Can we make a Winnipeg Jets team for the playoffs out of Dubois, Hellebuyck and Scheifele deals?

Kevin Sheffield has not publicly endorsed or refuted the rebuild, but Winnipeg is on the cusp of several seismic moves to bring down the franchise. Cheveldayoff deals will create clarity, painting a future for Winnipeg without Pierre-Luc Dubois, Blake Wheeler, Connor Helbwick, and possibly Mark Chevelle.

I expect the Jets to follow a competitive path, prioritizing packages that include younger, team-controlled players over buying exclusively leads and picks. That latter path will signal a rebuild, but I expect Winnipeg to push for a second straight playoff berth and a historic loss of talent will be terrifying.

maybe?

How can the Jets start with the holes they have now, respond to trade orders from Dubois and Hellbwick, let Wheeler decide the future of Chevelleigh — with the entire league wanting to understand Sheffield’s predicament as they try to exploit it — and make the playoffs?

I am happy The publisher has given me this impossible task you asked.

Here is my best attempt at planning a seemingly impossible route in Winnipeg.

The first step in this process is realizing that NHL teams have already attempted to invent this flashlight.

We’ll skip the pre-hat era and avoid the 1991 Edmonton financial purge of Mark Messier, Gary Currie, Grant Four and Glenn Anderson, or Philadelphia’s 1992 acquisition of Eric Lindros for a royal ransom, with Peter Forsberg leading an all-star lineup. . Which also included two first-round picks and $15 million in cash.

Consider further the 2006 Oilers, who traded point tackle Chris Pronger and lost second baseman Jaroslav Spacek along with Michael Peca, Sergey Samsonov, Radek Dvorak and George Laraki to unrestricted free agency (and then traded top forward, Ryan Smith, in a 2007 deadline deal). ) moved Edmonton from Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to 10 straight playoff fouls.

There was also the 2009 Montreal Canadiens, who beat out Sako Koivu, Alexei Kovalev, Robert Lang and Alex Tanguay to bring in Brian Giunta, Mike Camalleri, Hal Gill and Scott Gomez. They made the playoffs in three of the next six seasons, until the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Chicago Flyers beat the Canadiens in 2010, but then faced a coverage crisis. The Blackhawks traded Dustin Byvoglin, Chris Versteig, and Andrew Ladd—two players like that that Jets fans will remember fondly—and it took them two seasons to get over it. Chicago qualified for the 2011 playoffs as the No. 8 seed, but lost to Vancouver in the first round, then lost to Phoenix in the 2012 first round before winning it again in 2013 and 2015.

Recent examples do not have nearly the same level of qualified success.

Columbus lost Sergey Bobrovsky, Artemy Panarin and Matt Duchin to free agency in 2019 but beat Toronto in the 2020 playoffs before losing to Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs. The Blue Jackets have not made the playoffs since. Calgary traded Matthew Tkachuk and lost Johnny Goudreau to free agency in 2022, saying goodbye to one of the NHL’s best players. Things didn’t go well after that.

Currently, the Jets do not have Stanley Cup champions or favorites to win the title next season. They could say goodbye to the elite goaltender, the number one-two finisher and their former captain (who still has a quality 55 points in 72 games, plus six in the playoffs against Vegas). They look more like the 2019 Blue Jackets or 2006 Oilers than the 2010 Blackhawks or UFA-hungry Canadiens before them.

Return seems absolutely inevitable, unless…

This version of the Jets needs a No. 1 center, No. 2 center, and a No. 1 goalkeeper. He could use an extra striker in the top nine or an upgrade in defence, but it seems right like my editors greedy. These planes would also have about $26 million to work with (compared to $83.5 million) if Wheeler were purchased.

Let’s start with the theoretical trade between the Winnipeg and Los Angeles Kings.

Among them is Gabriel Velarde, a nominal right winger, but he has collected most of his 41 points in 62 games as a right winger.

In the Jets: Velarde, Alex Iaffalo

To the Kings: DuBois, signed to a long-term extension, Logan Stanley, Nikita Chebrikov

Winnipeg is dropping a 20-year-old who scored in the Russian men’s second division (and topped the Russian junior league) as well as a 25-year-old senior and a third double. While Scott Wheeler envisions Chibrikov as “a mid-wing six with hopefully some skill,” the perspective is sweetening. Dubois is the obvious pivot that prompted Los Angeles to switch to Villarde, already a productive striker in the second line, and Ivalo, an excellent left winger in the second line who is not just a throw-in. In this scenario, the Kings have plenty of space to re-sign guard Jonas Korbesalo.

