Let’s finish off the season with a mailbag, we could?
We requested you to submit your Winnipeg Jets-related inquiries to us on X, and now we’re right here to reply them.
With out additional ado, let’s get proper into it.
Is Toews severe about returning, and would he even be a viable 3C or 4C within the league nonetheless? Clearly his management and vet presence is efficacious however nonetheless want to have the ability to compete. — @NittanyGooner
Neglect a serviceable third or fourth-line centre, a number of folks on-line have been pencilling Jonathan Toews in as a possible second-line centre. However let’s pump the brakes on the 2C discourse. Frankly, even the notion that he’ll be an improve within the bottom-six isn’t assured.
Let’s maintain some issues in perspective: Toews – a sure-to-be first poll Corridor of Famer with three Stanley Cups on his resume – hasn’t performed in an NHL sport since April 13, 2023. It’s additionally been 5 years since he cracked the 60-point benchmark. And he’s turning 38 in April. The chances are stacked towards him being an impression participant on the ice, though that doesn’t imply he can’t present worth.
Earlier than including Luke Schenn finally 12 months’s deadline, the Jets didn’t have a single participant that had their identify engraved on the Cup. Schenn’s impression off the ice was palpable, with a number of Jets gamers applauding the veteran defenceman’s expertise and pedigree.
If Toews can tread water as a fourth-line centre that wins nearly all of his attracts – he has a profession face-off win proportion of 57.3 per cent – all whereas offering some expertise to the locker room, signing him to a one-year deal could be nicely value it.
Simply don’t get your hopes up that he’ll be the Jonathan Toews you bear in mind from the Chicago Blackhawks’ golden period.
With the whole d core signed by means of subsequent season… do the Jets make any modifications on the again? — @jordansburner16
It’s unlikely we’ll see any modifications on the blue line.
Positive, in a super world, the Jets would discover a right-handed top-four defenceman — ideally with dimension — that might function an improve from Dylan DeMelo alongside Josh Morrissey. Gamers like that aren’t available in free a,gency and even when they have been, Winnipeg’s not prone to signal them. These archetypes aren’t on commerce blocks both. And once more, in the event that they have been, odds are Winnipeg is probably going on that participant’s no-trade checklist.
Nevertheless, this query may be interpreted one other means. Will the group transfer certainly one of their defencemen? It’s straightforward to have a look at issues on paper and suppose that there are “too many” defencemen.
However right here’s the truth: you possibly can by no means have an excessive amount of depth. The Jets defence is one top-four damage away from dissolving, which makes the utility of getting a Colin Miller, for example, priceless. Even when he’s not a lineup common.
That mentioned, if Elias Salomonsson, who’s knocking on the door for a roster spot, wins a spot in camp, the Jets should transfer someone. Odds are, that’s Miller.
Are the Jets tying themselves to too many long-term contracts for non-impact gamers (Demelo, Iafallo, Nino, Vlad)? These gamers didn’t get them over the hump this 12 months. How probably are they to enhance playoff probabilities within the subsequent few years? — @gmkevin17
This reply goes to be a two-parter.
I don’t rely Vladislav Namestnikov’s two-year deal or Alex Iafallo’s three-year extension as “long-term” offers. And I don’t suppose there’s something incorrect with both of them.
Namestnikov could also be an insufficient 2C, however as a utility piece, a $2 million AAV could be very cheap. Iafallo might play on the fourth line when Winnipeg has a wholesome roster, however he’s able to leaping into the top-six in a pinch and is a wonderful penalty killer. So a $3.67 million AAV is completely cheap for that, particularly with the cap rising.
Now, Nino Niederreiter and Dylan DeMelo’s offers? Your level has benefit. However typically, including an additional 12 months (or two) is the price of doing enterprise if you’re operating an NHL group in Winnipeg.
Niederreiter, approaching the second season of a three-year deal ($4 million AAV), is a streaky scorer who has develop into comparatively inconsistent, even when he’s with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton. That mentioned, he’s flirted with the 20-goal mark in every of the final two seasons.
The DeMelo deal might age badly. We noticed indicators of regression from the 32-year-old — signed for an additional three years ($4.9 million) — by means of the primary 12 months of his deal. A four-year pact was wealthy to start with, and I feel, much like the best way the Jets valued Niederreiter on that “identification line,” they overvalued DeMelo resulting from how he fared alongside Morrissey.
JJ Peterka could be such an superior match for this group. The speedy 23-year-old is a menace to attain each time he touches the puck — he got here inside spitting distance of 30 objectives in consecutive years — and he’s obtained an excellent motor. He’d present some ‘pop’ to a second line that’ll look grim if Ehlers leaves.
Assuming Buffalo strikes on from him earlier than July 1 — when the pending RFA can signal a suggestion sheet — there’s going to be a number of suitors providing excessive draft picks and or blue-chip prospects for his providers. Winnipeg doesn’t have a whole lot of ammo to drag off a deal.
Even when they have been prepared to deal, say, Brayden Yager or Brad Lambert, who’re centres and never a winger like Peterka, you possibly can guess there’ll be loads of groups with higher prospects to supply.
