News Article: Jets exploring trade market for Wheeler

[tbcwpg]

I think if they went hard into a rebuild the fans would support it.

It's the same team, that missed the playoffs, coming back, with multiple players who seem like they dont want to be here any more, that has everyone up in arms I think.

It will pass if the team plays better than expected.

But I think we all know the very likely scenario is we end up with 8th or 9th pick in the draft, pick a stud, move on from whoever doesnt sign long term (of 55, 37, 80).

I think there would be less support for what a rebuild actually is than many on here think there would be.

 

[surixon]

I think there would be less support for what a rebuild actually is than many on here think there would be.

Yup look at Ottawa for exhibit A what a rebuild looks like in the stands.

 

[tbcwpg]

Yup look at Ottawa for exhibit A what a rebuild looks like in the stands.

Ottawa also had the negative of the arena being in the middle of nowhere - though some would argue that Canada Life Centre being downtown here doesn't help either.

 

[GaryPoppins]

Ottawa also had the negative of the arena being in the middle of nowhere - though some would argue that Canada Life Centre being downtown here doesn't help either.

Tbh I think Eugene Melnyk did so much harm to that franchise. A meddling owner.. wait.. sound familiar?

 

[tbcwpg]

Tbh I think Eugene Melnyk did so much harm to that franchise. A meddling owner.. wait.. sound familiar?

Whatever you think of Chipman, Melnyk was worse x10

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Ottawa also had the negative of the arena being in the middle of nowhere - though some would argue that Canada Life Centre being downtown here doesn't help either.

Are you good sir suggesting that having three dollar stores within sight of CLC is a drawback?

 

[Howard Chuck]

I think if they patch things up and everyone comes to play hard every game, we are best of keeping Wheeler and Schiefele and PLD.

We will be a better team for it, but only if they can pull their heads out of their collective asses for a season or two.

 

[Flair Hay]

I think there would be less support for what a rebuild actually is than many on here think there would be.

I disagree, but it's hard to tell either way for sure I guess

I think most smart fans know our hand may be forced by PLD, Scheif and heaven forbid even Helle a year from now.

 

[Teemusalami204]

We are going to miss the playoffs and Wheeler will be gone at the deadline.

This makes the most sense to me

 

[Buffdog]

We are going to miss the playoffs and Wheeler will be gone at the deadline.

This makes the most sense to me

It'll be very difficult to find a contender that would be able to carry his full salary next season. There'd have to be retention, and even then I'm not sure if there'd be a fit anywhere

 

[Eyeseeing]

I think if they patch things up and everyone comes to play hard every game, we are best of keeping Wheeler and Schiefele and PLD.

We will be a better team for it, but only if they can pull their heads out of their collective asses for a season or two.

EVERYTHING hinges on this.
Anything less than an all in mentality and we are in huge trouble.
I’m concerned the first rough patch and this team implodes.
Not dealing with issues always catches up eventually.

 

[tbcwpg]

I disagree, but it's hard to tell either way for sure I guess

I think most smart fans know our hand may be forced by PLD, Scheif and heaven forbid even Helle a year from now.

I think there's a difference between understanding that the team might need to step back a bit, and actually buying tickets and going to the games. Especially now that season tickets are year to year, there'll be a lot of people who will save their $10k+ per year until the team is good again. Well, if the team is good again, because I have doubts that Winnipeg as a market can come through a big rebuild to be a contender or an exciting team for at least the rest of the 2020s.

Plus if you've looked at reddit, Facebook, listened to the call in shows, hell even read some of this board - the fan base as a collective isn't any smarter than those in say Buffalo or Ottawa or Chicago or any other market that's been rebuilding lately.

 

[voyageur]

EVERYTHING hinges on this.
Anything less than an all in mentality and we are in huge trouble.
I’m concerned the first rough patch and this team implodes.
Not dealing with issues always catches up eventually.

My biggest worry is that Wheeler drags down Scheifele. I thought he was a big factor in some of Scheifele's struggles. Once the speed is gone, his neutral zone game is just not as strong. I thought teams closed on him quickly last year to force neutral zone turnovers. And Scheifele was not able to defend these mistakes adequately. Seemed like Scheif's best output came from playing with Stastny and Ehlers, and playing more of a winger type role in that scenario.

Now I don't know how much Wheeler's performance was affected by Covid, and a pretty brutal injury. But I do worry about fragility, if things start to go south.

I had a trade I was pondering today, which was Wheeler, 15% retention ($1,237,500), with Heinola for Sam Bennett, Duclair, and Florida's 2nd next year. If the Panthers buyout or LTIR Hornqvist should make it under the Cap, taking on just under $7 million of Wheeler's contract.

Works out to Heinola for Bennett straight up. Florida desperately needs a quality LD, and Zito loves Finns. He'd conceivably be top pairing there, whereas he's fighting to get into the lineup here, and might remain behind Morrissey and Samberg for the near future. Opens a route to the NHL for Chisholm, who a lot of people are high on, but who sits 6th on the current LD depth chart.

