With the regular season now underway and youngster Josh Morrissey showing well in the opener and the preseason, Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press suggests that RFA holdout Jacob Trouba may already be starting to lose some of his negotiating leverage.
Trouba is one of two remaining restricted free agents (the other being from Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm). While Lindholm and his representation are negotiating over money and term, Trouba’s hold out stems from a trade request due to Winnipeg’s desire to play him on his off-side.
While the firm deadline date to have a deal in place is a little over six weeks away (he must be signed by December 1st; if not, he would be ineligible for the rest of the year), Wiecek believes that Morrisey’s efforts early on in the spot that would have been Trouba’s lessen any sort of possible pressure on General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to get a deal done sooner rather than later.
In his tenure as Winnipeg’s GM, Cheveldayoff has been very patient and deliberate. While Trouba and his representatives (and maybe some other teams) were hoping that he would act quickly, it’s expected that the asking price will remain high on Trouba and that Cheveldayoff will only move him if he gets the exact deal he’s looking for. Last week, it was reported that the asking price included a young left-handed rearguard but if Morrissey continues to impress, that requirement could change which would then open up some other options for the Jets to potentially consider.
Elsewhere in Winnipeg, who received some bad news earlier today with Bryan Little being out for the longer-term:
- Recently-demoted goaltender Ondrej Pavelec wasn’t surprised to find himself the odd man out this year, Free Press columnist Jason Bell writes. The 29 year old suited up in just one preseason contest while Michael Hutchinson played in three games and opening night starter Connor Hellebuyck in two. Pavelec acknowledges that he’s unsure what his role will be in the AHL as the Jets have a quality prospect in Eric Comrie down there and will likely want him to get as much playing time as possible. With a cap hit of $3.9MM and a salary of $4.75MM, the Jets will have a hard time finding a taker for Pavelec unless they’re willing to retain on his salary/cap hit in any sort of trade.