Well, we are now only three days into the National Hockey League’s free agency period and the cupboards are pretty bare of remaining options for General Managers like Kevin Cheveldayoff to improve their clubs. Yes, there are still a couple options that could be helpful to the Winnipeg Jets…..like the offensively talented/defensively challenged Jack Roslovic (39 pts) or perhaps other secondary scorers like Anthony Beauvillier (25 pts) (signed by WSH) or Victor Olofsson (29 pts). Maybe a banger like Luke Kunin (18 pts)? Basically nothing that is going to change the game for the True North team.
As of now, the biggest addition comes in the form of 35 yr old Gustav Nyquist (other than the leaked news that 37 yr old Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews would ink with his hometown club). The veteran winger is coming off a down season with only 28 points split between the Nashville Predators & Minnesota Wild, but put up an impressive 75 points the previous season with the Preds. So the offensive possibilities are there for the Swede to make an impact on the Jets’ 2nd line.
While Chevy may continue to monitor the free agent market, his attention will likely turn to a couple of things. First, he will likely hit the phones to see if other GMs in the league are willing to depart with any players that could help Winnipeg, in particular some scoring help for the top six forward group. Secondly, the Jets’ GM has to get down to the very important work of re-signing his Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) like Gabriel Vilardi, Dylan Samberg, & Morgan Barron. And finally, Cheveldayoff needs to start doing his due diligence of the future outlook of Kyle Connor in Manitoba….because the club cannot afford to lose marquee players in back-to-back seasons without getting something in return.
I could easily see Vilardi & Samberg’s deals eating up the majority of Winnipeg’s remaining $19M in cap space, probably in the $12M to $14.5M range. That should leave management with enough money to re-up Barron and possibly use whatever is left to add one more piece. However, if that piece doesn’t become available, the Jets may opt to carry that money and use it at the deadline if the squad finds themselves in a good position in the standings. Here is how PuckPedia outlines the upcoming 4 seasons’ cap situation for the Winnipeg Jets:
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So Chevy has spent that much money so far, lets dive into see what the depth chart of the Winnipeg Jets looks like at this point. I spent some time adding the newly signed free agents, as well as introducing the recently drafted prospects to the charts….so take a gander (newly signed players highlighted in lime green).
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With four players exiting from last year’s version of the Jets, really only speedy Nikolaj Ehlers (CAR) will leave a big hole. The other full-time NHLers departing include wingers Mason Appleton (DET), Brandon Tanev (UTH), & Rasmus Kupari (overseas) won’t be terribly difficult to replace. With all the depth signings, the prospect of a bit of youth movement occurring seems to have taken a hit. Though, all those contracts can be buried completely in the minors, so it technically shouldn’t stop the coaching staff from giving young players like Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, & Brayden Yager a real chance.
Winnipeg also continues to have an excess of defensemen and would have 9 of them if they got Samberg to agree to a new deal, which unless you want to risk losing players to waiver claims is just too many.
So there is still work for the True North franchise left to do…..but this should give us a good idea of where our club stands at this point.
