Blake Wheeler is Jets' Top Candidate as NHL Buyout Window Opens

The NHL's buyout window opens on Friday, June 16 and runs through Friday, June 30 at 4:00 PM central time.

With an offseason of change fast approaching, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets have a number of players to turn their attention to. 

Although the seemingly inevitable moves involving goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and centremen Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele will likely be the headliners, another candidate for a change of scenery is veteran forward Blake Wheeler.

The longest serving member of the Jets and lone remaining Atlanta Thrasher, Wheeler will enter his 37-year-old season this fall. But where he suits up will be for Cheveldayoff to decide.

Still a typical middle-of-the-lineup player, Wheeler was able to produce 16 goals and 55 points in 72 games for the Jets last year. 

But 2023-24 will be the Minnesota product's 16th season in the league. And if he remains in Winnipeg, it will be his 13th with the Jets. 

Why we're saying 'if' is because Wheeler is a prime candidate for either an offseason trade, or to be bought out by the Jets.

If Rick Bowness and company feel as though a complete reshuffling of the deck is required, Wheeler may find the final season of his five-year, $41.25 million contract scrapped. 

It has now been a full year since Bowness and his coaching staff stripped the captaincy from Wheeler, and just under two months since the veteran forward's year-end comments against Bowness' "disgusted and disappointed" post-game blow up. 

"I think he could have been honest with us," Wheeler said in his year-end media availability. "We could have had those discussions behind closed doors. So I didn't agree with how he handled himself after that game... Regardless of what the message was, that could have been done more appropriately. To us, not to you."

There is clearly some pent up animosity between coach and player. When that happens, things do not typically work out well, on either side of the coin. 

Unless this coin lands on its edge, it is quite likely the Jets finally send Wheeler packing. 

Unwilling to move the former captain before his modified no-trade clause kicked in prior to the 2022-23 season, Cheveldayoff will need to either send Wheeler to one of the five teams on his requested list, or cut bait by way of the aforementioned buyout window. 

With two weeks left to make that decision Cheveldayoff will need to sort through some of the numbers as to cap management and roster makeup.

A buyout would cost the Jets $2.75 million towards their cap in each of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, as Wheeler is over the age of 26. An NHL buyout lasts twice the remaining number of years on the player's contract, meaning with Wheeler's expiring deal, the team would need to soak up a second year of the $2.75 million.

Reportedly unwilling to take on part of Wheeler's $8.25 million cap hit in a trade the last two years, Cheveldayoff and Co. may need to consider that option more carefully, should that weight be less than the $5.5 million they would need to eat over the next two years.

Winnipeg would clear up roughly $5.5 million this season should they part ways with Wheeler via contract buyout. A trade would likely see 40-50 percent contract retention, meaning only a savings of $4.5 million, give or take, but no holdover next year. 

If Wheeler was bought out, he would be considered an unrestricted free agent come July 1, thus allowing him to sign wherever he so chooses. With an estimated career earnings of $75 million to his name, a big-money deal will likely not be served his way. Something along the lines of Phil Kessel's one-year, $1.5 million contract might be the framework.

Much like that of Dubois and Hellebuyck, Wheeler will not be signing another contract with the Jets. If the team cannot muster up a trade over the next week-and-a-half, a formal buyout will be the likely route. 

Winnipeg currently has the contracts of five restricted free agents to take care of, while likely losing another six players to unrestricted free agency as the summer months roll on.