Bennett would give the Jets some toughness at forward, and provides a future 2c if Dubois gets moved at some point, not putting all the pressure on Perfetti to go from an 7 pt winger to a 2C in an instant. Coming off a career year, but that was with Huberdeau. Great value contract for last year's production, with 3 years left. Definitely built for Western Conference hockey. Panthers can afford to lose him with Lundell, and Colin White as potential replacements, basically implodes their 2nd line last year.

Duclair is injured, but could come back at a time when depth is need, in the heart of the season. Goal scoring has more potential than Wheeler, but still a lesser value based on inconsistency. Might be a nice fit with Dubois for half a season.

Getting 2 forwards (eventually) out of Wheeler's Cap space seems like a win.

I think the Jets are counting on 100 goals out of Connor, Scheifele and Ehlers, but some depth scoring goes a long way.

Team would be different in a lot of ways without Wheeler, and some of those could be positive.

 

[ps241]

My biggest worry is that Wheeler drags down Scheifele. I thought he was a big factor in some of Scheifele's struggles. Once the speed is gone, his neutral zone game is just not as strong. I thought teams closed on him quickly last year to force neutral zone turnovers. And Scheifele was not able to defend these mistakes adequately. Seemed like Scheif's best output came from playing with Stastny and Ehlers, and playing more of a winger type role in that scenario.

Now I don't know how much Wheeler's performance was affected by Covid, and a pretty brutal injury. But I do worry about fragility, if things start to go south.

I had a trade I was pondering today, which was Wheeler, 15% retention ($1,237,500), with Heinola for Sam Bennett, Duclair, and Florida's 2nd next year. If the Panthers buyout or LTIR Hornqvist should make it under the Cap, taking on just under $7 million of Wheeler's contract.

Works out to Heinola for Bennett straight up. Florida desperately needs a quality LD, and Zito loves Finns. He'd conceivably be top pairing there, whereas he's fighting to get into the lineup here, and might remain behind Morrissey and Samberg for the near future. Opens a route to the NHL for Chisholm, who a lot of people are high on, but who sits 6th on the current LD depth chart.

Bennett would give the Jets some toughness at forward, and provides a future 2c if Dubois gets moved at some point, not putting all the pressure on Perfetti to go from an 7 pt winger to a 2C in an instant. Coming off a career year, but that was with Huberdeau. Great value contract for last year's production, with 3 years left. Definitely built for Western Conference hockey. Panthers can afford to lose him with Lundell, and Colin White as potential replacements, basically implodes their 2nd line last year.

Duclair is injured, but could come back at a time when depth is need, in the heart of the season. Goal scoring has more potential than Wheeler, but still a lesser value based on inconsistency. Might be a nice fit with Dubois for half a season.

Getting 2 forwards (eventually) out of Wheeler's Cap space seems like a win.

I think the Jets are counting on 100 goals out of Connor, Scheifele and Ehlers, but some depth scoring goes a long way.

Team would be different in a lot of ways without Wheeler, and some of those could be positive.

I am settling into the probability that Wheeler will be a Jet on opening day. That contract in this flat cap world was always going to be tough to move. I think the trade would need to be close to cap hit neutral for both sides.

I usually avoid the line up configuration topic but it’s august so what the hell. It use to be magic when Wheeler was the man and one of the top play drivers in the NHL but those days are gone. Watching a decent but fading Blake with the 2022 less engaged version of #55 was painful last season. I thought Mark looked better away from Blake and honestly, I thought Blake looked better away from Mark too.

 

[Jet]

My biggest worry is that Wheeler drags down Scheifele. I thought he was a big factor in some of Scheifele's struggles. Once the speed is gone, his neutral zone game is just not as strong. I thought teams closed on him quickly last year to force neutral zone turnovers. And Scheifele was not able to defend these mistakes adequately. Seemed like Scheif's best output came from playing with Stastny and Ehlers, and playing more of a winger type role in that scenario.

Now I don't know how much Wheeler's performance was affected by Covid, and a pretty brutal injury. But I do worry about fragility, if things start to go south.

I had a trade I was pondering today, which was Wheeler, 15% retention ($1,237,500), with Heinola for Sam Bennett, Duclair, and Florida's 2nd next year. If the Panthers buyout or LTIR Hornqvist should make it under the Cap, taking on just under $7 million of Wheeler's contract.

Works out to Heinola for Bennett straight up. Florida desperately needs a quality LD, and Zito loves Finns. He'd conceivably be top pairing there, whereas he's fighting to get into the lineup here, and might remain behind Morrissey and Samberg for the near future. Opens a route to the NHL for Chisholm, who a lot of people are high on, but who sits 6th on the current LD depth chart.

Bennett would give the Jets some toughness at forward, and provides a future 2c if Dubois gets moved at some point, not putting all the pressure on Perfetti to go from an 7 pt winger to a 2C in an instant. Coming off a career year, but that was with Huberdeau. Great value contract for last year's production, with 3 years left. Definitely built for Western Conference hockey. Panthers can afford to lose him with Lundell, and Colin White as potential replacements, basically implodes their 2nd line last year.