The Jets signed Vilardi to a two-year, $5 million AAV contract (about $1 million more than expected by Evolving Hockey). Ivalo’s cap was $4 million. Winnipeg is down to $17 million and still needs help.

Our next blockbuster features Hellebuyck and the New Jersey Devils.

Pierre Lebrun reports that there is a common interest between the 2020 Vezina Cup winner and the Devils who are efficient on both sides of their team but not in front of goal. The catch here, as with most teams, is that Hellebuyck’s contract hopes are high at a time in a league handing out big contracts to 30-year-old goalkeepers. But for this season, Hellebuyck’s $6.17 million hit is a boon: He can help the Devils win when Dougie Hamilton is still stellar and before Dawson-Mercer (and eventually Luke Hughes) needs a boost.

In the Jets: Akira Schmid, Simon Nemec, Michael MacLeod

To Devils: Connor Hellebuyck, signed to long-term extension, Ville Heinola

The trade was loosely engineered after Vancouver’s 2006 acquisition of Roberto Luongo (along with defenseman Lukas Krajesek) from Florida for then-popular young goaltender Alex Auld, tough forward Todd Bertuzzi, and tough defenseman Brian Allen. In this case, Winnipeg gains a solid goaltending prospect with Schmid (his young eye for New Jersey has been a silver lining for the Devils) with point guard McLeod looking defensively at sixth. The center of the trade, by far, is Simon Nemec.

In fact, the 2022 No. 2 pick, who was already a hitter against the men in Slovakia and again in the AHL as a teenager, may be far from the Devils. The other concern I have is Hellebuyck’s contract extension. If he wanted to get paid like Andrei Vasilevsky, that would dilute his value in an already ambitious career.

This deal is not ideal for these reasons and because I don’t expect the young goaltender, fourth rower and 19-year-old outfielder to push Winnipeg over the brink and into the playoffs.

However, he is an example of a high commercial return and a 1B team touchdown or the No. 2 goalkeeper.

For the 1A Goaltender, we’re turning our attention to Boston.

On the Jets: Jeremy Swiman

At Bruins: Mark Scheifele (50% salary kept)

In that scenario, the Jets paid half of Scheifele’s salary to give him a spot for the Bruins (and even Patrice Bergeron, if the $2.5 million add-on contract warranted the storied job). That would leave the Bruins with zero room to sign Trent Frederick and three forwards (plus a backup goaltender), but we’re willing to believe Boston could move Matt Grzelcyk’s $3,687,500 cap in a separate deal.

For our purposes, Scheifele arrives without a contract extension, while Swayman agrees to a three-year contract for $5 million.

The last touch? Winnipeg, now with nearly $10 million in ceiling space, signed Vladislav Namestnikov to a four-year, $4 million contract with AAV: the longest and most lucrative deal of his career. Our version of the Jets is in desperate need of a trustworthy veteran center to provide cover for Villardi and Cole Perfetti who can play center back but are safer on the wing.

We made three deals, which almost certainly upset Kings and Bruins fans while completely offending Devils fans. We signed Namestnikov to a long-term UFA contract and doubled the salaries of former restricted agents Morgan Barron and Dylan Samberg just because we could.

But we didn’t build a supplement team.

I love depth. I like the idea of ​​quality players doing four lines, three pairs and deep kicks side by side.

I don’t believe in center or star quality, dare I say there’s a Hellebuyck-ian to save the team. Swaiman has the quality and might be the best scoring scenario, but I don’t trust his . 920 save percentage to get from Boston to Winnipeg completely unscathed. Schmid is a better option for the Jets than Vitek Vanecek or MacKenzie Blackwood, but his full body from the AHL and NHL is way below his 18 games at 0.922 in New Jersey.

Our awesome ground planes are about $3 million to work with. Maybe you can bring home Jonathan Toews if it makes you (or) happy. I don’t look at the $3 million UFA market with optimism.

If I am down selling aircraft options, please let me know. If you have a terrible job of ripping off a blind opponent, let me know. Hey, maybe you have an idea that could turn the expensive Winnipeg Defense Corps into an elite group of Josh Morrissey clones. (Maybe send it directly to Cheveldayoff.)

(Photo by Marc Chevelle and Pierre-Luc Dubois: Darcy Finlay/NHLI via Getty Images)