Rumor: Jets could shore up their blue line with inter-divisional trade.

Jets to bolster their defense through a division rival?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Rumor: Jets could shore up their blue line with inter-divisional trade.
Chris Szagola/CSM/Zuma

Well this would certainly make for an interesting trade. 

In a recent article for the Winnipeg Sun, Winnipeg Jets reporter Scott Billeck took a look at a potentially significant trade the Jets could become involved in if they could get past the idea of dealing with a division rival. Billeck's premise stems from the fact that the Jets have taken a rather significant hit to their blue line this summer, most notably losing veteran defenseman Jacob Trouba in a trade deal with the New York Rangers and losing veteran defenseman Tyler Myers to unrestricted free agency, Myers would go on to sign on with the Vancouver Canucks.

So needless to say the Jets could use a little help plugging the rather big holes left on their blue line this offseason, but with limited resources to do so they will have to get creative if they want to find quality replacements. It is for that reason that Billeck believes that central division rivals the Dallas Stars could prove to be an attractive trading partner for the Jets.

You see the Stars have a former first round pick in the form of Julius Honka that is simply not working out for them. Honka, a right shooting Finnish defenseman, has gone on to appear in just a total of 87 games in the National Hockey League in spite of being drafted in the first round (14th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. It may be too early to suggest that he is an outright bust for the Stars but it became clear that Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery had no time for him roughly midway through the season. 

Honka was benched for the final 35 games of the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season and did not suit up for a single playoff game, once again being made a healthy scratch for every single one. In spite of the seemingly ugly career trajectory that Honka is currently on a fresh start away from Dallas could be exactly what the doctor ordered. It is obvious based on the fact that the Stars did not waive him last season that they would like some return for their former first round pick, however his value will be at an all time low given the aforementioned scratches last season.

It would be tough to convince the Stars to help out a division rival, but perhaps the Jets can make the deal enticing enough to get the Stars to pull the trigger. 

Source: