Offseason Landing Spots for $3.25 M Winnipeg Jets' Forward
After the season concluded for the underachieving Winnipeg Jets, the knives are out. Dissension in the ranks has surfaced in the media.
The team went from winning a Presidents' Trophy during the 2024-25 season to finishing 7th in the Central Division with a record of 35-35-12.
Difficult decisions will have to be made, as the team has a total of eight free agents to deal with, including one forward, Gustav Nyquist.
Nyquist has been known to be a talented two-way forward who can play on the penalty kill in addition to being a great secondary-scoring option wherever he goes.
Three seasons removed from his 75-point season with the Nashville Predators, and a pending unrestricted free agent, the question comes into focus: Should the Predators keep him?
In 51 games, he scored 12 points (1-11) and was a healthy scratch in January.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will have to come to terms with the fact that the team he's constructed isn't able to punch above the 2024-25 iteration's weight.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck wasn't shy about what the team needed:
“Complacency is not gonna get us moving forward,” Hellebuyck said. “So, something's got to happen. To just put that same product on the ice. I just, I don't think it worked for a reason.”
And Nyquist may be part of the solution, Cheveldayoff should let him walk.
If the Jets choose not to re-sign the veteran forward, there are some other teams in the NHL that could utilize his penalty-kill abilities. Given there's been no speculation or rumors regarding interest in the forward, at this point in the year, we're putting out educated guesses here.
