#JNAirMail: Why Do You Guys Want To Trade Laine?!

Yes the Jets are struggling and it’s got us all a bit flustered, but my goodness why do you all want to trade Patrik Laine?

I’ll have more on why it’s such a bad idea to trade Laine later this week, but for now this week’s AirMail sees a few of asking if it’s a thing we should do and the short answer is NO. We also get a question about what kind of contract he should get.

JetsNation AirMail is where we ask for your questions, you either @ them to us on Twitter, send them to us on Facebook or even old school electronic mail them to us and then we answer them here!

But please, stop asking us if we’d trade Laine.

Art: Not at all nuts for wanting to trade for Mark Stone and wanting him to keep him long term, that would actually be the most preferable outcome from this upcoming trade deadline. You are though nuts for wanting to let Laine go. If you need to send a young talent over to Ottawa that’s going to command a decent sized contract, I think it’s Kyle Connor.

Eric M: Bringing in Stone would be fantastic. Letting Laine walk sends all the wrong messages about Winnipeg Jets culture and management, let alone being an utterly ridiculous idea.

Zee: Bringing Stone in is an okay move, it’s going to cost us but that’s to be expected while making deals this time of year. As for letting Laine walk, yes absolutely that’s nuts! Scorers go through droughts, even Ovechkin. Just let the kid develop his game a bit (which is what he’s doing), the goals will come in time. He isn’t a bust that we need to sell to get value while we still can.

Art: I still think if the Jets can sign Laine long term at a reasonable rate, you do it. I really wouldn’t be opposed to him getting a Mark Scheifele type deal where the team signs him for seven or eight years at a rate that might be a bit inflated now but could look like a steal in a few years. I get that the chances of that happening are slim to none, but Chevy has pulled it off before…

Eric M: Sign him at a reasonable rate. His agent will be looking for benefits for Patty while Mark Chipman and the front office will be looking to pay a reasonable number. Bridge, first post-ELC big contract, I don’t care. Sign him, he wants to be here and his presence is net positive.

Zee: If you’re Laine, absolutely you sign a bridge deal and buy yourself some extra time to prove yourself for a large contract. If you’re the Jets org you do whatever you can to sign him this year and sign him low, a perfect example of this is Nathan MacKinnon who is a steal for a player of his caliber.

Art: I think for sure Comrie won’t want to spend another year in the AHL without getting a serious look for a spot in the NHL (even if it is as a backup for a season or two) but it really depends how the Jets feel about Laurent Brossoit and just what Brossoit wants to do after this season. Will he want to stay in Winnipeg and be Hellebuyck’s backup or will he want to test his luck with another NHL team that could have a starting spot open? Then you factor Mikhail Berdin who I feel is working his way past Comrie on the Jets organizational depth chart… This is a long winded way of saying that I think Comrie is highly tradable for the Jets right now and may not even last the rest of this season with the team.

Eric M: Comrie could hang, if Winnipeg is where he wants to be, or he could move/be moved as part of Moose/Jets retooling for post season play. I’m not well versed in AHL trades or anything, but I think he could move in the next couple of weeks if it sets up the Jets to acquire some pieces for the spring.

Zee: Career AHL goalie. He’s doing well enough in the AHL but I don’t see him transitioning well to the NHL. He would definitely be a piece worthy of trading out in the off season, but I really don’t see him as being a future Jet at this point.

Art: That’s a mighty big if with the Jets in the cap situation they are in currently. And furthermore.. STOP TRYING TO TRADE LAINE! Seriously..

Eric M: Laine is a hard no move for me. His current slump is unfortunate, but his overall game has taken great strides since it began. He’s young, and he’ll be a better player on the other side. This trade wouldn’t work for the signing side, with the cap crunch coming, and Laine is, as noted, likely not a piece that should be on the table.

Zee: You don’t move Laine, that’s all I gotta say.