Heading into the 2018 offseason, the Jets appeared to be in a cap crunch. But thanks to some clever maneuvering by management, the team now finds itself with a little extra pocket cash. This cap space came about when the team shipped forward Joel Armia, goaltender Steve Mason, and a couple of late round draft picks to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 21-year-old defenceman by the name of Simon Bourque. Bourque was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 draft, and while he doesn’t have a big upside yet, the Quebec native should settle in well with the team’s minor league affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.
The trade saved the team 4.1 million, cap space that was supposed to be used to bring back Paul Stastny. That, however, didn’t come to be as Stastny accepted a three-year, $19.5 million contract with the team that eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs: the Vegas Golden Knights.
Though his decision upset many Jets fans, myself included, it left the team with an extra wad of cash to spend through the 2018–19 season. But just how should general manager Kevin Chevaldayoff spend it? Should he sign a free agent to help the team immediately heading into next season, wait until next year’s deadline and attempt to add another play to contribute to a deep playoff run, or should he just sit on it and save the money for next summer when Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine are both due for pay raises?
While a case could be made for each of these ideas, a combination of the three may be his best option.
As it stands right now, the Jets currently have ten forwards, five defenseman, and two goaltenders under contract, with another $20 million in cap space. They also have six restricted free agents who should all return next season—barring any Jacob Trouba circus, as in the 2016 offseason. Assuming all those players are signed, we can narrow that $20 million down to a much lower number of about $3–5 million.
So what should Chevy do?
Ironically, after years of searching for a reliable starting goaltender, the Jets are now in need of a reliable backup. So the first order of business should be to sign a better backup than Laurent Brossoit. The 25-year-old was a tire fire in Edmonton last season, starting only 14 games and posting a save percentage of 88 percent. That said, some of the blame could be placed on the Oilers’ defence, which ranked twenty-sixth in the league in goals-against.
The free agent market for goaltenders is very thin. Of the three remaining NHL-calibre goaltenders, two have already found themselves in a Jets uniform: Steve Mason, who was bought out immediately after being dealt to Montreal, and the infamous Ondrej Pavelec. Who’s the third option? Kari Lethonen. The 34-year-old started 36 games last season, posting a record of 15–14–3 with a save percentage of 91.2 percent. Is he the answer to the Jets’ hole at the backup position? Well, to put it delicately, I would not be buying a Jets Lethonen jersey anytime soon.
The only other way for the Jets to acquire a better backup than Brossoit would be via trade, and as it stands right now there aren’t many solid backups on the market, so expect to see Brossoit as the Jets backup next year. But the position could also be filled internally by 23-year-old Eric Comrie, should he prove to be ready for it. His talents are probably best served being the starter for the Moose next season.
After that? Well, there aren’t really any other glaring holes in the Jets line-up. But should they want to bring in a veteran to add experience to the bottom half of their line-up, guys like Joel Ward, Jason Chimera, or Lee Stempniak should be looked at.
Should Chevaldayoff stand pat and keep the money for next year’s trade deadline, there are a few interesting options he could look to acquire to help bolster the team heading into the playoffs. Eric Staal could be a target, though he may not be available, depending on how things go in Minnesota. With a cap hit of just $3.5 million next season, he would be the best bang for the Jets’ buck.
For now, Chevaldayoff’s top priority seems to remain the same as it was heading into the offseason: signing Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey.
