Montreal Canadiens: Three Trades That Add Future Piece Without Giving Up Anything

Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets aren’t quite in salary cap jail right now, but they could definitely use a little more flexibility. They have huge commitments made to five forwards for the next few years, but could use some upgrades on their roster still.

They need a long-term answer to their second line centre. They have traded for Paul Stastny, Kevin Hayes and Cody Eakin the past three seasons and tried Jack Roslovic and Andrew Copp in the position. Nothing has worked, at least not long term.

The Jets are also looking at a mass exodus on an already depleted blue line. After losing Jacob Trouba, Dustin Byfulgien and Tyler Myers a year ago, they are slated to watch Dmitry Kulikov, Luca Sbisa, Nathan Beaulieu and Dylan DeMelo walk away as free agents. That’s not the same caliber of player, but it ruins their depth on defence. They also need a backup goaltender.

Right now, the Jets are showing $15.5 million in cap space, but they would like to be active in free agency and trades to upgrade their roster.

They don’t have a lot of bad contracts, but they could use some relief from the final year of Mathieu Perreault’s deal. He is going to count as $4.125 million against the cap next season after scoring just 15 points in 49 games last season.

The Habs could fit him in financially, and since he is a player from the area, they would even give him a shot to earn a role in the bottom six. It would still cost the Jets a nice draft pick in order for the trade to make sense for the Canadiens.