Free agency is now less than six weeks away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. Let’s begin with a look at the Jets.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Pierre-Luc Dubois: After a bit of an underwhelming first year with Winnipeg, Dubois was much more impactful this past season, sliding in nicely into the center spot on the second line for a good chunk of the campaign while also playing up when Mark Scheifele was injured. The end result was numbers that were comparable to his sophomore season with Columbus as he put up 28 goals (a career high) and 32 assists in 81 games. The 23-year-old is only two years away from being eligible for unrestricted free agency since he started in the NHL at 18 and is owed a $6MM qualifying offer next month. Dubois is poised to land more than that if he gets to an arbitration hearing on a one-year award while a long-term contract that buys out his prime UFA years could push him closer to the $7.5MM mark.
F Mason Appleton: After a strong showing in 2020-21, Appleton was a widely-expected choice for Seattle in expansion but things didn’t go as well with the Kraken. That resulted in him being moved back to Winnipeg at the trade deadline but he still scuffled offensively. In the end, a platform season of 21 points in 68 games isn’t great but it should still be more than enough to push for a small increase on his qualifying offer of $945K, especially since this is his last year of RFA eligibility. A long-term contract isn’t likely but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Winnipeg try to sign a multi-year pact and gain another year or two of team control in the process.
F Evgeny Svechnikov: The 25-year-old finally got a full NHL season under his belt and held his own in limited minutes, collecting 19 points in 72 games. That’s not why he’s mentioned here, however. As teams look to keep costs down on their end-of-roster players (something the Jets have done the last few years), Svechnikov’s arbitration eligibility looms large. It’s not that an award would be over-the-top expensive (likely around the $1MM range) but depending on what happens with Dubois, Winnipeg is likely to have to get quite thrifty with their last few roster spots and an extra few hundred thousand may be more than they can afford which makes him a potential non-tender candidate.
Other RFAs: G Philippe Desrosiers, D Leon Gawanke, F David Gustafsson, F Jansen Harkins, D Johnathan Kovacevic, F Jeff Malott, D Markus Phillips
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
G Eric Comrie: Last summer, Winnipeg’s cap situation forced them to have to go with a backup making the minimum salary so Comrie got the nod and had his first full NHL season as a result, albeit with limited minutes. He made the most of his playing time though, posting a SV% (.920) that was ten points higher than Connor Hellebuyck and a GAA (2.58) that was 39 points better than Hellebuyck. While no one is going to argue that Comrie should be making the $6.166MM that Hellebuyck is getting, he has positioned himself to command much more than the minimum on the open market. His limited track record will keep him out of the range of the top backups (around $4MM) but half of that could certainly be attainable.
F Paul Stastny: The 36-year-old was largely under the radar this season but he had a solid year, chipping in with 21 goals and 24 assists in 71 games which is solid second-line production. Between that and being consistently above average at the faceoff dot, there should be a fairly strong market for Stastny if he makes it to free agency. He took a pay cut to stay with the Jets last summer, dropping down to $3.75MM and it wouldn’t be surprising to see teams offer more than that on a one-year deal. However, it’s possible that Stastny decides to take less to go to a contender as well as some veterans do. He’s eligible for incentives in his contract as long as it’s a one-year deal which could be an option to keep the 2022-23 charge down which would help those contending teams. Once Dubois signs his new contract, it will be difficult for the Jets to afford to keep him in the fold.
F Zach Sanford: He underwhelmed after joining Winnipeg at the trade deadline but there will be a decent market for the 27-year-old. While he’s not enough of a reliable offensive threat to play in the top six, he chips in at a reasonable enough clip for a depth player while providing plenty of physicality. That’s something plenty of teams will have interest in although Sanford may be hard-pressed to make more than the $2MM he received this season coming off a bit of a down season.
Other UFAs: F Adam Brooks, F Luke Johnson, F Austin Poganski, F C.J. Suess
Projected Cap Space
At the moment, Winnipeg has a little over $18MM in wiggle room under the salary cap although they have to re-sign half of a forward group, a backup goalie, and a depth defenseman with those funds. There’s a good chance over 40% of that will go to Dubois which doesn’t leave GM Kevin Cheveldayoff a lot of room to try to add another impact piece to their roster. If they largely stick with their current core and don’t make a trade or two to shake things up, they’ll be relying on their new head coach to help take this team back to playoff contention.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Sign Dubes long term, trade Schelfishle, eject Wheezer into the sun and find some quality depth players then let Trotz teach the boys how to play a 60 minute two way game
What is your problem with Wheeler? There are 31 other teams who would love to have him.
Wheeler’s still a useful player. But he’s also 35 and declining. I’d sure take him in Boston … if he took a 50% pay cut. He sure as heck isn’t worth $8.25 MM right now, not anywhere near close.
Man, jets got problems. Don’t think I’ve seen a single good word about Scheifele or Wheeler from a supporter. Quite the opposite. Saw someone call them “locker room cancer” recently. Next mailbag I’m gonna ask about it. Seems quite frustrating for the fans! Dang
Whether they’re locker room cancers or not, what IS true is that Wheeler’s fading, and Scheifele’s inability to play defense was only tolerable so long as Hellebucyk played Vezina-finalist level hockey. The Jets were a trendy pick as Cup contenders just a couple seasons back, but that window’s closed now. They need to unload and rebuild so they can come back a couple years from now, and not have wasted the primes of the likes of Connor, Morrissey and Dubois.
Scheifele has not been same since the cheap shot on evans. Think he needs to go somewhere start over. They have not been same since Byfuglien . He is after all the guy threw kane stuff in shower. Looking like he was real leader.