Scott Billeck of The Winnipeg Sun speculated today about what the Winnipeg Jets might do with their available extra roster spot. The Jets currently sit third in the Central Division with a 30-12-5 record and could be looking to make a big swing at the upcoming NHL trade deadline.
The Jets will need a roster spot to activate center Mark Scheifele off the injured reserve but have some other roster moves they could make including waiving Dominic Toninato or Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and sending them down to the Manitoba Moose. Billick wonders if the Jets might opt to do that and call up Ville Heinola so the team can have eight available NHL defensemen.
He also wondered if the Jets might offer up Heinola in a trade if they are looking to make a bigger move at this year’s trade deadline.
In other Central Division notes:
- Elliotte Friedman mentioned on his 32 Thoughts podcast that St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong has made several players available on the NHL trade market but hasn’t been able to generate much in the way of interest. There is one player that Friedman believes that the Blues could trade easily and that is forward Pavel Buchnevich. Friedman adds that moving the 28-year-old would be a pretty easy trade to make which indicates to Friedman that the Blues likely aren’t interested in moving on from him. Buchnevich is having a terrific year in St. Louis with 17 goals and 22 assists in 46 games while averaging almost 20 minutes a night in ice time.
- Elliotte Friedman indicated on his 32 Thoughts podcast that the Chicago Blackhawks had kicked the tires on Vancouver Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko. A potential trade makes sense from both sides given that the Blackhawks are in desperate need of scoring and the Canucks need to move out some salary. Kuzmenko would be a bounce-back candidate for the Blackhawks if they were able to facilitate a move as he had 74 points in 81 games last season but has struggled this year with just eight goals and 13 assists in 43 games. Kuzmenko has a year left on his contract after this season at $5.5MM meaning that the Blackhawks would be acquiring a player they could move at next year’s deadline as a rental if he isn’t a fit with their core.