Speculation: Is this the year to go for it?

[Arthur Fonzarelli]

Even the most casual fans are aware of the salary cap these days. The Jets are a handful of years away from awarding some big money contracts & once Trouba, Ehlers, & Laine start demanding substantial raises, there certainly won't be the cap space at hand that is available this season.

Hellebuyck, Tanev & Comrie are already due raises & we're a season away from Little becoming a UFA. Further, next season 16 players in the organization are RFA's, 6 of which will be arbitration eligible.

For the time being all is well in Jetsville. Chevy has made two key acquisitions, there are only 3 roster players unsigned (Hellebuyck, Copp & Tanev) all of which should come fairly cheaply.

Our forward prospect pool is the envy of the league, our defence is the strongest it's been & one of the leagues premier goaltenders over the past half decade is signed.

But is it enough?

The Jets are in a place right now where they have just under $11 million in cap space. Tanev & Copp should cost in the neighbourhood of $2 million total. Hellebuyck $2 million more.

There's still a considerable amount of space available to sign a player that places us immediately among the league elite. The Dreger interview today on 1290 has Chevy expected to make one more signing...a forward.

Currently half the forward roster makes less than $1 million each. This won't be the case next year when every one of these players other than Laine's has renegotiated.

Shouldn't the Jets be all in right now?

Click to read more...

 

[YWGinYYZ]

Shouldn't the Jets be all in right now?

Yes, they should be. As you state, they've got a good mix of vets, ELC contracts, and relatively inexpensive contracts, with very few holes in the line-up.

Don't waste this window.

 

[Bristo]

I think we're reaching that stage, but not
reaching our fullest potential yet - we still have Connor and Roslovic in the cupboard, and if they step in and raise our overall game, and if Petan can be used the right way, we'll be a juggernaut.

 

[antiqueslivers]

just give'r

 

[koth]

I don't think we're at the "all in" stage yet. We didn't even make the playoffs last year.

 

[avtarb]

if you do the math we are in great cap postion regardless of the raises you keep talking about

little salary comes off the books you give that 4.5 - 5 million to kyle conner
wheeler 5.5 comes off the books you give that to ehlers maybe 6
buffilyn will only have 2 years remaining when laine has to resign.. they can backload that contract
tyler myers 5.5 million and enstrom 5.7 million off the books.. for too guys that have been injury prone and useless lately.. give that 8 million to trouba and get another solid defenseman for 5 million to replace myers.
... and wheeler at 32 and little (injury history) and 30 will not be gettting raises they will probably sign for contracts in the 4 - 5 range... that would make us a cap team.. not to mention salary cap should be going up 1 - 2 million each year..

 

[YWGinYYZ]

if you do the math we are in great cap postion regardless of the raises you keep talking about

The real point of the thread is:

Shouldn't the Jets be all in right now?

Yes? No? I say yes. They have enough cap space right now to truly push this year.

 

[ps241]

Yes, they should be. As you state, they've got a good mix of vets, ELC contracts, and relatively inexpensive contracts, with very few holes in the line-up.

Don't waste this window.

100% agree. We are still selling Trouba on the Cup dream too.

One thing I would stop short of is selling off 1st round draft picks for rentals just yet but everything else is in play.

 

[avtarb]

i think we have enough depth guys coming up that we should alright for while

roslovic and dano such are servicable guys we will have on the cheap.. that will make it eaiser to fill out the top 6 and top 4 dman with high paid guys in the 5 - 8 mill range.

mark sheiffle contract is top 3 biggest bargain in nhl right now..

dustin might of got a bit overpaid.. but he will only have 2 years remaining on his salary.. when lainie is due..

enstrom and myers contracts will just go to trouba and morrisey..

should we go all in this year.. well if we can get kovaluck or another decent veteran for short term 1 - 2 year contract i would do it

and i dont think the window is small.. i think well be contender for while.. remember connor, lainie, morrisey, trouba, schieffle.. ehlers are only going to get better... and i truly beleive little and wheeler will stick around on the cheap.. they got good bond here. overpaid guys like myers , enstrom, kulkov will be off the books soon dont u worry

 

[kylbaz]

I think now is a perfect time to go all in but the front office won't. I think one big signing could really put us in contention. I don't know if Kovalchuk is the guy, but adding one more piece that could score 20-25 goals would really solidify this team. Maybe if we're close at the deadline they will make a move.

