- The Jets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Kristian Vesalainen to Manitoba of the AHL. The 22-year-old has played in 53 games this season with Winnipeg but has just two goals and three assists. Once viewed as a top prospect after he was picked 24th overall in 2017, the assignment should allow Vesalainen to play a much bigger role compared to the 8:30 ATOI he has this season.
Jets Rumors
Trade Deadline Primer: Winnipeg Jets
As we enter the middle of March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Winnipeg Jets.
A revamped back end for Winnipeg over the summer provided some cause for optimism heading into the season. After a quick exit in the second round to Montreal, the additions of Nate Schmidt and Brendan Dillon were supposed to steady the blueline and help the Jets take that next step forward. They’ve certainly helped on that front but unfortunately for them, Connor Hellebuyck has struggled and the end result is that they find themselves right in the middle heading into next week’s deadline – too close to automatically give up but too far away to realistically spend assets to try to make a run.
Record
28-23-10, 6th in the Central
Deadline Status
Toss-up
Deadline Cap Space
$669K today, $669K in full-season space (using LTIR), 0/3 retention slots used, 40/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: WPG 1st, CBJ 3rd, WPG 5th, WPG 6th, WPG 7th
2023: WPG 1st, WPG 3rd, WPG 4th, WPG 5th, WPG 6th, WPG 7th
Trade Chips
The good news for Winnipeg is that if they do decide to sell, they have two veterans at a position that will be in high demand. One of those is Andrew Copp, whose specific case we looked at in some detail over the weekend. He’s currently out with a head injury and while it’s not believed to be too serious, it could put a hold on talks for the time being. While his production has tapered off in recent weeks, he’s a two-way player that can play all three positions and do so in both offensive and defensive roles. Pretty much every contender would have a use for that type of versatile player although, with a $3.64MM AAV, not all of them will be able to afford him.
The other center that would be available if they sell is Paul Stastny. The 36-year-old has actually improved his offensive numbers from last season with 17 goals and 13 assists in 50 games, giving him his best point per game average since the 2018-19 season. Stastny has spent a lot of this season on the wing with Winnipeg having Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois on their top two lines but he was a full-time middleman as recently as last season. He’d fit in well on the third line for several contenders with an ability to move up in a pinch although his price tag of $3.75MM will take some creativity for some of them to fit the veteran onto their roster.
Nathan Beaulieu is currently on LTIR and will be out until next month but if there’s a team looking to add a bit of depth, his $1.25MM cap hit isn’t overly high and the 29-year-old has held his own on the third pairing in the past although his role has been reduced this year. The return would be minimal – a conditional draft pick based on games played at most – but there’s at least a small possibility that he’d move.
On the other side of the coin is David Gustafsson. The 21-year-old pending RFA actually cracked Winnipeg’s lineup as a 19-year-old but had a very limited role that year and in the two seasons since then, his NHL time has been extremely limited, including just two appearances this season that totaled less than five minutes of action. He has played well with AHL Manitoba with 20 points in 33 games but as someone that needs waivers next season and doesn’t appear to have the confidence of the NHL coaching staff right now, he’s someone that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff might be comfortable parting with in a smaller move if he decided to try to add a small piece to try to help get the Jets into the second Wild Card spot.
Then there are the blank spots on their roster. Only one team (Seattle) has fewer players signed to NHL contracts and there are a dozen teams that are three or less away from the limit of 50. Winnipeg is in a position where they could add some extra AHL depth and perhaps a late draft pick to take a contract from one of those teams that has to free up a slot to make a move. It wouldn’t be worth much but the empty slots effectively are a trade chip for the Jets.
Others To Watch For: D Tyrel Bauer (unsigned prospect), F C.J. Suess ($725K, UFA)
Team Needs
1) Draft Picks – If Winnipeg sells, they need to stock up on picks. They haven’t had a full set of draft choices since 2017 and have had just four selections in each of the last two seasons. At the moment, they only have two choices in the first 140 spots which is hardly ideal.
2) Depth Forward Upgrades – As a result of keeping their top forwards intact from last year and adding to their back end, Cheveldayoff had to go really cheap at the bottom of the depth chart. The results haven’t been great for the most part. They need low-cost improvements both now and in the long term, making this a team need that needs to be addressed regardless of which direction they ultimately wind up taking over the next few days. While there are other needs to fill, it’s unlikely they’ll be addressed here with the Jets either selling or basically standing pat
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trade Candidate: Andrew Copp
The trade deadline is now just over a week away as we continue our look at some of the players who have a good chance of being on the move between now and March 21st.
