like it, but I could see it. Dmitry Kulikove needs to go, with his $4.33 cap hit. He’s fine, but he’s not that good.

They could wait two years for his contract to run out, but he shouldn’t be too difficult to move should they want to. They’re not in cap hell yet, more like cap purgatory. There’s just a lot of lines to toe.

But in the near future, the Jets will have to contend with 30 other NHL teams, and their own cap choices. They can lose to other teams, or lose to their own decisions. Even with the trust in the front office, mistakes can be made. It’s tough and there’s not always a right answer.

But this year, the Jets are okay. So, if they win it now, suddenly this won’t matter so much. But it’ll still matter.