Winnipeg Jets’ fans awoke to the news that General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff managed to reach an agreement with Restricted Free Agent Dylan Samberg’s agent. With the arbitrator likely already sharpening their pencils and gathering their notepads for the pending arbitration hearing between the NHL franchise & player, the True North GM came to a last second $17.25M agreement that keeps the big American defenseman within the Jets’ fold for the next three campaigns ($5.75M/yr).
While it would have been nicer if Winnipeg could have locked up Samberg longer, but the new deal eats up two Unrestricted Free Agent years and will allow Dylan to cash in on an even bigger deal when he is still just 29 years old. The most important factor is that the Jets now have their best defensive defenseman available for the upcoming campaign, avoiding an arbitration decision that would have walked Sammie to UFA status next summer. As a result, I am much happier than I normally would be in the middle of a work week.
With the move, the True North hockey club has $3,963,810 left to spend if they have 14 forwards (Lowry on LTIR to start the year), 8 defensemen, & 2 goaltenders on their NHL roster to start the 2025-26 season. That amount might be enough to entice the best remaining UFA forward option like Jack Roslovic to return to the Peg, but the offensively talented/defensively challenged skater is not an ideal fit on Winnipeg’s 2nd line. Yet it is not enough on its own to fully cover the cost of picking up one of the remaining viable RFA top six forward options like the Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi or the Anaheim Ducks’ Mason McTavish. It is true that the Jets probably could move some other contracts out to make such deals work, but the actual cost to acquire those two young stars would be pretty large (if they are even available).
So unless Chevy can find another NHL team willing to give up a top six forward to play alongside Cole Perfetti, the Winnipeg Jets may just be finished with any off-season additions. Looking at PuckPedia to see what our fellow fans think is possible this summer, I find that the most common target is the Calgary Flames’ Nazem Kadri, who would not only fill a top six spot but also provide our club with a true 2nd line center. On the negative side, spending a bunch of assets (young players & high draft picks) on a 34 yr old center with 4 years left on his deal would surely hurt the long-term prospects of the franchise. Then there are a bunch of trades from Detroit Red Wings’ fans looking to pilfer pending UFA Kyle Connor for pennies on the dollar. Now that Cheveldayoff is done with his RFAs, I am sure that his full attention will turn to getting KFC locked up and from a recent report, it sounds like both the club & player are confident an extension will be worked out. Perhaps the Jets’ GM might find some other trade target elsewhere, but otherwise he may settle with having around $18M to spend at the trade deadline.
Here is how PuckPedia has the Winnipeg Jets’ salary cap & draft pick situation for the next few seasons:
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TOP PROSPECTS:
Elias Salomonsson – RD, Brad Lambert – C/RW, Brayden Yager – C, Nikita Chibrikov – RW/LW, Kieron Walton – C/LW, Sascha Boumedienne – LD, Colby Barlow – LW, Kevin He – LW, Alfons Freij – LD/RD, & Jacob Julien – C
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Now that you know what assets the Winnipeg Jets’ GM has at his disposal…..what would you do in his place? What positions would you be looking to address? Any specific targets for Chevy to pursue?
Should Cheveldayoff remain patient and wait until the deadline to see how things look before spending any assets to help with a playoff push? Or should he get aggressive to make a splash before the NHL year kicks off, knowing that it will be important for Winnipeg to do well while captain Adam Lowry’s hip is still on the mend in late October/early November?
How about thoughts of the upcoming season…..do you expect the current lineup to be good enough to qualify for the playoffs? Overall, the True Northers have only lost forwards Nikolaj Ehlers & Mason Appleton…so in the end, how much of a hit will that bring to Winnipeg’s point totals? While matching last year’s fantastic campaign might be too much to ask….will the Jets be good enough to at least fight for the Central Division title? Lets hear your thoughts in the Comment section.