 

[BB88]

Not all in in the way of dealing 1st rounders yet, as this thread was motivated mainly on cap reasons those 1st round picks which can lead to ELC's are worth so damm much in todays NHL. Keep building the prospect pool this year still.

Make wise moves this year(as they did this offseason) and see how far you can go, spent lesser assets at the deadline if it looks good. Hopefully gain playoff experience and make a run already.

18/19 could be even more aggressive year. With Laine still on ELC and after hopefully seeing playoff games the year earlier.

After 18/19 current prospects Vesalainen/Stanley/Niku/x have been added to roster on ELC's. Which help to keep the window open longer.

And don't fall in love with the vets to create a cap hell.

 

[Arthur Fonzarelli]

I think now is a perfect time to go all in but the front office won't. I think one big signing could really put us in contention. I don't know if Kovalchuk is the guy, but adding one more piece that could score 20-25 goals would really solidify this team. Maybe if we're close at the deadline they will make a move.

Was reported today that Kovalchuk will play next season in the KHL.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/report-kovalchuk-will-return-to-khl-1.796346

I certainly don't think the Jets are in a place to be trading draft picks. I just think that with what we already have, spending to the limit this season gets us a deep run, maybe even all the way.

Is there a UFA currently out there of interest? Nothing really sticks out

Anything left to pick from from the Vegas excess? There excess is all defensemen.

There's plenty of scoring options at wing. Everyone seems to play better with Scheifele & Little. I think it's a centre to be a catalyst for the 3rd line that is needed.

The most obvious player is Matt Duchene. Two years remaining at $6 million? What would that cost?

Obviously the preference would be to sign a UFA over trading assets, but he is the most high profile player that is apparently on the market.

 

[kylbaz]

Was reported today that Kovalchuk will play next season in the KHL.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/report-kovalchuk-will-return-to-khl-1.796346

Didn't see that, and knew he probably wouldn't come here, but someone like that I think would make us a contender.

Maybe trade for someone like Turris (if they are out of it).

 

[Guffman]

For a team that is shy on playoff experience, I'm not sure I would be all-in for THIS year...at least not in this offseason (too late anyways at this point imo). I'd certainly be a buyer at the trade deadline if merited. I'd like to see how this season progresses. After all, we may need a coaching change.

 

[Dayofthedogs]

Yes.
Spend the money if you can find a player who upgrades our roster. Trade futures for one if it's a big enough upgrade.

Maybe someone to play RW or Center on the 3rd line.

 

[broinwhyteridge]

IMO it's a leap too far to go from 0 playoff wins and 5/6 non-playoff seasons to 16 playoff wins all in one year.

 

[Jets4Life]

Depends how far the Jets go in the playoffs. A good run, and we spend to the Cap in 2018-19.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Go ahead and spend money and short term cap. There is never a good time to trade high picks for rentals. Look what Chi got with Ladd for example. The rentals seldom pay off and they cripple the team in the future. You need those picks to become good players on ELC's to keep your window open.

 

[DashingDane]

I like the idea of bringing in a Center short term to push Lowry down. Basically try to take advantage of having several very good ELC players for cheap. The key would be short term obviously. Duchene with two years left and a 6 million cap hit would be perfect but probably way too expensive. Like several other posters I'd prefer to not give up any 1st round draft picks but wouldn't be opposed to dealing a couple of young players. What would get it done?

Looking at FA available players there isn't really any left that pop off the page. Who would you guys target?

