14. Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said there was one offer that made him think about dropping from the No. 2 spot. My guess is that was the Blue Jackets, but I’m not 100 per cent certain of the offer.
15. The Jacob Trouba offer sheet story from CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty fills in some blanks, including: why was Boston trying to move down in the draft on Friday night? The obvious answer is the Bruins knew they could have selected Trent Frederic lower than 29th, and wanted to get extra assets while still landing their man. However, the offer-sheet possibility reveals another motive: to try and regain their 2017 second-rounder (now owned by New Jersey for Lee Stempniak) or 2017 third-rounder (to Philadelphia for Zac Rinaldo). Any offer sheet with an average annual value between $3,755,233 to $9,388,080 involves one or both of those selections. The picks offered as compensation must be your original choices — you can’t acquire someone else’s selection and offer it up instead. So, if you don’t have yours, you must get it back.
Haggerty suggested the Bruins might offer a seven-year contract to pressure Winnipeg, but I wonder if the actual play is what Vancouver considered with Jamie Benn in 2012. That’s a one-year deal at the $9M-plus figure, because it forces the Jets to qualify Trouba at that number as long as he’s a restricted free agent. In his case, that’s three more seasons. If you’re the Bruins and you’re actually doing this, you’ve probably worked out a “nudge-nudge, wink-wink, does she like photography?†with the agent (Kurt Overhardt) for a long-term deal at a more manageable value starting in 2017-18.
16. Now, you always assume the aggrieved party (the Jets, in this case) will match. Haggerty’s taking some heat for his story, but I don’t think he’s wrong about the fact the Bruins considered the idea.
I have a theory about this situation. Some of his sources in Boston were around when Phil Kessel went to Toronto. You’ll remember the Maple Leafs floated the possibility of an offer sheet, so the Bruins made a trade. Last year, Chicago worried about an offer sheet for Brandon Saad, so the Blackhawks made a trade. Things like this get out for a reason. Would it surprise anyone if the Bruins are floating a trial balloon to see if Winnipeg is willing to make a deal? The secrecy-crazy Jets won’t like it, but it’s not the worst strategy ever. Pressure’s worked before, and sometimes it’s even worked for the team being pressured.
