Jets planning major complicated trade ahead of the draft!

Is this even... realistic?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Jets planning major complicated trade ahead of the draft!
Zuma Press

It was the same scenario last summer as many Winnipeg Jets fans pondered Jacob Trouba’s future with the team. While he was awarded a one-year, $5.5 million contract in arbitration last summer after requesting a trade from the Jets during a contract dispute in 2016, it seems like this summer’s scenario will have a different ending. 

Ken Wiebe of The Winnipeg Sun believes the Jets are looking to move Trouba and this sooner rather than later. The Jets insider thinks a trade could be in the works to take place ahead of the NHL entry draft as Winnipeg would love to get their hands back on a first round pick for the event. 

The Jets are without a first-round draft pick next month and Wiebe writes that they "would love" to get a first-rounder and a top-pairing defenseman back in a trade. The question is: would Trouba get that much as a return on the trade market? Wiebe wonders if the team will instead try to package Trouba as part of a bigger deal.  He even suggests the Jets could accept a lesser return by including a contract to help shed salary in their cap crunch, or include another valuable asset in hopes of completing a blockbuster trade.

We could also see an approach similar to the one used by the Ottawa Senators when they traded Mark Stone to the Vegas Golden Knights at the deadline: Trouba’s camp could negotiate an extension before agreeing to any deal. 

Wiebe speculates Trouba could carry $7.5 million-$8.5 million cap hit on a long-term deal, which have an impact on which teams will be interested in pursuing the blue liner.  The Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, and New York Rangers have been among the teams linked to Trouba in the rumor mill. 

The Jets have some time to work this out between now and the draft weekend… It remains to be seen how this scenario will end this time around.