WWYDW: Would the Jets ever trade Tyler Myers in favor of Trouba?

For this weeks WWYDW, we discuss one of the biggest storylines for the Winnipeg Jets at the moment, Jacob Trouba’s holdout. A huge element of this contract stalemate is Trouba’s desire to play solely as a right handed defenseman as opposed to playing top pairing minutes on his left side. Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers stand in Trouba’s way as they are the Jets top defenders and they both are right shot defenseman. Byfuglien isn’t going to be moved in favour of Trouba, but could Myers be moved? 

Could the Jets trade Myers to satisfy their disgruntled defenseman? Would the Jets even want to make a move like that?  

Would a Myers trade even satisfy Trouba? 

Trading Myers to satisfy Trouba seems like a no-brainer to an outsider. But a few things need to be stated before thinking that the Jets should go to all ends to please Trouba.

First, let’s not kid ourselves here, there must be something more than Trouba’s desire to play on his correct handiness that is preventing him from signing in Winnipeg. I simply don’t believe that this player is holding out solely for that one minimal reason. While Trouba may end up becoming a better player than Myers in the long-term, he may not achieve that in Winnipeg anyways. 

It’s late October and this holdout is continuing in to November, Trouba is genuinely not happy with his situation. Trouba is digging his feet in to the sand and he’s standing pat with his trade request. If Trouba just signs a deal at the 11th hour so he doesn’t hold out the entire year, what do you think his mindset is? Trouba likely wouldn’t be very happy and in virtue of that, it could greatly affect his play. 

So what? 

Well, if a player isn’t happy where they are playing and has just had a lengthy holdout, you likely wont get their 100% effort. The morale of a player is a key component in their performance, that needs to be taken in to account. Trouba may not be able to walk back in to that dressing room in Winnipeg, it just may be best for the Jets to trade him. 

How bad would that look for the Jets if they traded Myers, who has showed up to work everyday, so they could satisfy Trouba who is whining about the side of the ice he is playing on. 

To answer the question of would the Jets ever trade Myers to get Trouba back in the lineup, the answer is no. 

The Jets aren’t going to be bullied in to satisfying Trouba’s ridiculous needs and they especially aren’t going to give away Tyler Myers, someone they seem to value very highly. 

Myers, 26, is only four-years older than Trouba, it’s not like he’s some old veteran at the back-end of his career. Myers has shown to be more consistent than Trouba over the last two seasons and losing him might hurt the Jets more than getting Trouba back would help them. Another factor in this, Myers likely couldn’t fetch as much as Trouba could on the trade market. 

Even if the Jets traded Myers, that likely wouldn’t entice Trouba to come back. The idea of Trouba being with the Jets for the long-term has sailed. Maybe he signs a bridge contract with the Jets, but he’s not going to be with the Jets for the next 5-6 years of his career. 

With the way the Trouba situation has unfolded and with the way things are now, I wouldn’t trade Tyler Myers to get Jacob Trouba back in the lineup. But if you were to take all intangibles out and look from a hockey point of view and say who would you rather have  for the next 10 years, Jacob Trouba or Tyler Myers, I’d take Jacob Trouba. 

What would you do? Would you trade Tyler Myers in favour of Jacob Trouba? Let us know on twitter @NHLJetsNation