It’s time for another round of NHL rumours. We’re rapidly approaching the finale of the 2024-25 NHL season. However, there’s plenty to talk about with the next season looming. The NHL Draft and free agency will follow close behind, so there’s no rest for teams. This year’s Stanley Cup Final has the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers battling it out. However, the other 30 teams want to get to this point next season. This means some roster changes need to be made.
One team that’s looking to improve their roster is the Winnipeg Jets. This edition of NHL rumours deals with one area the Jets would like to improve in the off-season.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Winnipeg Jets Hope to Add Second-Line Centre
Rumour: Murat Ates of The Athletic hosted a recent edition of his mailbag. One of the questions addressed was shoring up the team’s depth down the middle.
Analysis: The Jets won the President’s Trophy as the best regular season team. However, Winnipeg was eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the second round. One of the main concerns regarding the roster was the lack of centre depth.
Adding some hope at the pivot spot would hopefully help the team make a deeper run in the playoffs. Winnipeg has nearly $26.5 million in salary cap space heading into the off-season.
The Jets do have to make some decisions regarding unrestricted free agents like Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry. Winnipeg also needs to find money for restricted free agent defenceman Dylan Samberg.
Winnipeg is in a decent spot when it comes to the salary cap. However, Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has to be careful on how he’s going to deploy those funds.
What It Means
Ates said that the Jets could solve the issue of a second-line centre internally. Gabriel Vilardi, who is a also an RFA the team needs to re-sign, could move up to that coveted spot in the lineup. We could also see Cole Perfetti get a shot at winning the second-line centre role.
However, Ates mentions that head coach Scott Arniel likes having players with faster foot speed. The Jets use speed as a weapon and Arniel might decide to go a different route other than Vilardi and Perfetti as the number two pivot.
This means that Cheveldayoff could go the free agent route in order to fill that spot. There are a number of big names like Sam Bennett, Matt Duchene, John Tavares and others that could fill the bill. However, it doesn’t seem likely they’d want to sign in Winnipeg.
This means that Winnipeg would have to go with a different set of players. Offer sheets could be more of a thing this off-season and the Jets could use them if needed.
There are a number of RFAs that Winnipeg could look into. Ates points out that Marco Rossi of the Minnesota Wild could be someone that the Jets pursue. Other names Ates mentioned were Morgan Geekie, Mason McTavish, Morgan Frost and others as possible targets.
Main photo by: Bruce Fedyck-Imagn Images
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