Winnipeg Jets: Three thoughts on a William Nylander fit
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made it clear that William Nylander is available on the trading front. The Winnipeg Jets would make a really good destination for the young and talented right wing/centreman, but does it make sense taking all other factors into consideration?
Thought #1 – Adding another centreman could be lethal.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are already 18 games into their season and William Nylander continues to sit out with no contract. The current RFA has been holding out, in hopes of a much larger deal than the one being offered by Toronto. Neither side has given in, leading to Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas beginning his search for a trade partner.
Last year, the Winnipeg Jets made a huge splash at the NHL Trade Deadline, acquiring Paul Stastny from St. Louis for a first round pick, a fourth round pick, and prospect Erik Foley. Stastny brought a lot to Winnipeg, including a fabulous end to the season and an even more terrific post-season. Not only that, but our team’s depth was unbelievable. We had guys who would be on the first line anywhere else, playing on our team’s second and third lines.
Sadly, Stastny didn’t re-sign in the offseason, returning us somewhat back to what our lines looked like before he was acquired. I can say, there’s a massive difference now that he’s not in our lineup.
William Nylander has put up 61 points in both his full campaigns with Toronto. He’s a guy who’s capable of scoring upwards of twenty goals, with a boatload of assists on top of that. Putting him into our top six… scary. Not scary for us, but for anyone else who would face the Nylander improved Winnipeg Jets.
With Nylander in our top 6, that would make less room for one player. This essentially means that whoever doesn’t fit is likely being shipped out. We’re either looking at bumping Little down to the bottom six, while sending either of Andrew Copp or Nic Petan to Toronto, or we’re looking at sending Little himself.
Little has been with the team since the beginning, but it wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing for us. Currently he has a deal which pays him an annual average salary of $5,291,666 for the another five years. Just think about it, having to sign Nylander in our cap situation, while having Little play on the third line? It’s not that easy. Little’s totals are already beginning to dwindle, as he only has 3 goals and 3 assists in 16 games this season.
Little is also likely to get us a bit more in terms of cap space than a guy like Copp or Petan, bringing us to our next thought.
Thought #2 – It sounds all fine and dandy, but do we have the cap space to make it work?
Short term answer, yes. Long term answer, it’s very tricky. Right now, we wouldn’t have too much of a problem signing Nylander to a contract. We have over $6.5 Million dollars of cap room (However, Kulikov is on IR), which would also be increased after sending more players away in a trade.
Right now, if we were to sign him to a contract paying him $8 Million, we would be $1,824,122 over the cap, meaning there would have to be a player dealt in the trade, not just picks and unsigned prospects. (Not that Toronto necessarily wants that). Also, this is all with Dmitry Kulikov’s contract on injured reserve.
Now looking at the long term, it’s quite a bit more complicated. Winnipeg currently has Laine, Connor, Copp, Petan, Lemieux, Trouba, Morrow, and Brossoit all set to become RFA’s at the end of the season. Tanev, Myers, and Chiarot are set to become UFA’s. Most of these guys will be commanding raises. We barely have space to start with for these guys, throwing what will be a Nylander’s huge contract in the mix is basically impossible.
It’s really tough, unless we happened to deal a guy like Jacob Trouba, the most likely player to demand a massive raise. Dealing Trouba and Little would open up the space needed, however would leave a massive void on the back end. (Unless Sami Niku is ready to step up).
Another option to free extra cap space would be trading away Dmitry Kulikov as soon as he returns from his injury. Kulikov has one more year after this season, at $4,333,333, which also would free tons of room. It wouldn’t leave as big of a void, however it would cost the Jets big time to do a salary dump like that. (A good example would be the Mason/Armia trade).
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In my opinion, this is the only thing stopping us from working this deal. I’m sure we could cope with losing a quality player, but the salary cap isn’t high enough for it to work out without going over.
Thought #3 – What’s the cost?
Earlier, I hinted to what Winnipeg could send to the Leafs by saying Trouba, Little, Copp, and Petan could all be sent away. The Maple Leafs are looking for a top nine forward and a top four defenseman in return for the youngster.
Is it really worth it to cough up two guys like Trouba and Little for Nylander? Well, in a way it makes sense. You’re losing a big contract in Brian Little, plus a potentially big contract with Jacob Trouba. The problems are, one, you’re gaining an even bigger contract, and two, you lose a quality defenseman. Losing Trouba wouldn’t be ideal, but I’m sure we would be able to recover.
If we trade Little, it’s not very likely that fans would be too happy. Little has been around since our inaugural season. He’s a fan favourite, so that’s also really tough. However, if it was something that made the Jets a better team, I don’t believe Kevin Cheveldayoff would hesitate to make a move.
Is the cost really worth it? For sure, it would be insane to see Nylander in our lineup. Is it really worth a huge risk, and doing something that’ll shake up the locker room when nobody really needs to go? Maybe not such a good idea.
Next. Winnipeg Jets Four Biggest Free Agent Flops Of All Time. dark
We’ll likely have to wait a few more weeks, maybe even months before anything actually happens with Nylander, maybe Chevy makes a move, but I’d say probably not.