Andrew Copp has fairly quietly but steadily improved over the past several seasons and has worked his way up from being an energy player on the fourth line to a reliable checker to a quality two-way center that plays big minutes in all facets of the game. As a result, if Winnipeg decides that they’re going to sell, Copp will be one of the most sought-after players around the league in the days to come.
Contract
Copp is on a one-year, $3.64MM contract that was agreed on prior to his arbitration hearing in August and thus contains no form of trade protection. The deal is all salary and he will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
2021-22
Copp has been somewhat of a Swiss army knife for Winnipeg this season. Injuries to Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers opened up spots on the wing that Copp filled at times. He has spent most of the year playing down the middle but even with a fully healthy lineup (including Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois at center), Copp has logged heavy minutes and is third among all Winnipeg forwards in ice time behind only Kyle Connor and Scheifele.
Unsurprisingly, the 27-year-old has seen plenty of action on special teams. He leads all Jets forwards in shorthanded ice time per game and plays almost the same amount of time on the power play, making him their only player to average at least 2:30 per contest in both situations.
The end result is that Copp is on pace to set career highs across the board (he’s already there in shots on goals). On top of that, he’s winning over 53% of his draws and we know how much teams value situational faceoff performance in the playoffs.
However, it’s worth noting that his production has tapered off a little bit as of late with five points in his last 16 games while half of his full-season point total came in the first 15 games of the year. That shouldn’t hurt his market too much but interested teams will be factoring that into their offers.
Season Stats
53 GP, 13 goals, 19 assists, 32 points, even rating, 8 PIMS, 147 shots, 20:05 TOI, 52.9 CF%, 53.8% faceoffs
Potential Suitors
Basically, any contending team with some cap space will have interest in Copp if he’s made available. Winnipeg could retain to facilitate a deal although they’re close to being capped out so there may be a limitation to how much they can hold back or who they can take on to offset part of the contract.
In the East, the Bruins never really filled the hole created by David Krejci’s departure and have been looking to fill a top-six hole all season. Copp fits the bill on both ends and they have the cap space to afford him outright. So do the Rangers who could either slot him in on the wing in the top six or have him anchor a new-look third line that can take some pressure off the top lines. The Maple Leafs have been linked to some wingers and Copp would be a good complementary piece on the wing on their second line although making the money work would be a challenge with Jake Muzzin set to return later this season. The Capitals have been looking around at checking wingers and while Copp is rated a little higher, he’s someone they’d have interest in although again, the cap looms large on that front. The Panthers may covet Copp’s faceoff prowess to help offset Sam Bennett’s struggles on the draw if they aren’t able to add a significant piece on the back end.
Out West, the Wild stand out as a strong fit. They’re stuck shopping for expiring contracts with the buyout charges increasing next season for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter and could certainly use some improvements down the middle. The Avalanche have good depth at center already but could use Copp on the wing or in a shutdown capacity. It’d also be an opportunity to evaluate if he could be a serviceable replacement for Nazem Kadri if Kadri prices himself out of what Colorado can afford over the offseason. The Flames would have some cap challenges to overcome and would need to use him on the wing but he certainly fits Calgary’s playing style. If the Predators opt to try to make a bigger addition, Copp is someone that would fit in a role that’s similar to one he plays with Winnipeg, splitting time at center and the wing.
Likelihood Of A Trade
A lot will depend on how Winnipeg fares in this next week. If they can close the gap on a Wild Card spot, they may hold onto Copp in the hopes of sneaking into the postseason. However, if that doesn’t happen and a contract extension isn’t in the cards, there’s a very good chance that Copp will be on a different roster once the clock passes 2 PM CT on March 21st.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jets Potentially Interested In Wild's Jack McBain?
- As has been previously covered, the Minnesota Wild are considering shopping the signing rights they hold over prospect Jack McBain, who is currently starring for Boston College in the NCAA. In another bit of information from his 32 Thoughts blog, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Wild’s asking price for McBain is a second-round pick. In 2019, the New York Rangers traded two second-rounders to the Carolina Hurricanes for the rights to defenseman Adam Fox, so a price of a second-rounder is not one without some precedent, although an inquiring team could make the argument that McBain isn’t the same quality of prospect that Fox was at the time. Beyond reporting a potential asking price, Friedman also floats the Winnipeg Jets as a potential candidate to acquire McBain, specifically noting that Andrew McBain, Jack’s father, played six seasons for the Jets from 1983-84 to 1988-89.
Latest On Andrew Copp
One name that probably isn’t talked about enough when it comes to trade deadline candidates is Winnipeg Jets forward Andrew Copp who, like many other players that are discussed around this time of year, is a pending unrestricted free agent. The expectation was that the Jets would be contending for the Stanley Cup and likely taking a run at extending the 27-year-old forward, but with the team now sixth in the Central Division and looking up at three teams between them and a wild card position, they’ll have to consider selling at this month’s deadline.
