After Pierre-Luc Dubois trade, Winnipeg Jets set the bar for what comes next

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Before Winnipeg could make the practical decision to trade Pierre-Luc Dubois to Los Angeles, it had to answer a philosophical question.

What is this era of Jets hockey supposed to be?

Dubois’ exit makes the 2016 draft lottery win an even more distant memory than it already was. Patrik Laine’s “Winnipeg is good” era never really took off. Blake Wheeler is going to be traded — or, more likely, bought out — and Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele’s futures aren’t expected to be in Winnipeg.

Dubois, though, as desirous for a Jets exit as he was, represented an opportunity. Winnipeg had a big, strong, fast, playmaking 25-year-old forward who delivered No. 1 centre quality performance for 50 games before fading badly in the second half of the season. Dubois was excellent in Game 1 against Vegas, too, igniting hope that his epic playoff series for Columbus against Toronto and Tampa Bay was only the beginning of a sterling postseason resume.

Dubois wanted out, though, and thus he became an asset — a valuable asset, despite his reputation as a malcontent — for Winnipeg to explore. Hence the question: What comes next for Winnipeg?

That the Jets chose L.A.’s package, with Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick says everything about Winnipeg’s intentions to stay competitive in the short run. It signals Winnipeg’s intentions for its other major trade pieces — Hellebuyck and Scheifele — and the types of returns the Jets are going to seek.

These Jets look just fine if you don’t have to trade a centre who just scored 42 goals or a 2023 Vezina Trophy finalist:

We’re assuming Vilardi has instant success at centre, despite primarily playing right wing for Los Angeles. We’re pencilling Scheifele and Hellebuyck into the lineup to show what Winnipeg will be missing if and when they’re traded in due time. Wheeler is omitted because we expect him to be traded at the draft if possible or bought out by Friday’s deadline if not.

From a certain lens, it’s a shock that the Jets aren’t pursuing a flat-out rebuild. They won’t be able to replace Hellebuyck with a goaltender of his calibre and the roster, as constructed, seems more like a bubble team than one that could surpass this season’s first-round exit. Vilardi and Cole Perfetti are exciting young players and the hope is that Brad Lambert, Chaz Lucius and Rutger McGroarty will help out in the years to come. But there’s no Kyle Connor or Nikolaj Ehlers in this next-wave group of forwards, and Connor’s contract has three years left in it and Ehlers’ contract has two.

It seems that Winnipeg is afraid of losing gate revenue by pursuing a rebuild. Another option would be that the Jets took Wheeler’s exit interview to heart: He signed with Winnipeg in 2018, he told me, because he saw the team becoming a winner. Maybe part of re-signing Connor, Ehlers, Perfetti and the next wave depends on showing the NHL that Winnipeg is a competitive market doing its best to win.

They certainly won Tuesday’s Dubois trade, in the sense that the whole league believed Winnipeg to be painted into a corner. Kevin Cheveldayoff snuck out of that corner through a side door, pulling a rabbit out of a hat — again — in the process. But now he has to do it two more times.

The Jets have signalled their intentions; they’re not going to move Hellebuyck and Scheifele for futures. If they’re trying to win, then they need another centre, whether by trade or through free agency — Vladislav Namestnikov was a great fit but may not be enough all by himself — and not one but two goalies.

Can it be done?

Boston needs a centre, particularly if Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci don’t come back. The Bruins cleared cap space this week by trading Taylor Hall and could get a lot of mileage out of Scheifele on their defensively sound team. Slot him in behind Bergeron if the great two-way centre returns and suddenly the Bruins are exciting again. It’s fun to think that Winnipeg could get a goaltender like Jeremy Swayman back to fill one of their biggest needs.

New Jersey could use an elite goaltender, particularly if Hellebuyck is willing to reduce his contract ask so as to take over the crease for an instant Cup contender. The Devils moved MacKenzie Blackwood to San Jose on Tuesday; it’s fun to think of Vitek Vanecek or Akira Schmid as a potential return for Hellebuyck.

Those are just two examples: The market for Hellebuyck and Scheifele should be more robust than the two-team market set by Dubois.

There is also that matter of a logjam on defence, highlighted by eight viable options in the chart above — and that’s before considering Declan Chisholm, who will lose his waivers exemption next season. Winnipeg won’t want another Johnathan Kovacevic situation, giving away another homegrown defenceman for free on waivers, and it seems reasonable that the Jets have work to do on the blue line, too.

If Cheveldayoff hadn’t done so well in getting Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari and a second-round pick back for Dubois, the sheer idea of trying to push for the playoffs would seem absurd. His work isn’t remotely done, however — perhaps evidenced most strongly by the fact he didn’t even do a post-trade news conference in Nashville. In the meantime, I’m sure Jets fans are far happier with his actions than they are frustrated by his lack of words. It’s unfortunate that he’s so well practiced at trading from a disadvantage; the good news seems to be that he’s awfully darned good at it.

(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)