Jets' Young Forward Could Be On Trade Block For Larger Move

The Winnipeg Jets are going to have a lot of work to do before the trade deadline and in the summer because they can't stand pat and hope that their team is going to bounce back to where it was last season. There have been many players not playing up to expectations and this season was more than just the loss of Nikolaj Ehlers, though losing him was a significant part.

The Jets need much more scoring to not only replace Ehlers' production, but go beyond that. In order to do that, it seems like they have to make a big trade and may have someone that can be used as an NHL piece to go the other way in such a deal.

David Pagnotta said, "Whether they can pull that off before the trade deadline or not, we've going to have to wait and see, but they definitely want to bring somebody in to stabilize that second line, with Cole Perfetti in play."

Perfetti is a talented 24-year-old that has taken a step back offensively along with the majority of the team, but he was progressing well over his first three NHL seasons. Last season he put up 18 goals and 50 points in 82 games and also has some physicality to his game. He has settled in more as a winger and hardly ever takes draws. With only six goals and 18 points in 42 games, it shows how much the offensive struggles have been.

Perfetti is an RFA after the season and is under contract for $3.25 million AAV. Just because he hasn't really been utilized at center, doesn't mean he can't be a number two center for someone or even the Jets if they don't use him to acquire something bigger. Other middle-6 players like Adam Lowry, Jonathan Toews, Alex Iafallo, Nino Niederreiter, and Vlad Namestnikov haven't helped with the offense, and even trying to spread out the scoring by moving Gabe Vilardi down hasn't worked.

The Jets need to be confident in keeping their top line together because it has carried the team and been so good, and figure out how to have the rest of the forwards contribute after that. Outside of the first line, Perfetti is the only forward who really carries much value in terms of bringing in an impactful player that Winnipeg would be looking for to contribute offensively like Ehlers had. But if the Jets could keep Perfetti around and use other assets, that would be the ideal situation to bring a top-6 player in to play alongside Perfetti instead.