Stan Bowman’s name coming up but he needs permission from Bettman to return
Greg Wyshynski: If Stan Bowman wants to return to the NHL, he’ll need to have Commissioner Gary Bettman sign off on it. The same goes for Joel Quenneville.
Bowman’s name has come up lately with front office vacancies in Calgary, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Greg Wyshynski: Quenneville must be “reinstated” and Bowman will need permission from Bettman.
Plenty of big decisions for the Winnipeg Jets this offseason
Murat Ates of The Athletic: Decisions that the Winnipeg Jets face this offseason.
If Pierre-Luc Dubois wants to stay in Winnipeg long-term, extend him. If he doesn’t, trade him. They should be able to get a good return for him. The Canadiens speculation is still there, dating back to the draft last year. As a rental for all the other teams, he should bring back a good package. He’s only 24 years old and a max deal would only take him to his early 30’s.
A comparable trade could be the Timo Meier deal – a first-round pick, conditional second (first if the Devils make the conference finals), and two prospects.
The Jets tried to trade Blake Wheeler last offseason. He has one year left at $8.25 million. They may need to retain salary in any deal. Don’t think the Jets would buy him out at a $2.75 million cap hit for each of the next two years.
The 29-year-old Connor Hellebuyck has a year left on his deal. Maybe they could overpay him on a short-term deal – two or three seasons. Overpaying in the $9-10 million is risky but maybe not as much on a seven- or eight-year deal given his workload over the years. If he only wants a long-term deal, trading may be the best option.
Trading Mark Scheifele would leave a hole down the middle, but he could walk in free agency next offseason. If they move him, maybe they could get a younger center that could grow into a top-six center role. If they are looking to win, maybe they can work out a long-term deal.
The Jets should make re-signing Vladislav Namestnikov a priority.
The Jets need to move out some defensemen to make room for younger Dmen like Dylan Samberg, Ville Heinola and/or Declan Chisholm. Nate Schmidt has a $5.95 million cap hit and Brenden Dillon comes in at $3.9 million.