On Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets …
Michael Traikos in the Winnipeg Sun: Looking at six team that could use a defenseman like Jacob Trouba and that could have the assets to trade for him.
Toronto Maple Leafs – The Leafs need to improve their blueline and find a top pairing partner for Morgan Rielly. The Jets may want Rielly, but that isn’t happening. Jake Gardiner could be a starting point, but they may need to add a lottery-protected first round pick or a top-prospect like William Nylander.
Boston Bruins – Though they have Connor Hellebuyck as the their goalie of the future, Malcolm Subban could give the Jets added depth. If they are wanting a defenseman, Jakub Zboril and Charlie McAvoy could be options.
Buffalo Sabres – The Jets would probably want Rasmus Ristolainen, but from the Sabres side, is it an upgrade, lateral move or a downgrade?
Vancouver Canucks – it would take Olli Juolevi for the Canucks to get Trouba.
Detroit Red Wings – Anthony Mantha and a defenseman like Danny DeKeyser or a top-end prospect like Evgeny Svechnikov or Dennis Cholowski.
New Jersey Devils – Pavel Zacha straight up for Trouba might not be enough, but adding goalie Mackenzie Blackwood might be enough.
Ryan Lambert of Yahoo! Sports: Going off of that the Winnipeg Jets wanting defenseman of similar age and skill, finding a match could be difficult. Listed are 10 players who could fit what the Jets are looking for. *Note that teams may not want to move these players : Damon Severson (NJ), Matthew Dumba (MIN), Cody Ceci (Ott), Colton Parayko (STL), Justin Faulk (Car), Dougie Hamilton (Cgy), Aaron Ekblad (Fla), Seth Jones (Cbj) and Rasmus Ristolainen (Buf).
Bob Stauffer: Guess is the Oilers don’t move on Jacob Trouba and will wait for a bigger fish down the road.
Dan Rosen of NHL.com: (mailbag) Wouldn’t rule out Devils GM Ray Shero, but if the Jets want a left-handed defenseman, the Devils may not have enough to offer. The Jets should be able to better than Andy Greene, Jon Merrill, John Moore or Seth Helgeson.
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Darren Dreger on TSN 1200 on an offseason offer from the Detroit Red Wings for Jacob Trouba.
“I know that Cheveldayoff received several offers during the summer. I know that one came from Detroit. I’m told that it involved two of their higher-level forwards, and Holland wasn’t willing or able to stomach that. As much as the Detroit Red Wings need defense, they can’t move out multiple pieces of scoring, otherwise they fill one hole and dig another.
“But none of the offers that were made on Trouba were obviously good enough, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Perhaps he’d be on to greener pastures, from his mindset.