Jets will get some LTIR space … Cheveldayoff on the deadline
Murat Ates: With Winnipeg Jets defensAll Postseman Nathan Beaulieu out for the season, the Jets and can put him on the LTIR and gain an additional $1.25 million in salary relief. The Jets are at around $3.5 million already before Beaulieu.
- Darren Dreger: “Unfortunate, but the Jets will be able to use Beaulieu’s salary in LTI which could help open up trade opportunities to bolster the blueline.”
Pierre LeBrun of The Atheltic: Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff on the trade deadline and what you have available.
“You have finite resources, whether it’s the currency to make trades and obviously you only have finite cap (space),” Cheveldayoff said. “And there’s got to be a fit. You can’t just make the trades for the sake of making the trades.”
The Jets are deep up front and have Connor Hellebuyck in net. On the blue line is where everyone thinks they’ll look.
Nashville Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm would a perfect in opinion, but he may not be available. A Predators source did say mid-week that they will listen to teams calling right up until the deadline.
Other options include David Savard (UFA) and Josh Manson (one year left at $4.1 million and a 12-team no-trade list).
Cheveldayoff on the Seattle Kraken expansion draft factor when looking at deals.
“Yeah, you can’t ignore it. It stares you in the face all the time. It’s in your short-term and long-term planning as a manager.”
Penguins looking for a center
Tom Gulitti of NHL.com: Brian Burke said that they will look at the center trade market ahead of the NHL trade deadline after injuries to Evgeni Malkin and Teddy Blueger.
“People are stepping up,” Burke told the newspaper. “I’m not sure it was as dire a need as it was. But when two of your top four centers go down, you start looking around.”
Burke has also said that he’d like them to get tougher.
The Penguins don’t have a first-round pick after moving it to Minnesota Wild in the Jason Zucker trade. Burke said they won’t be trading their 2021 second-round pick. They do some depth on the left side of their defense.