The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly looking to deal forward Andrew Mangiapane with Winnipeg being a potential suitor for the former 55-point player.
It was another frustrating night with the same issues continuing to effect the Jets with fans begging the team to find solutions to the problem before the season begins to slip away. The top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi have a combined 52 of Winnipeg's 105 goals with the rest of the forwards totaling 38 goals this season. They could really use another meaningful piece into this offense and it could come from the team they're playing on Monday.
The Edmonton Oilers have a disgruntled forward on their team that's a former 55-point player in Andrew Mangiapane. We've seen several players over the last few weeks be traded from a team that they had just signed with this past off-season like the Seattle Kraken dealing Mason Marchment to the Coumbus Blue Jackets. The Oilers may become one of those teams as they added the 29-year-old Toronto native during the off-season but with Edmonton getting healthier in recent weeks, he's starting to see his role start to get diminished.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman noted that Mangiapane recently saw time on the Oilers fourth line in recent games and has started the conversation around the team and the player potentially looking at a deal that can give Mangiapane a better and bigger role on another team elsewhere. Mangiapane does have a no-move clause attached to his new two-year deal with a $3.6 million cap hit but could wave it if persuaded that he could receive a bigger role in Winnipeg.
The longtime Calgary Flames winger could slot into the Jets top line and allow the team to stretch out that top line of talent like moving Gabe Vilardi to the second line. They could add more production into the second unit like what the Jets had done for years when they had Nikolaj Ehlers before he left this past off-season to the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent.
This has been seen in recent weeks with Vilardi dropping back and has worked fairly well with Winnipeg head coach Scott Arniel experimenting with other wingers in Vilardi's top line right wing spot but hasn't found a solid answer outside a couple decent games out of Alex Iafallo.
Mangiapane could come in and immdiately jump into a big role on a team with playoff aspirations and could use his talents as a meaningful part of getting out of their early season hole. Adding him also wouldn't cost much as his role is going to continue to get smaller in Edmonton and could cause some urgency to move him for a lower price tag.
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