The Winnipeg Jets are about to encounter a problem. They are going to need to send players down to the AHL as players return from injury. One of the players who could be sent down is defenceman Ville Heinola.
Heinola has been a divisive player for Jets fans for years, but he has recently been earning his spot with solid play including helping drive offence. He has shown himself to be one of the Jets stronger defenders even if he is playing bottom-pairing minutes. The Jets have been burned by a bad bottom pairing before and having a solid player down there is only a boon for them.
However, the Jets have seemingly invested more in Logan Stanley over time than the have Heinola. They traded up in the draft to draft him and he has been given longer, more meaningful stints in the NHL. Based on the actions of the of the organization in the past, there is no reason to think that Stanley would be waived. There is also the chance that they will simply send Heinola down to the AHL and say he can compete for a spot next year. But what if they did something different?
The Jets could choose to open up some cap space and try and trade a player like Neal Pionk, but that does not seem like a deadline move. There is actually not any good moves on defence to free up cap space. What is more likely to happen is Kyle Capobianco will be sent down and Heinola ends up in the press box even though his play does dictate he should continue playing.
The Jets are also inching closer and closer to an actual relief for them when it comes to getting players back. It appears as though Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers are very close to returning which should be a huge relief for the Jets offensively. Hopefully they will be able to return to firing on all cylinders like they were before the injury bug hit them hard. There might be some players who need conditioning stints down in the AHL; I wonder about Ehlers although the Jets have not indicated that will be happening with anyone who is currently out.
The Jets are soon going to have to make some calls with their roster which could dictate due to cap space, position played, and relative experience. Either way, the Jets are getting healthy and that is great news.
