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r/winnipegjets•
DisDataWang

Retooling on the Fly

It's been quite the ride watching the Jets play themselves out of a playoff spot. Dare I say historic? The last bit of hope faded for me after watching the Jets get shut out by the Sharks, a team on a 9 game losing streak that had given up a staggering AVERAGE of 5 goals over a 12 game span. It feels like there is a lot of talent here, but they simply do not work as a team.

I think everyone should be on the table outside of KFC, Ehlers and JMo due to age and cost control...and Lowry for leadership. I can only hope we don't try to 'run it back' as this core cannot function as a team.

It's likely we have three elite rentals available for the 23/24 season/playoff run:

PLD - I think he would have stayed if we could prove we're a winning core, but right now, it's tough to see him staying
Scheifele- UFA at end of 2024, and shouldn't get a Wheeler-esq contract in Wpg
Helly - UFA at the end of 2024 (I expect to see Free Helly trend next year), only wants to win and probably sees he can't do it in Winnipeg anymore

We can likely also sell Wheels (half $ retained) and Dillion at deadline, but won't be needle movers like the three above.

My question, what does an on the fly re-tool look like with three significant assets available? Who do you think are good targets?

and yes...the Jets have hurt me too much.

Posted Mar 30, 2023, 8:25 PM UTC

1218
Spiritual_Holiday511•

I feel like Helle should be one of the untouchables on this team. He’s a top 5 goalie in the league and we may never get another goalie of his calibre. However, I understand that he may be the only other player aside from Scheifele that we could get a lot of value for.

19
goreskeye•

Helle absolutely should be untouchable, but if he expresses a desire to test FA we have to trade him. Losing him for nothing will do more damage than trading him. Also i wouldn't expect a massive return for Helle, goalies don't tend to fetch as much as a top 6 fwd or top pairing dman.

16
Mr_Moosenuckle•

I'd imagine he'd be offered for draft picks but that wouldn't really fit the whole retool scheme. Has there ever even been goalie trades that returned a near equal player?

1
halo-st•

if they cant resign him this offseason then he should be traded. and if the team has to take a year or two to retool, then why resign him as he will just be wasting years.

i would lean towards him leaving since this team is imploding in 1 year max

5
ehr1c•

Hellebuyck leaves and we're talking about more than a year or two to retool, IMO. No one else in the org is particularly close to being an NHL starter.

3
DisDataWangOP•

Only reason I would consider trading him away is he says no to staying. I believe him when he says he just wants to win. If we can't field a truly competitive team, then what's the point for him?

3
GZeus24•

The team will likely never get a Vezina goalie again but most teams compete without that caliber of goalie. I just don't think this team can afford to give the goalie position $10M of cap space and expect to compete. Love the guy but that is just not in the teams best long term interest.

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Spiritual_Holiday511•

Do you really think he’ll get $10M anywhere? If that’s the price then absolutely do not keep him. Goalies making that much money never pans out and we’d be foolish to think that the jets of all teams would be the first to make it work.

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GZeus24•

Yes, someone will give him $10M. Here are the top 5 and some of these contracts are over 2 years old during a lower cap;

1 Sergei Bobrovsky $12 million

2 Andrei Vasilevskiy $11 million

3 Jacob Markstrom $8 million

4 Carey Price $7.8 million

5 Matthew Murray $7 million

2
halo-st•

id say suggesting targets is useless and a pipedream because nobody knows the options. also we dont have any idea of the jets plans for moving forward.

from the outside fan view, majority dont want 55 or 26 back. 37 probably wants to win a cup, jets arent looking strong the next couple years. 80 wants montreal and or Free Agency.

so that means its time to move them all, maybe not 37 if he wants to stay but i have a feeling he wants to go to a serious contender.

