Examining the Winnipeg Jets Stanley Cup Window Moving Forward

The Winnipeg Jets took a necessary risk the other day when they inked their captain to a five year extension. It’ll start when he’s 33 and end when he’s almost 40, but they can’t worry about that just yet.

The Winnipeg Jets are firmly focused on the present. That much is certain with the Blake Wheeler extension. The Winnipeg Jets should be firmly focused on the present.

It’s not everyday a team like this has such a good chance to win the Stanley Cup. If you get one or two, it’ll all be worth it, should these contracts fall apart.

So let’s take a look at their long-term outlook. Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Connor Hellebuyck and Bryan Little are also all locked up until 2024, at the least. Ehlers, an additional year. Well, the good thing is, only one of those players isn’t a key contributor to their core.

Bryan Little and his $5.292MM cap hit is a legitimate problem. If they buy it out, it would help right now, but end up costing them until almost 2030. That’s not a real date. Definitely do not buy out Bryan Little right now. He’s not untradeable yet.

Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine will need new contracts soon. At this rate, that’ll be upwards of $14MM in cap hits when the time comes. They’ll need to clear some space for that, at current standing. But expect those two to get deals.

Mathieu Perreault and his $4.125MM hit can be moved at some point, but, he’s kinda important to the team. Just not for that kind of money. Hopefully Kristian Vesalainen and Jack Roslovic can provide contributions for little money. Unfortunately, they’ll need money soon, too.

Cross that bridge when you come to it. For now, they’ll be cheap contributors. That buys the team a few more years. The defense, however, is where things get shaky. The forwards group looks like it could sustain for another five years.

What is this defense you speak of, and where are the troubles therein?

Well, Josh Morrissey seems like he’s going to get a long-term deal. If he doesn’t now, he’ll need one soon. He’s not getting any cheaper. Might as well get him out of the way now.

Jacob Trouba…well, who knows what’s going on there, but I’m going to wager that his $5.5MM cap hit is no longer the Jets problem come next season. But who could know?  Dustin Byfuglien has three more years on his contract.

Tyler Myers has one, Dmitry Kulikov has two. Kulikov can be shed for salary relief, no worries there. Myers is kind of important, especially if the Trouba situation devolves.

The Jets really need someone like Sami Niku to seize a job on the blue line and keep costs down for a bit. A trade seems like it could be in the works. Winnipeg has all of its first rounders moving forward.

For now, Winnipeg has about $10MM in cap space. Subtract Myers or Trobua’s, and you’re paying for extensions for Laine and Connor. Shed Kulikov and Perreault, or maybe Little, and you have room for a Morrissey deal.

So, look, the cap situation isn’t great. Every NHL team comes up against it at one point or another. It happened to Chicago, and they fell apart. One bad decision can sink you. This isn’t baseball.

The Jets should have no problem being heavy in contention this year. Provided nobody falls apart, they should be able to have a solid core three years down the line, but the defense might thin out.

It’s going to be tough work to get contributors on the blue line who don’t cost much. Gotta develop defenders in this league. Morrissey and Trouba are nice. A couple more couldn’t hurt. But hey, expect them to contend in the immediate future.