The Winnipeg Jets are projected to be sellers on deadline day, with pending free agents such as Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley topping the list of likely moves.
But the Jets are also projected to be able to add about $13 million to their existing cap hit, according to PuckPedia.
What if they used that cap space to add players, too? The Jets are trying to compete next season and throughout as much of Connor Hellebuyck’s and Mark Scheifele’s matching contracts as possible. Kyle Connor is about to get more expensive, with his $12 million contract kicking in next season, but Winnipeg is still paying Josh Morrissey a team-friendly $6.25 million AAV through the end of 2027-28.
And, as we’ve covered, there are reasons to think the Jets aren’t quite as bad as their spot in the standings this season.
Today, we look at players who might be able to help Winnipeg win next season and beyond. They won’t all come with team-friendly contracts, nor will everyone have the star caliber of Hellebuyck, Morrissey, Scheifele or Connor, but that’s not the point. We’ll also cover a group of players whose contracts are so inefficient that teams might be willing to package them with draft picks just to get inefficient money off their hands.
How can Winnipeg use its cap space to add players at the deadline?
Tier 1: A run-through of unlikely top-end talent
For Winnipeg to take a big swing on a high-end player — likely a forward for its second line — several factors have to align.
A quality player must be available. He must not have trade protection (or be willing to waive it for Winnipeg). And Winnipeg must be able to provide the asset quality that satisfies the selling team. That’s a tough series of needles to thread for a Jets franchise without a lot of draft capital or high-end prospects; Winnipeg is missing its second- and fourth-round picks in the next two drafts, and its prospects pool was ranked No. 25 in our most recent prospects pool ratings.
Let’s take a look through the options, starting with the names atop our latest trade board.
Vincent Trocheck could be an ideal No. 2 centre. He has a 12-team no-trade clause and has indicated his desire to play in the Eastern Conference. Nazem Kadri has played a big role on a Stanley Cup-winning team (and has signed in Canada before) but carries a 13-team no-trade clause. Robert Thomas is a 26-year-old star who has averaged over a point per game for the last five seasons, but he carries a full no-trade clause.
You can take the trade board through to its conclusion and find a long list of desirable players who have trade protection or who are being treated by their teams as if they have trade protection: Blake Coleman, Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Elias Pettersson, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and beyond.
Then you hear insiders such as The Athletic’s and TSN’s Chris Johnston talk about the St. Louis Blues’ asking for three “first-round-caliber” assets for Thomas and wonder where Winnipeg would even find those. There are teams with more draft capital and top prospects to part with than Winnipeg; the Jets would be gutted if they moved Cole Perfetti, their 2026 first-round pick, and Sascha Boumedienne to consummate a trade like that — even if Thomas approved a trade — and could still be outbid.
Thus, Kevin Cheveldayoff’s pursuit of a long-term solution on his second line looks beyond the realm of reasonable, unless he can surprise us all by acquiring a lesser name with greater upside for a price that doesn’t hurt future Jets teams as much as I expect.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Carolina Hurricanes has just enough value to shake him free from a team that’s already barely using him. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Tier 2: Mid-tier players + poor contracts = great opportunity?
Let’s return to Kotkaniemi for a moment. The 25-year-old forward has a 10-team no-trade clause, but he’s slid down the Carolina Hurricanes’ depth chart to the point where he’s regularly playing less than 10 minutes per game. It’s a disappointing turn for a player once thought to be a solid 200-foot centreman with the ability to produce secondary offence.
Kotkaniemi is three years removed from a career-best 18 goals and 43 points for the Hurricanes in 2022-23. This makes his $4.82 million cap hit unwieldy for Carolina, particularly if it’s looking to make a big splash at this year’s deadline. He’s still a competent defensive player — just not such an elite shutdown player so as to make up for scoring just 9 points in 36 games.
All of the questions about Kotkaniemi’s ability relative to his contract (and the four years remaining on it) should make him easier to acquire. No “three first-round-caliber” assets here — just enough value to shake him free from a team that’s already barely using him.
The advantages of this line of thinking are that Kotkaniemi — or players like him — should be attainable via the type of assets the Jets can actually afford to spend. The difficulty is clear, too: If it were somehow known that he would definitely return to form over the next four years, Kotkaniemi wouldn’t be available.
Winnipeg should be looking at players such as this in case it finds value. That doesn’t mean there’s automatically value to be had.
Tier 3: What about using bad contracts to add draft picks?
An early Wednesday draft of this piece discussed Andrew Mangiapane, a player I advocated for Winnipeg to sign last summer. Back then, I believed the level Mangiapane hit in his final three seasons for the Calgary Flames was more indicative of his ability than his performance with the Washington Capitals. It seems I was wrong: Mangiapane was such a poor fit in Edmonton that the Edmonton Oilers spent much of the season trying to move him, including putting him on waivers.
When no one claimed him, it became clear Edmonton would need to package a draft pick along with Mangiapane to entice a team to trade for him. The Oilers accomplished that (in creative fashion) by acquiring pending UFA Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks for Mangiapane and a first-round draft pick in 2027.
That’s exactly the kind of trade I’d advocate for a team like Winnipeg’s to try to replicate. Mangiapane wasn’t the prize — just an attempt at a reclamation project — but Chicago was able to acquire an extra first-round pick for a prospect and a pending UFA.
Forwards such as Warren Foegele ($3.5 million AAV, Los Angeles Kings) and Ryan Strome ($5.0 million AAV, Anaheim Ducks) have maintained more of their value than Mangiapane did in Edmonton, but they each have an extra year on their contract, which might be more palatable to Winnipeg than to their current teams. Foegele, 29, has seen his offence come crashing down to 9 points in 47 games after 46-point and 41-point seasons. Strome, 32, has only 8 points in 32 games this season after six straight 40-plus-point seasons.
Foegele has five teams in his no-trade clause, and Strome does not have trade protection. Any trade-making sweeteners wouldn’t come close to the first-round pick Chicago got for taking Mangiapane, but depth picks have value. Target a player who helps, despite an overinflated contract, and Winnipeg would win on two fronts.
Regardless of which tier of player Winnipeg targets, it’s difficult to find an obvious home run swing that fixes everything all at once. MacKenzie Weegar might be that player, but the Jets don’t have three second-round picks to part with in a package as the Utah Mammoth did.
Utah is an exceptional case — it’s acquired a lot of draft capital by acquiring bad contracts over several seasons — but it proves an important point. Second-round picks such as the ones Winnipeg parted with for Schenn and Brandon Tanev a year ago have value. That value can add up to help or hurt a team, depending on its asset management.
The Jets can blame the sheer volume of no-trade clauses for part of their difficulty in making moves. A lack of draft capital is also part of their problem, though — and Winnipeg is responsible for that. It highlights how important it is for the Jets to recoup assets in their role as sellers this year. Even if their offseason retool is successful and they’re playoff contenders all over again next season, they’re going to need more draft capital than they have now to go shopping for more immediate help.
