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Snapshots: Stanley, Red Wings, Panthers

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Entangled in all of the trade deadline chaos, Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest reports that Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Logan Stanley has requested a trade from the team. Strickland also notes that Winnipeg is not guaranteed to move on from the young defenseman.

Drafted in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, Stanley hasn’t entirely found his footing in Winnipeg. Last year, Stanley played relatively well throughout the season, racking up a modest 13 points in 58 games played. Also, as he is a defenseman that plays to his size, the 6’7″ defenseman managed to accrue 131 hits and 100 blocks over the course of last year. With a couple of trips to the injured reserve this season, Stanley desires a fresh start outside of Winnipeg. Because of his youth and contract status with the team, it is possible that Winnipeg could retain Stanley and try to repair a relationship that has soured for at least one side. If the relationship can’t be repaired, the playoff-hopeful Jets could send him to another team in an individual trade, or look to include Stanley in a larger deal.

Other notes:

  • The Detroit Red Wings announced today that Jordan Oesterle has been activated off of injured reserve, while forward Michael Rasmussen has been placed on the IR. Rasmussen appeared to have a lower-body injury after taking a shot off the knee in Detroit’s Saturday night game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now in his 4th season in the NHL, Rasmussen never seemed to live up to his ninth overall draft selection. Topping out at 27 points in 80 games last year, Rasmussen has played far better this year under new head coach Derek Lalonde. Playing in only 56 games so far this season, Rasmussen has produced a new career high of 29 points. After the trade of Tyler Bertuzzi earlier this morning, the Red Wings will now be without another valuable forward in the lineup.
  • Florida Panthers announce that forward Grigori Denisenko has been loaned back to the Panthers’ AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers. A frequent call-up of the Panthers this season, Denisenko has appeared in 18 games, scoring a total of three points. Denisenko will now join the third-place Checkers as he helps the team push for the playoffs in the AHL

Winnipeg Jets Sign Evan Cormier

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The Winnipeg Jets have added some goaltending depth, signing Evan Cormier to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level. Cormier had been playing in the organization on an AHL contract but has been limited to ECHL action. This deal allows him to be brought to the NHL as an emergency backup, though it also required him to be placed on waivers today to stay in the minor leagues for now.

Cormier, 25, was a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2016, but wasn’t given a qualifying offer after his entry-level deal expired in 2021. He’s rarely even appeared at the AHL level, and has a .905 save percentage in 27 games with the Kalamazoo Wings this season.

With Mikhail Berdin playing overseas, this is simply a move to give the Jets a little more depth at the position so that they aren’t in an emergency spot at some point down the road. Cormier isn’t expected to dress for the Jets unless several injuries happen simultaneously.

Jets Return Jonsson-Fjallby To AHL

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  • The Winnipeg Jets have sent Axel Jonsson Fjallby back down, which could mean that Nino Niederreiter is ready to join the team after a short immigration issue. The club will take on the Los Angeles Kings at home tomorrow night and could sure use the offensive punch of their newest acquisition. The Jets were shut out yesterday and have now scored just four goals in their last three games.

Jets Recall Jonsson-Fjallby

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  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Axel Jonsson Fjallby once again, as Nino Niederreiter is now designated as a non-roster player as he deals with immigration issues. The newest Jet is expected to join the club early this week, though this move throws some uncertainty on when exactly that will be. Niederreiter was acquired from the Predators in exchange for a second-round pick yesterday.

Winnipeg Jets Acquire Nino Niederreiter

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The Winnipeg Jets have added to their forward group, acquiring Nino Niederreiter from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2024 second-round draft pick. Winnipeg then sent Axel Jonsson-Fjallby to the AHL to open the roster spot.

The 30-year-old has been a reliable secondary scorer for the majority of his career and continued that trend in his first season with Nashville.  This season, Niederreiter has 18 goals and 10 assists in 56 games, good for second on the Preds in goals (just one behind Filip Forsberg).  He has reached the 20-goal mark in six of the last eight seasons and should certainly bolster Winnipeg’s scoring depth, especially with Cole Perfetti likely out for the remainder of the regular season and potentially into the first round.

