On Tuesday afternoon, Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff pulled off a swift sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Kings, stunning many with his hefty return.
Former top-six centreman Pierre-Luc Dubois is now California-bound, while the Jets received Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a 2024 second round pick in return.
Cheveldayoff was able to attain such a sizeable return due to the fact that his club actually signed the 25-year-old forward to an eight-year, $68 million extension just before shipping him southwest.
With Dubois’ contract guaranteed, L.A. understood the long-term commitment from the Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts, QEC. product, and was willing to part with the three players and draft pick.
Now, with the seemingly ever-lingering ‘Dubois debacle’ taken care of, Cheveldayoff can turn his attention to his next three priorities.
Yes, he has three priorities on a long list of tasks.
No. 1 is to make a decision on forward Blake Wheeler. With the team’s former captain fully expecting to play elsewhere in 2023-24, it appears to be just a matter of time until his name is next to be floated through NHL’s Central Registry as a part of a trade package.
Should Winnipeg be unable to find a trading partner for the 37-year-old winger, its next best bet would be to consider a contract buyout for the remaining season of Wheeler’s current five-year, $41.25 million deal ($8.25 million AAV).
No, Cheveldayoff likely won’t be able to trade his way out of Wheeler’s contract, unless he eats 40-50 percent of the cap hit, that is. Should that be the case, Winnipeg would definitely be happy to have a single year of half of Wheeler’s deal ($4.125 million) left on the roster for 2023-24.
Moves by division rivals Nashville (opening up salary room) and Chicago (signing veterans to rich deals to maintain the salary floor) in recent days indicate that teams are willing to do what it takes in terms of taking on salary to stay afloat for the coming season.
Should that not work out, buying out Wheeler’s final year would cost Winnipeg $2.75 million for each of the next two seasons. Either way, the team will likely be hosting Wheeler’s contract on its salary cap next season, with the possibility of it remaining through 2024-25.
The next priority of Cheveldayoff’s is to carry out the 2023 NHL Draft, live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday and Thursday.
He and his management/scouting team have arrived in Tennessee and are ready to make their selections. At the moment, the Jets own five picks, with the first coming at choice No. 18 in the opening round on Wednesday night.
Read all about The Hockey News’ 2023 Mock Draft here.
Point No. 2 leads directly into point No. 3, which is: trade Connor Hellebuyck to the highest bidder at the draft.
Hellebuyck is a perennial all-star goaltender who has won a Vezina Trophy and has finished as a finalist on multiple occasions. He has played the most games out of any goaltender league-wide dating back to the 2015-16 season and has not seen his numbers heavily boosted by a strong defence corps.
He has one year remaining on his six-year, $37 million contract, featuring just a $6.16 million cap hit and is reportedly unwilling to sign a long-term deal with the Jets.
With unrestricted free agent status looming for the summer of 2024, Cheveldayoff will look to avoid that narrative and either deal the all-star goalie at the draft, during the off-season or at the 2024 trade deadline, should nothing materialize over the summer. Historically, teams have been able to get the largest on trades at the draft.
Having already taken care of Dubois, Hellebuyck should be Cheveldayoff’s easiest piece left to move.
The 30-year-old Michigan product has a career .916 save percentage and has helped Winnipeg to the post-season in five of the past six seasons. Much like that of Dubois’ deal, a sign-and-trade may be the very best option for both the player and team.
He owns the league's most starts since the 2015-16 season with 436, while posting the second-most wins (238) in that same timeframe – second to only Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (256).
But for the veteran goaltender, personal success means nothing, as he maintains a strong focus on earning a Stanley Cup championship. And as he said in his year-end media availability, that window is quickly closing, especially with his current team.