The Winnipeg Jets stayed busy over the past 24 hours, and did very well for themselves. Kevin Cheveldayoff managed to be a seller, and a buyer in his respective ways.
I am going to talk about each trade individually, and then all of the moves together. Let's go in order of how they were done.
To Winnipeg - Mason Appleton To Seattle - 2023 4th round pick (WPG)
This was a surprising, yet very comforting deal from a Jets fan's perspective. Appleton, as you all know, is a familiar face in the Jets system. the 26 year-old has 138 of his 187 career games played with the Jets, who drafted him in 2015. After a career-high 25 points in just 56 games last season, he was selected by the Kraken in the Expansion Draft.
As for the trade itself, it adds some good depth to the Jets, and could line up on the 3rd line and be quite successful. I think lining him up with Lowry and Sanford (who we will get to later) could be a solid depth line for this team. Initial reactions were a bit confusing, as it was a taste of the Jets being a buying at the deadline, but was just the start of the busy day.
Trading the 4th round pick for him provides good value in the deal, and though many want the Jets to stack up on picks, it was a move that will likely to prove better than the 4th round pick would have. I am excited to see Appleton back in the Jets lineup.
To Winnipeg - *Conditional 7th round draft pick (PIT) To Pittsburgh - Nathan Beaulieu
*Condition is if the Pittsburgh Penguins make the Stanley Cup Final and Beaulieu plays at least 50% of games
This is a bit of a nothing trade, if I am being quite honest. Nathan Beaulieu has only played 24 games for the Jets, registering 4 assists. He was clearly ahead of many of the youth waiting for an NHL spot in the depth charts, and maybe not right-fully so. I don't anticipate the Penguins will be the team to make it out of the East, and if they do Beaulieu playing 50% games is very possible, but even then it is a 7th rounder. Good on the Jets for making some more room for some defensive prospects when they need another body.
To Winnipeg - 2022 4th round draft pick (ARI) To Arizona - Brian Little (LTIR Contract), Nathan Smith (signing rights)
This is a bit of a tough pill to swallow. Trading Brian Little isn't a big deal, as he is likely to never play in the NHL again, and will help the Coyotes reach the salary floor next season. So the way I look at this, it is more of Nathan Smith for a 4th rounder. I don't love this for the Jets, and even though it must've been clear Smith wouldn't sign with Winnipeg, a comparable move was Arizona acquiring Jack McBain for a 2nd round pick. I would've liked the Jets to get more than that 4th, especially for "helping" Arizona with Littles contract, but it is better than losing him to UFA when he doesn't sign.
To Winnipeg - Morgan Barron, *Conditional 2022 2nd round draft pick (NYR), **Conditional 2022 2nd round draft pick (STL), 2023 5th round draft pick (NYR) To New York R - Andrew Copp, 2023 6th round draft pick (WPG)
*Conditions are if the Ranger make the Eastern Conference Finals, and Copp plays 50% of playoff games, the 2022 NYR 2nd round pick becomes a 2022 1st round pick **Condition is Winnipeg has the choice between 2022 STL 2nd round pick, or 2023 NYR 2nd round pick
This was a good trade by the Jets, trading Andrew Copp, who was unlikely to re-sign in Winnipeg, and showed a lot of positivity about getting back together with Jacob Trouba. I would say this trade met expectations for what I hoped to see for a return on Copp.
Morgan Barron is a good prospect, as a 23 year old C/LW, having a good season in the AHL. With 15 points in 25 games, there is still room for improvement, and has a bit of NHL experience, with not many results. Barron could certainly work his way into the Jets bottom-six within the next 18 months, and be an impactful player in the right role. I wouldn't expect him to be an offensive powerhouse or anything, but he can certainly add a good bit of quality to the bottom-six.
As for the 2022 NYR 2nd, I could very well see this becoming a 1st round pick this year. The Rangers stacked up at the deadline, and I believe it will come down to the Rangers, Hurricanes, and Panthers to make the ECF this season. Assuming Copp stays healthy, he will certainly be a part of their lineup. A very good pick/condition in the Jets favour. Along with this was the option of the Blues 2022 2nd round pick, or the Rangers 2023 2nd round pick. It will be interesting to see if the Jets choose the (likely) earlier pick in the 2022 draft, or the (likely) later pick in the deeper 2023 draft.
Overall, it is a pretty good haul for the upcoming UFA, and I am interested in how this plays out from here, with the assets acquired.
To Winnipeg - Zach Sanford To Ottawa - 2022 5th round draft pick (WPG)
Zach Sanford could turn out to be a solid 3rd liner for the Jets. As everyone knows, he has the Stanley Cup ring already, and was then traded for Logan Brown at the beginning of the season. I wouldn't be too ambitious about Sanford being much, as he is analytically a defensive forward, but greatly lacks the effort. Could this just be on a struggling Ottawa team? Who knows. But he does have the ability to be an impact in the Jets lineup.
Giving up the 5th isn't much, and could end up as a solid trade for the Jets, especially if they like what they see and he sticks around.
So all in all, the Winnipeg Jets trade deadline looks like:
Taken in: Mason Appleton Zach Sanford Morgan Barron Conditional 2022 2nd rounder Conditional 2022 2nd rounder 2022 4th rounder 2023 5th rounder
Shipped out: Andrew Copp Nathan Smith Nathan Beaulieu 2022 5th rounder 2023 6th rounder
All in all, the Jets did very good for themselves value-wise. I am quite impressed with Cheveldayoff's ability to sell the required piece in Copp, and although did not end up sending Stastny to a contender, still did what really needed to be done. The biggest part of this was that they arguably managed to get better, and gained lots of assets in doing so. Moving forward, with a healthy lineup, I would expect the Jets lineup to look something like this:
Perfetti-Scheifele-Wheeler Connor-Dubois-Ehlers Stastny-Lowry-Appleton Sanford-Toninato-Harkins Svechnikov
Morrissey-DeMelo Dillon-Pionk Stanley-Schmidt
Hellebuyck Comrie
Let me know how you feel about all of the deals made, and what you think the Jets should have done differently. I appreciate the support, sound off in the comments!
Jacob Billington