Duclair is injured, but could come back at a time when depth is need, in the heart of the season. Goal scoring has more potential than Wheeler, but still a lesser value based on inconsistency. Might be a nice fit with Dubois for half a season.

Getting 2 forwards (eventually) out of Wheeler's Cap space seems like a win.

I think the Jets are counting on 100 goals out of Connor, Scheifele and Ehlers, but some depth scoring goes a long way.

Team would be different in a lot of ways without Wheeler, and some of those could be positive.

I really thought that Wheeler was looking a lot healthier and faster on the ice at the tail end of last season.

He's a chronic slow starter, so I'm expecting this board to be full on torches and pitchforks by November.

I do think he'll end up near ppg again this year, if he can stay healthy, and that's going to be important for us.

 

[surixon]

I really thought that Wheeler was looking a lot healthier and faster on the ice at the tail end of last season.

He's a chronic slow starter, so I'm expecting this board to be full on torches and pitchforks by November.

I do think he'll end up near ppg again this year, if he can stay healthy, and that's going to be important for us.

He can't take half the year to get going if we want to do anything this year.

He either starts well or is demoted until his play warrants more imo.

 

[jamiebez]

Yup look at Ottawa for exhibit A what a rebuild looks like in the stands.

Tbh I think Eugene Melnyk did so much harm to that franchise. A meddling owner.. wait.. sound familiar?

Tangent, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of these two posts.

The fanbase here in Ottawa certainly turned on Melnyk (and deservedly so), but that was mostly because he cheaped out on the team when his other businesses went south. The decline on the ice followed that, when Karlsson, Stone, etc all got jettisoned for cost reasons, and that's when attendance really tanked.

So it's a little of both. And, to be frank, attendance in Ottawa has always been on the soft side even when things were going well on the ice. The arena's in the wrong spot, and too big for the market.

 

[Howard Chuck]

He can't take half the year to get going if we want to do anything this year.

He either starts well or is demoted until his play warrants more imo.

This is how I see it. You can’t have a top six forward playing big minutes for half a season waiting for them to ‘get going’.

 

[ps241]

Tangent, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of these two posts.

The fanbase here in Ottawa certainly turned on Melnyk (and deservedly so), but that was mostly because he cheaped out on the team when his other businesses went south. The decline on the ice followed that, when Karlsson, Stone, etc all got jettisoned for cost reasons, and that's when attendance really tanked.

So it's a little of both. And, to be frank, attendance in Ottawa has always been on the soft side even when things were going well on the ice. The arena's in the wrong spot, and too big for the market.

Yea it was a gorgeous arena but you are spot on, its way too far West (Kanata). Why would anyone in Orleans or the east in general want to make the treck especially on a weeknight on the Queensway. I think the capacity is listed at 18,652 and I think about 16,000-17,000 would be much better.

 

[JetFan4Ever]

Ottawa also had the negative of the arena being in the middle of nowhere - though some would argue that Canada Life Centre being downtown here doesn't help either.

I think "the middle of nowhere" is a bit of a stretch, Kanata = ~120, 000, Stitsville = ~40,00, and Nepean = ~170,000, all this communities are within (and closer to) 10-15 mins for the arena. I will say if the arena is built in lebreton flats it will be much more accessible to the entire city, and Gatineau.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Yup look at Ottawa for exhibit A what a rebuild looks like in the stands.

Ottawa was a rebellion against Melnyck.
He tore down and rebuilt the team that had just made it to the SCF, fcs.

And then there are all of Ottawa's other problems. Winnipeg has none of the same issues.

Tbh I think Eugene Melnyk did so much harm to that franchise. A meddling owner.. wait.. sound familiar?

No. Melnyk was a clearly meddling owner, right out in full view. His meddling was not only obvious, it was ridiculous. Some here suspect Chipman of meddling, based only on circumstantial evidence. They may be correct, but if so Chipman is nothing like Melnyk in the way he meddles.

 

[Weezeric]

Ottawa was a rebellion against Melnyck.
He tore down and rebuilt the team that had just made it to the SCF, fcs.

And then there are all of Ottawa's other problems. Winnipeg has none of the same issues.



No. Melnyk was a clearly meddling owner, right out in full view. His meddling was not only obvious, it was ridiculous. Some here suspect Chipman of meddling, based only on circumstantial evidence. They may be correct, but if so Chipman is nothing like Melnyk in the way he meddles.

Ottawa’s rebuild went about as good as you could expect. They traded aging players like Karlsson and Stone and have amassed a large number of quality young players. Unfortunately, that’s the easy part, but they almost flawlessly accomplished it.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

We are going to miss the playoffs and Wheeler will be gone at the deadline.

This makes the most sense to me

Wheeler may be gone at the deadline in '24. Not in '23. Too much term and AAV for that.

 

[Weezeric]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Wheeler puts up 70 points with improved metrics this season.

 

[Jack7222]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Wheeler puts up 70 points with improved metrics this season.

That would be nice. IMO PPG is not happening unless he's 1st line and 1st powerplay again, which he absolutely shouldn't be. But Wheeler used to be a possession beast and I wonder if less minutes sees him regain some of that and put up 60 or so points with decent defensive numbers. Sure would help us.