With less than 48 hours until the NHL’s trade deadline, the clock is ticking for the Winnipeg Jets to solidify their Stanley Cup push. Plenty of the top names have already flown off the board, with conference rivals such as the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche making the biggest splashes.
With the recent struggles of Cole Perfetti, who has since been demoted to the fourth line, a hole has opened up in Winnipeg’s lineup in the top six. Here are a few of the top wingers still on trade boards who the Jets could target before the clock strikes 3:00 ET on Friday, March 8.
The Winnipeg Jets Should Be Targeting Devils’ Tyler Toffoli in a Trade
The Jets should be looking for a veteran, scoring winger, and I can’t think of a more perfect fit than Tyler Toffoli from the New Jersey Devils. The 31-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA), who has posted 26 goals and 18 assists in 61 games this season. He’s a proven 30-goal scorer, and he’s on pace to hit that mark yet again this season.
After being labelled a Stanley Cup contender early on in the season, the New Jersey Devils have battled injury and goaltending issues in what looks like a lost season for them. They acquired Toffoli in the offseason for a third-round pick and young forward Yegor Sharangovich. If they choose to move the veteran scorer, they can recoup some of those lost assets and make another run next season with the same core of young, star players.
While Nikolaj Ehlers and Sean Monahan have shown great chemistry on the second line, the Jets could use Toffoli to upgrade the position currently occupied by Alex Iafallo. A line of Ehlers, Monahan, and Toffoli would be an incredible secondary-scoring line, and all three players could fill a role on the top line if the top three struggle.
Related: Winnipeg Jets’ Trade Deadline Proposals: Who Says No
This card below, courtesy of Jfresh Hockey, shows that Toffoli brings plenty of value at five-on-five along with being an elite finisher and goal scorer. He is also a Stanley Cup champion courtesy of his first full season in the NHL when he won the cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2013-14. All of that to say, Toffoli feels like the perfect fit for both Winnipeg’s lineup and their desire to acquire a veteran with playoff experience.
The Jets have plenty of reasons to make a big swing on the trade market. For starters, the shiny contract extensions that both Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck signed before the season don’t kick in until 2024-25, which gives the Jets the cap flexibility to make a move of this magnitude.
Add in the fact that both of those players are over 30 years old and leading a bonafide contender in the Western Conference, and this might be Winnipeg’s best chance to win a Stanley Cup in the years to come. Toffoli wouldn’t be a move that empties the prospect pool, but the next name I am going to propose could be.
St. Louis’ Pavel Buchnevich is Another Stellar Trade Option
Looking within the Central Division, Pavel Buchnevich is another player who is high on trade boards and would fit the Jets system seamlessly. He’s 6-foot-1, 196 pounds, and plays a skilled style of hockey that would translate well alongside an Ehlers, Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, or Gabriel Vilardi within the top six.
He’s got 24 goals and 24 assists through 60 games, and his underlying numbers are even more impressive, as we see below courtesy of Jfresh Hockey. An interesting caveat to a potential acquisition of Buchnevich is that he is not a pending UFA. He’s got one more year left on his contract, worth $5.8 million per season, and because of that the St. Louis Blues should be able to get a haul for his services.
He’s an all-situations force, but especially so at five-on-five, the bread and butter of where the Jets want to dominate. In order to acquire Buchnevich, the Jets may have to stomach moving one of their top prospects. With this being a win-now move, the Jets would likely have to part ways with high draft picks and one of their top forward prospects. He won’t come cheap, and he shouldn’t, given his extra year of term and his versatility on the ice.
The former third-round pick has carved out a nice career up until this point, and at 28 years old he finds himself in the middle of his prime. He was over a point-per-game in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons for the Blues, and even showcased he can perform in the postseason by putting up 11 points in 12 playoff games back in the 2021-22 playoffs. He would cost more than Toffoli – although he comes with an extra year of term and better underlying metrics. He’s the all-in move that Jets fans have been pounding the table for and could put the Jets over the hump in the postseason.
Other Options Include Reilly Smith, Frank Vatrano, & More
Those are the two high-cost, high-results options left on the trade market, but who are some other viable options that may not cost nearly as much? Reilly Smith of the Pittsburgh Penguins comes to mind as a solid middle-six scoring option who could provide an impact on this version of the Jets. This season he’s got 29 points in 54 games on a struggling Penguins team who find themselves on the outside looking in.
He won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights last season, and at 32 years old, comes with an abundance of experience and an extra year on his contract. If the Jets deem it irresponsible to pay a high price for Toffoli or Buchnevich, Smith is a quality secondary option who improves their middle-six.
In a year where he is a pending UFA, Frank Vatrano from the Anaheim Ducks is filling the net at will. He’s got 29 goals in 61 games for the lowly Ducks, who are sure to trade him at the deadline in exchange for a future asset. His goal total would rank first on the Jets, beating the current leader of Connor who sits at 26.
There is a clear theme with all of these potential forward adds- they would all add a scoring punch to Winnipeg’s middle-six, at the absolute minimum. In the case of Toffoli and Buchnevich, it would add a new dynamic to their roster and would firmly establish the Jets as Stanley Cup contenders, if they haven’t established that already.
Connor Hellebuyck is having another Vezina Trophy-calibre season, the Jets’ core is in their prime, and you may not get a chance as good as this one in the near future. In my opinion, there hasn’t been a better time to “swing for the fences” from a Jets’ perspective than there is this season, and if they choose to do so, it could be a very fun spring in Winnipeg.
