JETS WOULD BE SMART TO TRADE LADD
Barring a string of victories over the next few weeks, the Winnipeg Jets figure to be one of the more prominent sellers at this year’s trade deadline.
While the Jets would like to re-sign Dustin Byfuglien, they’ll still probably make some noise as it seems more likely every day that captain Andrew Ladd will be moved.
Ladd is still an effective player, but it’d probably be best for the Jets to trade him as he is already starting to decline.
Ladd would certainly fetch a good haul at the deadline to help the Jets moving forward. By trading him the Jets would also avoid investing a lot of years and dollars to a 30-year-old whose production will continue to decrease as the years pass.
Again, Ladd is still a good player, but he’s trending in the wrong direction and, given where the Jets are at, I think trading him would be more beneficial than committing to him long-term.
WIDEMAN A BIGGER NAME THAN LOSS
The NHL recently brought the hammer down on Dennis Wideman suspending him 20 games for his hit on an official.
On the surface it seems like a big loss – he had over 50 points last season and plays a lot of minutes for the Flames – but I don’t think his absence is as big of a deal as many suggest.
As you can see the Flames generate a higher percentage of shot attempts, scoring chances and goals without Wideman on the ice. He doesn’t play against top competition on a nightly basis – those duties are held by Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie – so it’s not like his numbers have been weighed down due to tough assignments, either.
Wideman is still a useful player but he’s at best the Flames’ 4th best defenseman and is someone they should be able to survive without.
GETTING WILD IN MINNESOTA
Entering the season many penciled the Minnesota Wild in as a playoff team despite playing in the league’s hardest division.
At the turn of the calendar those high on the Wild were looking pretty smart, too, as they owned a 20-10-6 record and sat comfortably in a playoff spot.
Fast forward a little more than a month and the Wild are on the outside looking in. They’ve won just three of their last 18 games and, while they may not have been as bad as their record in that span, their quality of play has dropped significantly.
Simply put the Wild are not the same team we saw early in the season when they were piling up the points.
They’re still in a pretty good spot (three points out of the wild card with three games in hand) but if their play doesn’t improve soon they could put themselves in serious danger of missing the playoffs.