Notably, Niederreiter isn’t a rental acquisition for Winnipeg as he still has one year remaining on his deal after this season with a $4MM cap hit.  They already had more than $66.5MM in commitments for next season to just 13 players per CapFriendly, a total that will jump to over $70.5MM.  Notably, that figure does not include an expected new deal for RFA center Pierre-Luc Dubois who is heading for a sizable raise on his current $6MM salary.  With that in mind, it’s quite possible that from here on out, the Jets will be focusing on rental players.

As for Nashville, this year hasn’t gone as planned for the Preds.  After being 12th in goals scored in 2021-22, they’ve struggled offensively this season, sitting 26th in that department even with the addition of Niederreiter who was supposed to help bolster their attack.  The end result is that they find themselves fifth in the Central Division and seven points out of a Wild Card spot heading into today’s action.  It appears that GM David Poile has settled on his course of action after previously suggesting he wasn’t entirely sure if he’d be a buyer or seller.

While the Preds don’t have a strong list of pending UFAs – it’s basically backup goaltender Kevin Lankinen and injured blueliner Mark Borowiecki – they do have some other players that are signed or under team control beyond this season that could be of interest.  Pending RFA defenseman Dante Fabbro has been in recent speculation while veteran rearguard Mattias Ekholm has previously been suggested as someone that could move if they look to undergo a longer-term retooling process.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman broke the news (Twitter link) that Niederreiter was headed to Winnipeg. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cole Perfetti Out Eight Weeks

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Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness told reporters this morning that forward Cole Perfetti is expected to miss at least eight weeks due to an upper-body injury.

The young forward, who was drafted by the Jets 10th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, has had a strong rookie campaign, registering eight goals and 30 points in 51 games played. Bowness stressed that Perfetti’s injury isn’t related to the upper-body injury that cost him the last few months of last season. The news of his absence is significant for the Jets down the stretch, as Perfetti is developing into a core part of the team’s top-six forward group.

Perfetti was placed on injured reserve Tuesday and has missed the team’s last two games.

The eight-week timeline lines up nicely for Perfetti to return during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs if his recovery doesn’t extend past what’s anticipated. The Jets are second in the Central Division but have lost six out of their last 10 games.

Perfetti’s injury won’t impact Winnipeg’s salary cap landscape much, considering he’s still on his sub-$1MM entry-level deal, but it does exacerbate the need for the Jets to upgrade at the forward position with months left to go in the season. They have been linked in recent weeks as an outside team to land San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier, and other depth targets like James van Riemsdyk and Ivan Barbashev could be an option to replace Perfetti’s top-six role at the deadline.

Cole Perfetti Placed On Injured Reserve; Axel Jonsson-Fjällby Recalled

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The Winnipeg Jets have placed forward Cole Perfetti on injured reserve per a team announcement Tuesday afternoon. Forward Axel Jonsson Fjällby has been recalled from the Jets’ AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose on an emergency basis. In 51 games played so far this season, Perfetti has scored eight goals and 22 assists for a total of 30 points. After spending much of the 2021-22 NHL season split between the Jets and the Moose, Perfetti has shown off his playmaking prowess this year showing just why he was such a high selection at the 2020 NHL Draft.

As the Jets find themselves in a very tight Central Division playoff race, losing Perfetti will be a sizeable hole in the lineup. Entering tomorrow night’s game against the New York Islanders, the Jets are averaging 3.14 GF/G and a PP% of 21.8%, good for 16th and 14th in the league, respectively. Spending most of his time on the Jets’ first line, and helping out with the second power-play unit, the Jets will need to find offensive help in different ways in the near future. With 25 games remaining in the regular season, the Jets find themselves one point back of the division-leading Dallas Stars, and four points up on the third-place Colorado Avalanche, a team with two games in hand on the Jets. After missing out on the playoffs for the 2021-22 season, losing Perfetti will be a hurdle that the Jets will need to clear in order to return to the playoffs.

