Winnipeg Jets Building Roster With Eye On Playoffs

Winnipeg Jets are 67.00 to win the Stanley Cup at BetMGM Sportsbook

The Jets are 29.00 to win the Western Conference at BetMGM Sportsbook

During the NHL’s free agency period, some big names have moved to new teams.

There’s still some decent talent out there, and more business will take place as the summer plays out. 

Recently, for example, the Ottawa Senators traded F Alex DeBrincat to the Detroit Red Wings for F Dominik Kubalik, prospect Donovan Sebrango and two draft picks.

The league-wide salary cap hasn’t gone up that much over the past few years — it’s now at $83.5 million for the upcoming season — and that has forced players to take shorter-term deals. General managers are having to get creative in how they shape their rosters in challenging for the Stanley Cup.

Question Remain At Goaltending

There’s still a lot of uncertainty in Winnipeg after the initial free agency period.

The Jets have already done a lot of off-season heavy lifting – trading away C Pierre-Luc Dubois to the L.A. Kings, with forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari coming back to the Jets, then buying out F Blake Wheeler, who went on to sign with the New York Rangers on a one-year deal.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is a huge question mark. The 30-year goalie is coming off a good season (2.49 GAA, .920 save percentage, four shutouts) and wants to win now.

There have been a lot of trade rumours around the goalie. So a roster teardown wouldn’t make sense to Hellebuyck, who is entering the last year of his contract, set to make $6.1 million.

If anything, the Jets should be stronger defensively up front with the moves they made. Iafallo for one is a good penalty killer. That would mean keeping Hellebuyck and staying competitive during the upcoming season. Remember, this was a playoff team last season.

Jets Betting Odds

Currently, bettors have options when it comes to futures betting. BetMGM has the Winnipeg at 67.00 to win the Stanley Cup, and 29.00 to win the Western Conference.

At the moment, PointsBet Canada has the Jets at 51.00. Elsewhere, NorthStar Bets has the Jets at 61.00 to win the Cup and 31.00 to win the conference.

Meanwhile, it is unclear what Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff plans to do with C Mark Scheifele entering the last year of his deal, at $6.125 million. 

Unless we’re wrong, however, the Jets have their core of Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and the just-acquired Iafallo (14 goals in 59 games with the Kings last season, but was a +14) up front. 

The team also has one of the NHL’s top goalies back-stopping the entire operation, and they’re looking to do better than just sneak into the playoffs again.