 

[Daximus]

Maybe at the deadline we make a hard push using some prospects or picks but at this point, there aren't a lot of options left in FA that I feel push us over the edge. Once we get a taste of the playoffs we will see where our true holes are and at that point we move from admiring all our young roster players to finding out who is the weakest link and what holes we need to plug.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Was reported today that Kovalchuk will play next season in the KHL.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/report-kovalchuk-will-return-to-khl-1.796346

I certainly don't think the Jets are in a place to be trading draft picks. I just think that with what we already have, spending to the limit this season gets us a deep run, maybe even all the way.

Is there a UFA currently out there of interest? Nothing really sticks out

Anything left to pick from from the Vegas excess? There excess is all defensemen.

There's plenty of scoring options at wing. Everyone seems to play better with Scheifele & Little. I think it's a centre to be a catalyst for the 3rd line that is needed.

The most obvious player is Matt Duchene. Two years remaining at $6 million? What would that cost?

Obviously the preference would be to sign a UFA over trading assets, but he is the most high profile player that is apparently on the market.

It's been reported that they were holding out for 2 Firsts plus.
The price is likely slightly less then that but way too much to gamble on. I prefer waiting until February or the trade deadline for the upgrade but then you have to pay to acquire the players.

If we knew for sure that we'd make a 2 or 3 round run then signing someone now would be a good way to turbo charge that without paying to acquire players. Problem is you don't know how it will all go.

We also have to take into account what adding a player does to their contract status coming out of TC. Does that bump a player to waivers that we'd rather not expose?

 

[avtarb]

andrew ladd contracts looks horrendous ight now

 

[Arthur Fonzarelli]

It's been reported that they were holding out for 2 Firsts plus.
The price is likely slightly less then that but way too much to gamble on. I prefer waiting until February or the trade deadline for the upgrade but then you have to pay to acquire the players.

If we knew for sure that we'd make a 2 or 3 round run then signing someone now would be a good way to turbo charge that without paying to acquire players. Problem is you don't know how it will all go.

We also have to take into account what adding a player does to their contract status coming out of TC. Does that bump a player to waivers that we'd rather not expose?

Right now the Jets can ice 12 forwards at the NHL level & still send down all of Connor, Roslovic & Petan.

On defense there are no issues either. We can ice 8D & place another 2 in the PB & still send Niku & Poolman down.

As it stands the only waiver eligible players are ones that don't play big roles our future. Tanev, Chiarot & Melchiori; none would be big losses, particularly if the new asset is of high value.

Jets have no waiver concerns at all this season.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Right now the Jets can ice 12 forwards at the NHL level & still send down all of Connor, Roslovic & Petan.
On defense there are no issues either. We can ice 8D & place another 2 in the PB & still send Niku & Poolman down.

As it stands the only waiver eligible players are ones that don't play big roles our future. Tanev, Chiarot & Melchiori; none would be big losses, particularly if the new asset is of high value.

Jets have no waiver concerns at all this season.

I was still assuming Connor on the Jets and referring to something more valuable then those 3.

 

[10Ducky10]

Was reported today that Kovalchuk will play next season in the KHL.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/report-kovalchuk-will-return-to-khl-1.796346

I certainly don't think the Jets are in a place to be trading draft picks. I just think that with what we already have, spending to the limit this season gets us a deep run, maybe even all the way.

Is there a UFA currently out there of interest? Nothing really sticks out

Anything left to pick from from the Vegas excess? There excess is all defensemen.

There's plenty of scoring options at wing. Everyone seems to play better with Scheifele & Little. I think it's a centre to be a catalyst for the 3rd line that is needed.

The most obvious player is Matt Duchene. Two years remaining at $6 million? What would that cost?

Obviously the preference would be to sign a UFA over trading assets, but he is the most high profile player that is apparently on the market.

Rather see Jordan Staal as one of our centers...Lowry, Roslo and a 1st for Staal at one million retained.