In my opinion, the Winnipeg Jets are still without a bona fide second line centreman. This is why acquiring Matt Duchene makes sense.
Okay, sure. Matt Duchene‘s season wasn’t spectacular last year, but please remember Ottawa wasn’t all that great either. Duchene ended up with 59 points in 82 games, which were split between the Colorado Avalanche and the Ottawa Senators. The Sens ended up in second last, making Duchene’s stats look not as bad as before.
Duchene is an unrestricted free agent, meaning this is the last year of his contract. He is a centreman, which is what the Winnipeg Jets desperately need. We have a solid star centre in Mark Schiefele, a solid third line centre in Adam Lowry, and no issues on the fourth line. The only thing missing is a second line centre.
Being that he’s a UFA, the Jets won’t have to deal as much away. We would be acquiring him as a rental player, making it a lot less stressful for Kevin Cheveldayoff to come up with cap room in the long term. Ottawa could easily retain a bit of money to make this deal possible if the space wasn’t available short term wise.
You may say we have Bryan Little on our second line, but he’s digressed to a third liner at best, leaving a void in our lineup to be filled. Last season we filled it with Paul Stastny at the deadline and it ended up working out spectacular. This season it has become an issue once again since Stastny left for the Golden Knights in the offseason.
This problem could be addressed by making a trade for Duchene. He’s literally on fire this year, scoring 27 points in 21 games. If you put this guy with Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Matthieu Perreault, or even Nik Ehlers, his points would be off the charts.
Maybe he didn’t have a great season, but he definitely took way too much blame. When Ottawa acquired him, and still tanked to 30th place, he took a lot of undeserved heat. You can’t expect a guy to come in and completely take a lottery team and turn it into a champion, or even a playoff contender.
Maybe you don’t like him because of his comments made in the taxi? Well, that stuff happens. I know for a fact that guys talk trash about their team, especially while being in a rocky patch. If you’ve played hockey, it’s just something that happened. The problem is that now people think he’s not loyal. It’s just heat of the moment.
Putting this guy on the Winnipeg Jets second line could give them the booster they need to push the team past Minnesota and Nashville. I think if we were to trade for him, it would pay off great. For goodness sake, what’s not to like about adding a 1.29 point per game player to your team?
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I like him, and if Chevy made a move for him, consider it a smart one.