2
DisDataWangOP•

My dude, the point of Reddit it to bullshit with ppl that enjoy the same subjects. I'm not Chevy looking for suggestions here 😂

2
etchiboi•

26 - the venn diagram of teams he’d be willing to waive the m-NMC for and the teams willing/able to trade for him (even with retention) are basically two separate circles, probably best just to buy him out and save about $5.5m

80/55 - likely one goes in the offseason, assume we get something like a young promising middle 6 forward or top 4 defender back plus a first, hopefully more than that tho (80 to MTL for Dach?)

64 - not a core piece but asked for a trade, best case scenario is we package him with a mid round pick for an undervalued (think cap dump scenario) middle 6 forward (👀 vancouver, ideally Garland)

14 - package with a pick for a top 6 forward or top 3 defender, hasn’t asked for a trade yet but he’s probably close and we might as well move him if we’re not going to use him (ideally Schmaltz from ARI)

I’d keep 37 as i think we have the best chance of re-signing him out of the guys that have expiring deals.

The other of 80/55 likely stays until TDL where you flip him for a like player or the same package that is listed above.

I’m ok with keeping 4 for now IF we don’t bring in a D out of the trades above AND we swap him and 88 in the lineup. Then we’re looking for the forward that we acquired a D for instead or maybe just futures and hope Lucius is ready by the TDL.

4 trades, maybe 5, then another at the TDL if necessary. Doesn’t seem too bad since only 3 involve actual roster players. I’d also be willing to bring back Namestnikov at the right price. Then just need a backup goalie for cheap and all that should be under the cap I think.

62-55/80-27

81 - Schmaltz - 91

7 - Dach - Garland

36 - 17 - 22

44 - 2

5 - 88

54 - 4/?

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DisDataWangOP•

Love the creativity, that would be a wild off season if we made even a couple trades!

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fdisfragameosoldiers•

I think you could convince Helle to stay if you could retool in a way that gave this team a young strong core that's close to competing. But that would have to be done this off season and give him till the trade deadline to make up his mind. Pretty difficult to do though. Perhaps a handshake agreement that if it doesn't pan out he'd be traded to a contender. I do think that Chevy would do right by Helle if push came to shove. But I don't blame Helle if he wants out. Goalies careers can change in an instant sometimes due to injuries although I think his style of play will age well. The guy deserves a statue beside Dale's if he stays.

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TravisBickle2020•

Honestly, I don’t think anyone should be untouchable except maybe Morrissey.

1
DisDataWangOP•

You're feeling the pain too huh?

I think we have to keep KFC/Nicky as the term and contracts are too valuable to trade. Who knows, maybe they thrive without some of the current 'leadership'. I also think they could be good mentors for Lambo and Chaz. I mean, what's Lowry going to teach them about scoring?

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TravisBickle2020•

KFC is in my bad books for his disappearing act. I like Ehlers but he’s injury prone. JoMo put the team on his back a few times this season to win us some games so he gets my respect. I’d hold on to Samberg too. The way I look at it, all players are assets that either help your team on the ice or are used to get what you need. This team’s collapse has me not caring too much about any particular player.

0†
GZeus24•

I'm convinced that the only path forward that gives the Jets a chance at being a true cup contender in the next few years is a fairly aggressive re-tolling. This team cannot start the season with 80, 55 and 37 all pending UFAs. Because if they do, and they are within a dream of a playoff spot at the TDL, Chevy won't deal them. If they are lost for no return then this team is fucked for 8 years.

80 is a great player but has to be dealt before the season begins. 55 needs to either become a letterless winger on a sub-6M deal or go. 37 has a choice but that does not include playing out his last year and walking to UFA status - sign for a reasonable hit or trade. 26 needs to be bought out just to emphasize the new direction. If all this is happening, then a new era is upon the Jets and Chevy needs to go as well to give a new GM the chance to make these trades and build their own team..

Lastly, a good GM can manage this process and get this team back to even or better. The Jets are a first-round bubble team. Getting back to that level doesn't seem that hard considering what Seattle and Vegas have managed to become using the leagues cast-offs. The assets the team could get back for 80, 55 and 37 - added to the retained players - should be be enough to set things right.

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