Jets trade deadline preview: Starting to plan for next season

The Winnipeg Jets aren't used to this.

A consistent regular-season team for nearly a decade, the Jets have made the playoffs in the past seven of eight years and won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time just last season. They're usually looking to upgrade their roster in March, but in 2026, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff should be seeking more forward-thinking moves.

Yes, the Jets are sellers for the first time in years, 10 points out of the wild card with a 5.6 per cent chance of making the playoffs, according to MoneyPuck.com.

But unlike the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks or Calgary Flames — teams in the market for wide-ranging changes to the roster — the Jets figure to be a seller on a smaller scale. Missing the playoffs won't bring an end to this core or close a window of competitiveness. Cheveldayoff will spend the coming off-season putting Winnipeg in position to be a challenger again next season.

This week, the Jets will be managing contracts and building draft equity. There are 10 pending UFAs on the roster, and while not every one of them will be traded by Friday, the team could look much different by week's end if a few of them are.

One of those UFAs, Jonathan Toews, told The Athletic he wouldn't consider waiving his no-movement clause, so we expect the hometown player will still be around after Friday. Goalie Eric Comrie is another who will likely still be here and may still be in the plans for a new contract. Gustav Nyquist has not scored a goal all season and may not have a market.

But anyone on an expiring contract that Winnipeg can trade, they should.

With fewer costly injuries, a bounce-back season from Connor Hellebuyck, and better late-game luck, it's easy to envision how the Jets could return to the fray next season. But any draft capital — early or late-round picks — or young players they can pick up now can be used later to either beef up a depleted prospect pool, or to be flipped again for NHL players in the months ahead.

Just as an eight-game homestand begins, the Jets have to face facts and think about next season. The time to sell has come, but how deep will the cuts go?

Projected deadline-day cap space: $13.918 million
Contracts: 45/50
Retention slots open: 3/3
Draft picks (via PuckPedia):

Needs

In the big picture, the Jets have to improve their second line and give the Mark Scheifele-Gabe Vilardi-Kyle Connor trio more support. Vilardi, at 52 points, is 30 points clear of Winnipeg's fourth-highest scoring forward. Some improvement might be found in Cole Perfetti, who missed the start of the season with an injury and will see a decline in season-over-season production for the first time in his career. And Adam Lowry may also come back stronger in 2026-27 after undergoing hip surgery last summer.

But the next few months will have to focus on finding more productive players for this line. That may come via the draft, where Winnipeg is lining up to have an early selection. There are no prospects already in the system making a strong case for a promotion to Line 2, though, so the team will have to look elsewhere.

Where this trade deadline comes in is that if Winnipeg can compile draft assets, some of those picks can later be used to acquire a player or two. The Jets have their own first-rounder, but don't have any second-rounders for the next two years, and don't hold multiple picks in any round. This week presents a chance to stockpile there and perhaps use the capital to invest in next year's team.

Assets to trade

Logan Stanley: There has been a legitimate step forward in Stanley's game this season, scoring nine times after entering it with just five career goals. When the team's been down a man or two with injury, Stanley has stepped into bigger minutes, but he has great value on the third pair. Stanley's growth may be appealing for the Jets to keep around, and an extension could be how this gets resolved. But his AAV will take a healthy jump from the current $1.25 million and could climb high enough to become expensive for a depth player. The best option would seem to be trading this player while his value is on an upswing and hoping to get an early draft pick in return.

Luke Schenn: Making $2.75 million against the cap, the Jets should retain up to 50 per cent of that to maximize whatever they can get back for Schenn. Winnipeg acquired Schenn at last year's deadline for second- and fourth-round picks as they looked to fill out their defensive depth, but it's hard to see them pulling the same value back for him now. Schenn is a third-pair option for a playoff team at best, or a veteran No. 7-8 at worst and the Jets just need assets.

Gustav Nyquist: If there is any team that sees Nyquist as a potential scoring depth piece, the Jets need to move him out. The original hope was that Nyquist could help form a second scoring line, but through 38 games, he has zero goals and nine assists. Nyquist was traded at the 2019, 2023 and 2025 trade deadlines, but has only ever scored one playoff goal for a team he joined during a season.

Brad Lambert: Asked for a trade earlier this season, but Lambert has just 13 points in 34 AHL games and is now in his second straight season of offensive decline. Just 22 years old, Winnipeg's first-round pick in 2022 still has upside but has only seen 10 games of NHL action in the past three years. The Jets might be selling low if they move him now, and they are under no pressure to do so, but he does represent a different asset than what Winnipeg will generally have available.

Jonathan Toews: As mentioned earlier, Toews has given no indication he'd waive to go to another team, but if Winnipeg gets a good offer for him, they should be asking him about it. The pedigree and leadership with this player are well-told, and those intangibles can often inflate a player's value. Is there a contender that sees him as their final piece? If there's any shot the Jets could get an early pick for Toews — and if he thinks he has another chance at the Stanley Cup — perhaps this situation changes later in the week.

Potential Targets

Winnipeg's targets are more broad than specific. Draft capital is where they'll start and what might give them what they need to find further improvement in the roster over the summer.

But since this is more of a retool on the fly than rebuilding any core aspect of the roster, the Jets will also be in the market for young players. For example, if there was a path to acquire Shane Wright from Seattle — one of the youngest players on Nick Kypreos' trade board — Winnipeg would have interest. That would be a sudden injection of NHL-ready youth the organization lacks, with Lambert, Brayden Yager, Colby Barlow and Nikita Chibrikov all struggling to produce in the AHL.

The Jets probably don't have the pieces to offer up for Wright specifically, but finding even a near-ready NHL player is another way Winnipeg could go. Last June the Washington Capitals acquired Justin Sourdif from Florida for second- and fourth-round picks after a 34-point AHL season, and now he's having a breakout NHL campaign. A find like that would go a long way for Winnipeg.

Other considerations

• Having just turned 25 years old earlier this week, defenceman Ville Heinola is nonetheless on track to be a Group 6 UFA this summer. Over six seasons with the Jets, the 20th overall pick from 2019 has played a total of just 55 games. He's only played in two NHL games this season, and even if he were to play every game remaining on Winnipeg's schedule, he'll fall short of the 80-game threshold to be an RFA. There used to be high expectations for this player, now it seems like his time here will end quietly.