3 Winnipeg Jets Players Who Could Be Traded By the Trade Deadline
If the Winnipeg Jets are sellers for the trade deadline, here are three Jets players that could be traded at or before March 21.
The 2022 NHL trade deadline is quickly approaching and it is just only a couple of weeks away. The deadline this year is on March 21, and there may be many interesting storylines as we get closer especially considering the Winnipeg Jets play up to this point in the 2021-2022 season.
The Jets have not performed well and if they do not start to make headway in catching up in the playoff race then there is a great chance that Winnipeg may be a seller at the deadline and get a headstart in planning for the 2022-2023 season.
Winnipeg has a great number of players that would be a great asset to any team making a run for the Stanley Cup and here are three players that have a chance of being traded by the deadline if the Jets are in fact sellers.
3. Paul Stastny
The thirty-six-year-old veteran centerman is a pending unrestricted free agent (“UFA”) at the end of this season when his current contract with an average annual value of $3,750,000 expires this offseason.
Stastny can be a great depth addition and a veteran presence to some of the younger teams who are making a run for the playoffs including the New York Rangers and Anaheim Ducks.
It will not be a surprise if the Jets stay stagnant in the standings if we begin to see Stastny’s name circulating more through the rumor mill. In return, the Jets may be able to get a draft pick and/or a conditional pick for Stastny. If the Jets do move Stastny then Dave Lowry and the Jets coaching staff may promote some prospects to an increased role for the end of the season as the Jets look to bounce back next season.
2. Brenden Dillon
The Jets only acquired Dillon this past offseason, but could we see the veteran defenseman move again just some short months later?
Fellow Jets White Out writer, Dan St. Joseph pointed out in his recap of the Jets’ pre-all-star-break loss to the Flyers that the Jets’ young defensive prospects have been playing extremely well and this may incline Kevin Cheveldayoff to move a higher priced contract and let the prospects take the reigns on defense. I do think that Dan has a great point here and it can potentially come to fruition.
With the Jets having pending restricted free agents of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Evgeny Svechnikov, Jansen Harkins, Eric Comrie, and others while also potentially looking to resign pending UFAs Andrew Copp and Paul Stastny, Dillon’s contract may be one the Jets will look to offload to create more cap space for the next season.
This becomes more of a factor when you consider that a number of the Jets’ prospect defensemen will be coming off their entry-level contracts during the next couple of years and will most likely see an increase in their respective salaries (Kovacevic, Samberg, Stanley, Gawanke, and Nogier).
Dillon’s current contract has an AAV of $3,900,000 and expires at the end of the 2023-2024 season. He is a shutdown, defensive defenseman, who currently is the Jets outright leader in plus/minus (+16). He can be a great veteran addition to any playoff team.
1. Andrew Copp
Heading into the last offseason, Copp’s was a restricted free agent and with the Jets’ limited salary cap space, his name was often circulated in rumors. Nothing came to fruition out of those rumors and the Jets were able to sign the dynamic forward to a one-year contract.
Fast forward a couple of months and Copp’s name is back in the rumor mill as a player who may be traded this season and there should be no surprise about that.
The twenty-seven-year-old is due to be an unrestricted free agent during this next offseason and looks set for another pay increase from his expiring contract, which carries an AAV of $3,640,000, due to his performances up to this point.
Copp currently has thirteen goals and seventeen assists for 30 points in 48 games played. He also has a plus-one plus/minus and averages over just over twenty minutes of ice time per game.
There is no doubt that Copp is the perfect rental option for a contending team that has the space to pick up his contract. Copp can definitely be a major asset to a team battling for a postseason spot. If the Jets do not believe that they can resign Copp, there will be more of a reason to trade him, especially for a highly rated prospect and/or draft picks.
If the Jets continue to fall down or stay static in the standings and Copp continues his solid play, there will be no surprise if Copp is wearing a different jersey by the end of March.
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Winnipeg Jets Fans: If Winnipeg is a seller, which Jets player do you think will be the most sought after at the deadline? Leave your comments below!
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