Rumor: Jets shopping two of their players in an effort to improve their blue line.

The Jets are looking for help on the left side.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Rumor: Jets shopping two of their players in an effort to improve their blue line.
Kim Klement-USA Today

If you're a Winnipeg Jets fan you're probably sick and tired of hearing about the possibility of forward Patrik Laine being dealt in a much rumored offseason move. Given all the noise surrounding Laine it is easy to overlook some of the other moves that the Jets may be working on, and by the sound of things they are currently hard at work trying to improve on the left side of their blue line.

In a recent article for the Winnipeg Sun, Ted Wyman has revealed that the Jets are currently shopping two of their players in the hopes of finding a defenseman that will play on the left side. According to Wyman the players being dangled at the moment are defenseman Sami Niku and forward Jack Roslovic and he adds that the Jets are looking for a top 4 type of defenseman at this time.

The fact that the Jets are in search of help on the blue line should come as a surprise to no one given the sheer amount of turnover the Jets have had on their defense in recent years. The Jets lost players like Tyler MyersJacob Trouba and Dustin Byfuglien in relatively short order for a variety of reasons and there's no doubt that their depth on the blue line is sorely lacking. 

Niku, a former 7th round pick of the Jets at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft has often been the subject of controversy in Winnipeg and even made comments in the Finnish media during last season that indicated he had seriously considered demanding a trade, only to eventually decide against it. His development has also been hindered by injuries, but he was the American Hockey League's defenseman of the year in 2018 and still has plenty of upside in the eyes of many.

Roslovic on the other hand is the Jets first round pick at that very same draft, but unlike Niku he has seen far more time at the NHL level. The 23 year old centerman has 180 games under his belt, mostly playing in the Jets bottom 6, and currently has 26 goals and 41 assists for a total of 67 points over those games.

No word yet on which teams the Jets have spoken to or what players they may have targeted.

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