Copp, meanwhile, is having another strong season with 13 goals and 32 points in 51 games. He’s been used all over the lineup, including at center again for a substantial stretch of the year. That versatility–which doesn’t end at his positional alignment; Copp can also contribute both on the powerplay and penalty kill–would make him a good fit for nearly any contender looking to bolster their top-nine. The fact that his cap hit is just $3.64MM makes him an even more attractive trade target, given how little of that will actually be left by the deadline.
In today’s 32 Thoughts column by Elliotte Friedman for Sportsnet, he touches on Copp’s future. Friedman writes that the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche are “believed to be among” the interested teams, though those two have been linked to almost every forward available over the last few weeks.
If the team does end up trading Copp, it will be very interesting to see if what kind of return they target. The team has several players locked up long-term, with Pierre-Luc Dubois the only real key restricted free agent on the books. Adding a package of draft picks for Copp likely doesn’t help them next season if they still believe themselves to be a contending team, unless of course they turn and flip those assets at some point down the road.
Through eight years in the NHL, Copp has only ever played for the Jets. This year he is averaging way more ice time than he ever has before, actually still sitting above 20 minutes for the year. That’s not the role he’ll be playing on any new team, though, and with that in mind, the 51-point full-season pace he’s on may not be realistic. He hasn’t even come close to that total in the past, though some of that is due to shortened seasons and injuries. What a team would be trading for is a quality two-way player that can support those around him, not necessarily one that can carry the offensive load himself. That was never more noticeable than last year’s playoffs, where Copp was held without a goal in eight games, despite seeing almost 22 minutes a night. In fact, through 34 career postseason matches, Copp has scored just three times.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
AHL Shuffle: 03/09/22
Just two games in the NHL this evening, though that does include a matchup between Connor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin. The Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals will do battle in a game of two teams headed in opposite directions. The Oilers have lost three in a row and are running the risk of falling out of the Pacific Division playoff race, while the Capitals stormed back yesterday to take their third in a row. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- The Montreal Canadiens have sent down defenseman Corey Schueneman to the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Schueneman, 26, is an undrafted player who impressed in brief NHL action under coach Martin St. Louis and is now headed back to Laval where he has 10 points in 27 games.
Metropolitan Division
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Kasper Bjorkqvist back to the AHL, without him actually getting into a game during this recall. The 24-year-old forward has played in six games this season, all of them coming back in January, and has a single goal.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled goaltender Alex Lyon from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Lyon was sent down on Monday and returns to the Hurricanes roster sporting a .908 save percentage in his 2 NHL appearances this season.
Central Division
- Nathan Beaulieu has been moved to long-term injured reserve, with the Winnipeg Jets recalling Ville Heinola in his place. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s getting into the lineup though, as Heinola figures to be the seventh defenseman on the upcoming road trip (at least to start).
Pacific Division
- The Los Angeles Kings have moved Mikey Anderson to injured reserve, recalling Jordan Spence to take his place on the roster. Spence, 21, has been lighting up the minor leagues in his first year of professional hockey, scoring 42 points in 46 games for the Ontario Reign. The fourth-round pick has a very interesting background, including being born in Australia and learning to play hockey in Japan before eventually returning to Canada at 13, the country he competes for internationally.
- The Anaheim Ducks have sent Brendan Guhle to the AHL, as Josh Manson continues to get closer to returning and after the team claimed Andrej Sustr off waivers. Guhle, 24, hasn’t even played in an NHL game this season, despite being up with the team on several occasions.
- The Edmonton Oilers have activated Zack Kassian off of long-term injured reserve and then added Kyle Turris to the list in a corresponding move, according to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. Kassian has 14 points in 35 games this year and returns to an Oilers lineup that he has featured in for seven seasons. Turris, 32, was previously mentioned as a trade candidate and has only 4 points in 23 games for the Oilers this season.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Winnipeg Jets Activate Nikolaj Ehlers
The Winnipeg Jets have announced that star winger Nikolaj Ehlers has been activated off of long-term injured reserve. Ehlers, 26, has been out since a January contest versus the Washington Capitals where he had a knee-on-knee collision with Dmitry Orlov. That collision caused a knee injury that has kept him out of a significant portion of games for the Jets.
Before the injury, Ehlers was producing decently well for a Jets team in need of his scoring touch. He had 13 goals and 25 points in his 34 games played. But the Jets have disappointed this season, and since his absence they have continued to languish on the fringes of the Western Conference’s playoff race.
