Your 2018 JetsNation Trade Deadline Live Blog
6 years ago
This is it! We’re at our first Trade Deadline where the Winnipeg Jets are likely true buyers. A team that is not trying to sneak into a playoff spot like they did back in 2013, but a bonafide contender for a long playoff run that could use a little extra help in terms of a depth forward or depth defenseman.
Orrrrrrr… Kevin Chveldayoff and the Jets may do nothing at all and just stick with the roster and players that have gotten them this far. That would be ok as well.
Wouldn’t it?
Anyway, today we finally get the answers to some of the pressing questions we’ve had the last few weeks. Will the Jets add anyone to the lineup? Will they trade Nic Petan or Michael Hutchinson and give them fresh starts in new towns? Will we question the sanity that some of us have by booking this day off from work and still getting up so early in the morning, only for nothing to happen until noon?
This here is your Live Blog that will hopefully answer those and many more questions. Starting at 6:30 AM CST and every half-hour(ish) afterwards, we’ll keep you updated (that refresh button of yours will get a work out) with the drama and goings on of this day, share some of the best tweets from Jets and Hockey Twitter and give thoughts on moves made by the Jets and any of the teams in the West that the Jets may run into come April.
6:30 AM CST – It’ll be better this year.. right?
The last couple of Deadline Days have been Deadline Duds, but it’s felt a little bit different this season hasn’t it? We’ve already had our Rick Nash trade, the Leafs have made a couple of deals. We expect the Oilers to move some guys, St. Louis suddenly is being talked about as needing to make some moves.
And then there is Erik Karlsson. He’s apparently drawing some interest.
But who cares about him? This is a Winnipeg Jets blog right? I mentioned above I’d share tweets that caught our/my eye and here’s the first one from about 24 hours ago…
This before the Jets make a move to shore things up with the lineup. Granted this is just numbers and simulations and probabilities and stats and this in the end doesn’t mean anything, but… it means *something* doesn’t it?
How strange has this past month been for us really? Maybe we all expected at some point that the Jets would be at this level and stage where we talk about them as contenders and buyers at the deadline, but it still feels strange to actually see it all in action right?
It’s strange to see the Jets at this point in the season with the biggest piece of that 31 piece pie.
It’s friggin awesome to see the Jets at this point in the season with the biggest piece of that 31 piece pie.
7:00 AM CST – Let’s do trades!
The TSN Tradecentre show hasn’t even started and I am already seeing James Duthie refer to the Toronto Maple Leafs as “the best team in the NHL in the past month” and are extolling the virtues of Tomas Plekanec as if he’s a key piece for a long playoff run.
Good grief, my coffee isn’t strong enough to be able to handle such a take this early in the day. Heaven help us all if they get a top six forward.
7:33 AM CST – Ian Cole Baybay?
Meanwhile Winnipeg getting mentions early..
Hmmmm… Good third pairing / depth option for the Jets? Was asked on Twitter if he’d be at least a better option than Ben Chiarot…
I remain unconvinced. Chevy could do better than Ian Cole… Can’t he?
8:03 AM CST – Twitter Deadline Deals
Cassie with a nice reminder that Twitter is the best and also the worst on days like today…
No other league has benefited more from Twitter than the NHL has with their Deadline Day. As someone who loves his baseball and is an avid basketball fan, Hockey Twitter always goes next level on Deadline Day and most of it’s pretty good and thank goodness because these first few hours are always slow as hell.
Speaking of Twitter…
8:37 AM CST – Hurry up and wait
I just spent the last hour working on an Ian Cole photoshop. So now the Jets have to trade for him.
And Sam Reinhart (sorry Cassie, but the Overwatch fan in me needs this) and Patrick Maroon. I’ve done Jets themed photoshops for all of them, so the Jets have to trade for all of them.
I’m on my third cup of coffee. That can’t be good for anyone considering I am doing the social media thing too.
9:05 AM CST – We have a trade to announce…
BUT WAIT, WE HAVE A DEAL!
So much for the Ian Cole photoshop I JUST did.
That’s a strong deal for the Senators. They’ve turned Derick Brassard and Vincent Dunn into Filip Gustavsson, Nick Moutrey, a first rounder in 2018 and a pair of third rounders in 2019 and 2020?
That’s a pretty decent haul.
Meanwhile in Winnipeg…
This has been the best Trade Deadline ever!
9:52 AM CST – I don’t wanna know Jack
While a bunch of Jets fans were hoping to avoid Ian Cole, a new *ahem* threat emerged..
