It's the day of the 2014 NHL entry draft and the hockey world is abuzz in rumours and speculation about what might happen with all teams. Each day, hour and now minute a new twist or revelation comes. Who would have thought that the Jets would be suitors for Paul Stastny yet they were listed as one of the team inquiring on the player's services.
For an expense that will require term and likely 6 million+ per annum it seems odd to throw money that way, while saying to all who ask, that the team cannot afford a buyout of players. An expense is an expense and if you can afford Stastny can you not afford to remove a goalie who barely plays at replacement level?
This leads to how this day my progress.
The Jets will be listening to everyone and everything. They will listen to talk on Kane, Byfuglien and of course Bogosian as I mentioned in the rumour tracker. They will listen to offers on other too if teams want to inquire but they will stick to their plan.
They have a list of players they want, all ranked and categorized and as the draft approaches they will watch. If the player they want appears to be available at #9 they will take him but if he's not expect some action.
I suspect that if the Jets cannot get their player at the 9th spot they trade the pick and move down or add a pick(s) in round two where they have none. Or perhaps they trade the pick for depth players in a bigger package.
Regardless of what you think the return could or should be, are the Jets in a position to forgo high draft picks? That leads to the other possible route....
The Jets work to move up to the 1st pick and find a deal with Florida, just as Vancouver and Edmonton are trying to do. Bogosian may make that deal possible especially if Tallon can unload Campbell. Would Bogosian, and the 9th be enough for the first overall pick?
Should that happen the Jets will draft Reinhart, Bennet or Daisaitl and stay away from Ekblad. It would allow them to move Buff back to right D and have Trouba playing beneath him and possibly Redmond getting a spot after a strong Calder cup run as 3rd pairing right defense.
After the first round pick of the draft is finished the Jets move on to add depth and potentially deal with other issues. With Frolik all but assured of a deal either by arbitration or agreed terms and the courting period for UFAs in effect Chevy has an opportunity to add. If he feels he can get a deal done he still has 3 days to use his buyout window.
As pointed out above, how can a team afford 6 million plus in a player for 3 or more years but not 8 million paid out over 3 years if the value for that player is hurting the team? To understand that logic you have to accept that TNSE plays everything close to their chest...very close, that's their way. So announcing Pavelec is to be bought out seems silly with no alternative other than Hutchinson, who also needs a contract by the way.
With the first round possibilities out of the way Chevy can work to see if he can find another goalie perhaps a James Reimer or some one of his ilk. He may not find that player or the deal to acquire that player today but the next two days are his best chance when other teams are open for business too.
In the end the Jets could have a top 5 pick, deal a roster player, or add under contract depth players for the bottom six and a new goalie. Either way there has to be an impact move if this team is to break it's status quo trend.
The reality is there are options for the Jets to change their trajectory from what they have done the last three years. The question is can, or will they? There may never be a better time for deals with cap room, management changes and more available players than ever since the salary cap went into effect in 2005.
Timing is everything as I wrote yesterday and starting today we get to see how tuned up that motor in that 1970 Chevy is- hopefully purring like a kitten and not choking at the starting line.