On a positive note, though, Ehlers seems to have avoided any significant damage with his knee injury. In a sports world where season-ending knee injuries are all too common, seeing Ehlers return to the Jets this quickly (especially after watching Ehlers need to be helped off the ice by a trainer in the immediate aftermath of his collision) should be uplifting for a Jets fanbase that has not been given a whole lot to celebrate in recent weeks. Additionally, Ehlers did get to spend time in his native Denmark during his recovery, as reported by Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun, and perhaps the fresh start brought on by Ehlers’ return can help spark the Jets’ playoff chances.
In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff affirmed his faith in his team’s ability to re-enter the playoff conversation, saying that he is “comfortable” with this year’s team and willing to trust them in their chase of the playoff spot most observers expected them to more convincingly earn this season. Cheveldayoff’s interview underscored his patient approach to such high-pressure situations like a trade deadline and a playoff race, meaning that Ehlers’ return will be unlikely to have a significant impact on the way the Jets approach the deadline season. Instead, Jets fans will have to settle on his return having a significant impact on the ice, because regardless of what management does moving forward it is clear this Jets team just got a major, immediate boost.
Austin Poganski Placed On Waivers
March 4: Poganski has cleared waivers, according to Chris Johnston of TSN, and can now be assigned back to the minor leagues.
March 3: The Winnipeg Jets have placed Austin Poganski on waivers, according to CapFriendly. This is the second time he has appeared on waivers, after clearing just before the season began. Because of the number of games he has played in since then, he now has to clear again before being assigned to the minor leagues.
The placement of Poganski on waivers is another positive move for the Jets, who had Nikolaj Ehlers back at practice today in a regular jersey. The 26-year-old Ehlers hasn’t played since January 18, but appears to be on the precipice of a return to the lineup. The team will need to make some cap-related changes in order to be able to activate him from long-term injured reserve, likely including moving Poganski off the roster.
There’s a chance the 26-year-old is claimed, but not a big one. The former St. Louis Blues forward has played in 16 games this season and 22 for his career, yet is still looking for his first NHL point. They haven’t been as hard to come by at the minor league level, where he has 21 in 31 games this season, but things have been much more desolate in the NHL. Of course, he wasn’t really given much offensive opportunity in Winnipeg, averaging just over nine minutes a night mostly in defensive-zone situations.
Though normally he would be a restricted free agent at the end of the year, Poganski is actually one of those who will qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agent status, given how few games he has played to this point.
Cole Perfetti Moved To Injured Reserve
The Winnipeg Jets announced three injury-related transactions today, including activating both Nathan Beaulieu and the recently claimed Adam Brooks from injured reserve. To make room on the roster, Cole Perfetti has been moved to IR after suffering an upper-body injury last week against the Seattle Kraken.
Getting Beaulieu back explains the demotion of Ville Heinola yesterday and suggests that the veteran defenseman will finally get to continue his season. Beaulieu hasn’t played since January 27 and has just 19 games on the year, between absences from injury and illness. In the second season of a two-year, $2.5MM deal signed in 2020, when he does return to the action he’ll be jumping aboard a Jets team that is still scuffling along, unable to string together any sort of winning streak.
Winnipeg lost on Saturday night to the Edmonton Oilers, snapping a short two-game winning streak from last week. They’ll now take on the Calgary Flames today–a game that won’t include Beaulieu just yet–and try to snap the red-hot Pacific Division leader’s nine-game winning streak. Brooks is making his Jets debut on a line beside Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois after being shipped all over the league this season through waivers.
That spot had belonged to Perfetti, who has quickly shown that he is already a full-time NHL option. The 20-year-old forward has seven points in 18 games this season after being the tenth-overall pick in 2020. It’s not clear yet how long Perfetti will be out, but he has to miss at least seven days from his last appearance–February 17.
Winnipeg Jets Re-Assign Ville Heinola To Manitoba
After getting a long look at the NHL level over the past few weeks, the Winnipeg Jets have opted to send defenseman Ville Heinola back down to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
Heinola’s played in eight NHL games this season, an auspicious number considering the 10-game ’entry-level slide’ rule that can apply to young prospects on entry-level deals. This isn’t a contractual move, though, as the Jets have already slid the beginning of Heinola’s entry-level deal twice, meaning the clause no longer applies.
After being drafted 20th overall in 2019, Heinola immediately signed his entry-level deal with the team. He’d played in 13 NHL games prior to this season, notching a goal and four assists.
This season, he’d notched two points in another eight games, but averaged under 14 minutes a game and saw limited usage. At this point in time, the team’s decided they trust Logan Stanley more in an NHL role, opting to send Heinola back to the Moose. There, he has 16 points in 25 games this year, continuing to develop his all-around game.