Breaking Down Each Winnipeg Jets Trade from Trade Deadline 2022
The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline has finished today and the Winnipeg Jets were extremely active. Here is a recap and a breaking down of all of the Jets trades.
As we see every season, the NHL trade deadline is a wild day and the 2022 version was no different than years prior. The Winnipeg Jets entered the deadline four points behind the second Western Conference Wild Card playoff spot and there was no telling what they would do.
After today’s 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time deadline, the Jets were among the most active teams in the NHL today. In total, the Jets made six trades today (five involving NHL players and one AHL trade).
This article will look at those five trades involving NHL players that the Jets made today in chronological order and will break down each respective trade.
Welcome Back Mason Appleton
The Jets kicked off the trading deadline in the early hours of the morning as they traded for a player who left the team this past offseason in the Seattle Kraken’s expansion draft.
That player was Mason Appleton and the Jets acquired him in exchange for a 2023 fourth-round draft choice.
Appleton returns to Winnipeg after playing three seasons with the team. He originally made his debut during the 2018-2019 season, then played 46 games in the 2019-2020 season, and had an outstanding 2021 season where he had twelve goals and thirteen assists in 56 games.
The Kraken then selected Appleton in their expansion draft during this past offseason. The twenty-six-year-old arrives back in Winnipeg with one-year remaining on his contract that carries an average annual value (“AAV”) of $900,000.
Jets Trade Beaulieu for a Conditional Draft Choice
Before 6:00 a.m. Central Time, the Jets made their second move of the day as they sent veteran defenseman, Nathan Beaulieu to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In return for Beaulieu, the Jets got a 2022 seventh-round conditional draft pick. This means that the Jets will only get to make this draft choice if certain conditions are met, if not, the pick is returned to the Penguins.
According to CapFriendly, the conditions for the Jets to receive the Penguins draft pick are:
Winnipeg receives the 2022 7th round pick if the Penguins win 3 playoff series and Beaulieu plays in at least 50% of the games.
This trade is viewed as a salary cap dump for the Jets. Beaulieu has not had the biggest impact for the Jets and with this trade, the Jets unloaded his contract that has an AAV of $1,250,000.
Beaulieu was originally traded to the Jets by the Buffalo Sabres in late February of 2019. During this season, the twenty-nine-year-old has appeared in 24 games and has four assists and a minus-five plus/minus. Before this trade, Beaulieu last featured in the Jets’ lineup on March 4 against the Dallas Stars.
Jets Move Bryan Little’s Contract and Nathan Smith’s Signing Rights to the Coyotes
Bryan Little has not played an NHL game since he suffered a horrific injury on November 5, 2019, against the New Jersey Devils when he took a slap shot to the side of his head. Little suffered a perforated eardrum and has been out since.
Little has been on the Jets’ long-term injured reserve and his contract has an AAV of $5,291,667 and expires at the end of the 2023-2024 season.
The Jets decided to move Little to the Coyotes, alongside top prospect Nathan Smith in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick.
Some people were surprised to see Smith included in this deal. Smith is a Jets 2018 draft choice and currently plays for the Minnesota State Mavericks.
The prospect forward has had an outstanding Junior year season. He is currently a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Trophy that is given to the top collegiate hockey player and he played in the Olympics for the United States.
Since Smith has not yet signed a professional contract, the Coyotes are receiving his signing rights which expire during this offseason. Darren Dreger reported that Smith would not be singing with the Jets. If the Coyotes do not sign Smith when his rights expire, he will become a free agent.
It will be interesting to see if Smith returns for his senior season and then tests free agency after his collegiate career is over.
Jets Add Zach Sanford from the Ottawa Senators
As the trade deadline was winding down, the Jets made another trade to add some depth to their forward ranks.
The Jets made a trade with the Ottawa Senators to acquire forward Zach Sanford in exchange for Winnipeg’s 2022 fifth-round draft choice.
Sanford only arrived at the Senators during this past offseason after being traded to them from the St. Louis Blues in late September. He has appeared in all of Ottawa’s sixty-two regular season games and has nine goals, eight assists, and a minus-thirteen plus/minus.
The twenty-seven-year-old left winger’s one-year contract is set to expire this upcoming offseason and carries an AAV of $2,000,000.
Sanford is no stranger to the Central Division. He was a member of the St. Louis Blues from late February 2017 until this last offseason. During his time in St. Louis, he had two thirty-point seasons and was a member of their 2018-2019 Stanley Cup winning team.
Andrew Copp Gets Traded to the Rangers; Jets Recieve Top Prospect and Draft Choices
In the Jets’ final trade of this crazy day, they sent Andrew Copp and a 2023 sixth-round draft pick to the Rangers in exchange for Morgan Barron, two 2022 second-round conditional picks, and the Rangers’ 2023 fifth-round pick.
The Winnipeg Jets official website states the conditions for those 2022 conditional draft picks are as follows:
Conditional second-round pick A: Rangers’ 2022 second-round pick; becomes Rangers’ 2022 first-round pick if the Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference Final and Copp plays in at least 50 percent of their playoff games. Conditional second-round pick B: either St. Louis 2022 second-round pick or Rangers’ 2023 second-round pick.
The twenty-three-year-old, Barron will be joining up with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. He made his NHL debut during the 2021 season and has played 13 regular season games with the Rangers during this season and only registered one point.
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