I’m sure Jack Johnson is a fine guy and his story with money and parents has been well documented, but he’s on the downside of his career and has been a bit of an anchor for the Jackets this season and suddenly Cole doesn’t seem so bad in comparison..
Although later tweets suggest the Ducks may be in on him… That’s a great fit in so many ways when you think about it.
Otherwise, aside from that one deal it’s been a quiet first few hours which has led the TV networks to do some time killing.
10:30 AM CST – No one else is making moves either
Jets fans are feeling a bit antsy as they wait (hope?) for a deal, but right now as it stands, none of the other Central division teams have made any big moves to really help their club.
I said *big moves*
And really, is there any one out there – Erik Karlsson sit down for a moment please – that would really move the needle for any of the rivals looking to chase down the Jets?
The biggest moves that have been made in the West seem to have been deals with the thought of keeping players away from Winnipeg. Let that sink in for a moment.
11:15 AM CST – Never waiver
Part of me wondered if the Jets would have had some interest in Oduya as a LH depth defenseman given his past history with the club, but it was not to be.
Meanwhile the Predators make another move on the day..
The Preds get the forward depth that they’ve needed, but it comes at a bit of a cost. Victor Edjsell projects as a strong two way forward and could be a bit better than Hartman.
And Jets fans get more nervous as we get closer to that deadline.
11:22 AM CST – STASTNY!!
We’ll have so much more about this over the next day.
But WE ARE ALL IN!
11:44 AM CST – We are happy!
Some Twitter reactions shall we?
Oh and… We might not be done here…
You guys, I am having A LOT of fun on this Deadline Day!!
12:28 PM CST – Locker room reactions
12:44 PM CST – Calm before the final storm?
And reaction from the newest Winnipeg Jet…
Moving on from Paul (briefly maybe) this overall has been a very slow Trade Deadline as we’ve only had four deals today. Oilers haven’t done anything. Vegas hasn’t added anyone. (No, Ryan Reaves barely counts as an “add” for anyone)
The Preds as we’ve noted have added to their forward depth but they needed to do that more so than the Jets did.
Little over an hour left in the deadline. It’s been quiet so far, it could get real crazy in a hurry.
1:15 PM CST – Everyone talking Jets
Sportsnet has spent the last 20 minutes interviewing Paul Stastny and talking about how stacked the Jets are.
I said at the start of this how surreal this season has kind of been, today has upped that surreal-ness to a whole new level.
We may not see him until Friday though…
The Blues played in Nashville last night, in Minny tomorrow. It would be a crazy series of flights to make, but he could do it… We’re about to find out how good flight connections are and how well Stastny handles hours upon hours of air travel.
Meanwhile in former Jets news…
Evander should be a strong fit for the Sharks and suddenly they may make some noise in the Pacific division.
2:00 PM CST – Pencils down!
There’s the horn, we’re now at the deadline. Of course we’ll probably hear of an extra deal or two that just made it on under the wire.
But if Stastny is the only addition the Jets have made, that’s a heck of an addition. We’ll have more on his addition and where he will fit in this lineup going forward.
Otherwise this was a slow deadline and one that the Jets likely get some of the highest grades on.
2:25 PM CST – Joe Morrow is a Winnipeg Jet
So.. This is a trade.
It’s likely more a case of allowing the Jets to send Poolman down to the AHL, let him dominate there and still have a warm body in the press box in Joe Morrow.
Morrow at one time was a prize prospect for the Dallas Stars and involved in the Tyler Seguin trade.
That was a long time ago.
At this point, we can’t even consider him an upgrade over Chiarot of all players…
3:00 PM CST – Final thoughts…
Kevin Cheveldayoff is about to speak to the media shortly. We’ll have his words on our Twitter feed and later on when we go over the deals of Stastny and Morrow.
Overall a surprising Deadline Day for how light it was, but as a Jets fan you have to feel elated about the chances this team has the rest of this year.
The East looks like it could be a dog fight between the Penguins, Lightning and Bruins with the Leafs somewhere in the mix as well.
Out in the Central, it’s the Jets and the Nashville Predators. The Wild, Stars and Blues either didn’t do anything or – in the case of St. Louis – downgraded.
Vegas got a little better adding Thomas Tatar (although with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick given up, they really overpaid) and San Jose helped their cause with Evander.
Trades now done. Teams are loaded up. Bring on the stretch run to the playoffs!
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