Jets mailbag: Could JJ Peterka be a viable replacement for Nikolaj Ehlers?

Let’s end off the season with a mailbag, shall we? 

We asked you to submit your Winnipeg Jets-related questions to us on X, and now we’re here to answer them. 

Without further ado, let’s get right into it. 

Is Toews serious about returning, and would he even be a viable 3C or 4C in the league still? Obviously his leadership and vet presence is valuable but still need to be able to compete. — @NittanyGooner

Forget a serviceable third or fourth-line centre, several people online have been pencilling Jonathan Toews in as a potential second-line centre. But let’s pump the brakes on the 2C discourse. Frankly, even the notion that he’ll be an upgrade in the bottom-six isn’t guaranteed. 

Let’s keep some things in perspective: Toews – a sure-to-be first ballot Hall of Famer with three Stanley Cups on his resume – hasn’t played in an NHL game since April 13, 2023. It’s also been five years since he cracked the 60-point benchmark. And he’s turning 38 in April. The odds are stacked against him being an impact player on the ice, although that doesn’t mean he can’t provide value. 

Before adding Luke Schenn at last year's deadline, the Jets didn’t have a single player that had their name engraved on the Cup. Schenn’s impact off the ice was palpable, with several Jets players applauding the veteran defenceman's experience and pedigree.

If Toews can tread water as a fourth-line centre that wins the majority of his draws – he has a career face-off win percentage of 57.3 per cent – all while providing some experience to the locker room, signing him to a one-year deal would be well worth it. 

Just don’t get your hopes up that he’ll be the Jonathan Toews you remember from the Chicago Blackhawks’ golden era.

With the entire d core signed through next season… do the Jets make any changes on the back? — @jordansburner16

It’s unlikely we'll see any changes on the blue line.

Sure, in an ideal world, the Jets would find a right-handed top-four defenceman — preferably with size — that could serve as an upgrade from Dylan DeMelo alongside Josh Morrissey. Players like that aren’t readily available in free a,gency and even if they were, Winnipeg’s not likely to sign them. Those archetypes aren’t on trade blocks either. And again, if they were, odds are Winnipeg is likely on that player's no-trade list. 

However, this question could also be interpreted another way. Will the team move one of their defencemen? It’s easy to look at things on paper and think that there are “too many” defencemen.

But here’s the reality: you can never have too much depth. The Jets defence is one top-four injury away from dissolving, which makes the utility of having a Colin Miller, as an example, valuable. Even if he’s not a lineup regular. 

That said, if Elias Salomonsson, who is knocking on the door for a roster spot, wins a spot in camp, the Jets will have to move somebody. Odds are, that’s Miller. 

Are the Jets tying themselves to too many long-term contracts for non-impact players (Demelo, Iafallo, Nino, Vlad)? These players did not get them over the hump this year. How likely are they to improve playoff chances in the next few years? — @gmkevin17

This answer is going to be a two-parter. 

I don’t count Vladislav Namestnikov’s two-year deal or Alex Iafallo’s three-year extension as “long-term” deals. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with either of them. 

Namestnikov may be an inadequate 2C, but as a utility piece, a $2 million AAV is very reasonable. Iafallo may play on the fourth line when Winnipeg has a healthy roster, but he’s capable of jumping into the top-six in a pinch and is an excellent penalty killer. So a $3.67 million AAV is perfectly reasonable for that, especially with the cap rising.

Now, Nino Niederreiter and Dylan DeMelo’s deals? Your point has merit. But sometimes, adding an extra year (or two) is the cost of doing business when you’re running an NHL team in Winnipeg. 

Niederreiter, approaching the second season of a three-year deal ($4 million AAV), is a streaky scorer who has become relatively inconsistent, even when he’s with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton. That said, he’s flirted with the 20-goal mark in each of the last two seasons. 

The DeMelo deal could age badly. We saw signs of regression from the 32-year-old — signed for another three years ($4.9 million) — through the first year of his deal. A four-year pact was rich to begin with, and I think, similar to the way the Jets valued Niederreiter on that "identity line," they overvalued DeMelo due to how he fared alongside Morrissey. 

If/when Nik Ehlers walks, how viable is JJ Peterka as a replacement for the Jets to acquire? — @NikLynam

This one is spicy. 

JJ Peterka would be such an awesome fit for this team. The speedy 23-year-old is a threat to score every time he touches the puck — he came within spitting distance of 30 goals in consecutive years — and he’s got a good motor. He’d provide some ‘pop’ to a second line that’ll look grim if Ehlers leaves.

Assuming Buffalo moves on from him before July 1 — when the pending RFA can sign an offer sheet — there’s going to be several suitors offering high draft picks and or blue-chip prospects for his services. Winnipeg doesn’t have a lot of ammo to pull off a deal. 

Even if they were willing to deal, say, Brayden Yager or Brad Lambert, who are centres and not a winger like Peterka, you can bet there’ll be plenty of interested teams with better prospects to offer.