Replacing Perfetti in the lineup, Jonsson-Fjällby will return to the Jets after a one-week return to the minors. Claimed from the Washington Capitals in early October, Jonsson-Fjällby has been able to provide some depth scoring for the Jets this year. In 45 games played during the 2022-23 season, Jonsson-Fjällby has scored four goals and seven assists. Although he does not garner the same recognition as Perfetti for many Jets fans, Jonsson-Fjällby should be able to provide serviceable minutes for the Jets in Perfetti’s absence.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Spencer Martin Clear Waivers

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Feb 14: Both players have cleared and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Feb 13: According to Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness, who spoke with reporters including Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby has been placed on waivers today. The club needed room for the return of Dylan DeMelo and is “selfishly” hoping that Jonsson-Fjallby clears and can stay with the organization.

He isn’t alone. Spencer Martin has also been placed on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks, suggesting that Thatcher Demko will soon return from injury.

It’s a significant fall for Martin, who signed a two-year, one-way contract with the Canucks in April to serve as the team’s primary backup. At the time, it seemed rather undeserved given he had only played in nine NHL games, but the Canucks were confident in his ability to play at the highest level after posting a .950 save percentage in his short time with them.

Unfortunately, he’s come nowhere near that number this season, with an .871 through 29 appearances. The goaltending in Vancouver has been rather dreadful, even if their defensive performance has hung netminders out to dry far too often.

The move essentially signals that Collin Delia has passed him on the depth chart, and will remain as the backup for Demko moving forward.

For Jonsson-Fjallby, this could potentially lead to another fresh start somewhere else. Not only do the Washington Capitals have the option of re-claiming him and sending him directly to the minor leagues if they are the only team interested, but his play could draw the gaze of some other teams looking for depth forwards. Through 45 games with Winnipeg, the 25-year-old has four goals and 11 points, routinely showing off his speed to get in on the forecheck.

He won’t be a top-six impact player, but could be of interest for clubs looking to add penalty killing and energy to a fourth line.

Valtteri Pulli Drawing NHL Interest

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Most of the news right now revolves around the NHL trade deadline, as media members try to find out where everyone will be playing when the dust settles. But yesterday, Jeff Marek squished in another interesting nugget during the 32 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet.

Valtteri Pulli, an undrafted Finnish defenseman, is drawing interest from several NHL clubs.

A number of teams that have shown interest but at varying degrees. I’ve heard of a couple different teams that are really hot on him, and a couple that just will kick tires. I’m having a hard time trying to figure out who is really aggressive and who is just curious.

It sounds like the teams with interest (and again to varying degrees) are the San Jose Sharks…the Winnipeg Jets, the Boston Bruins, the Vancouver Canucks, the Nashville Predators, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the New York Islanders. 

Pulli, 21, is a 6’6″ left-shot defenseman who is in his first full season for TPS in the Finnish Liiga, and has three goals and 14 points in 47 games. While those numbers don’t sound too impressive, he has shown flashes of high offensive potential, as he learns to use his massive frame to protect the puck and get it to dangerous areas.

Of course, flashes of potential don’t get you NHL minutes, and Pulli is by no means a finished product. He’ll turn 22 next month, though, meaning teams will have lots of time to try and develop him into an impact player.

Since he turns 22 next month, Pulli will be limited to a two-year entry-level contract when he does sign.

Winnipeg Jets Linked To James Van Riemsdyk

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  • Another name that was brought up as being on the market is that of veteran Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk. The 33-year-old has scored a healthy 21 points in 34 games this season, and would in all likelihood give a team additional scoring help at a lower cost than some of the other forward options on the market, such as Meier or Bertuzzi. Marek linked van Riemsdyk to three teams: the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Vegas Golden Knights.

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