Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets won’t go away, at least not yet. A 4-3 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday, their fourth in a row, kept the Jets’ playoff hopes very much alive.

Captain Andrew Ladd, who has been dominant all season, got things started early on when he beat Ben Bishop five-hole with a weak wrist shot.

The Lightning evened the score less than 10 minutes later, when Martin St. Louis notched his 12th goal of the season off a turnover by Ron Hainsey. Suspect play deep in the defensive zone has cost the Jets on numerous occasions this season, and this play was no different.

The Jets bounced back, however, with two goals in the second period.

Ladd outworked Victor Hedman along the boards and was able to feed Blake Wheeler, who displayed great patience before beating Bishop high. Zach Bogosian also drew an assist on the play.

Winnipeg appeared to score again a few minutes later, but it was waved off because of goaltender interference.

However, Ladd added his second of the game on the power play just before the end of the period. It was a play that once again involved Wheeler and Bogosian.

Winnipeg held a 3-1 lead after two periods, in what was a fast-paced game that saw good scoring chances at both ends. In the third, the Lightning seemed to have an edge, and the Jets were unable to hang on, giving up back-to-back goals to Pierre-Cedric Labrie and Steven Stamkos.

Overtime solved nothing, although both teams had good scoring opportunities.

Ondrej Pavelec came up big in the shootout, stopping two attempts. Mike Santorelli scored on the Jets’ second shot, and then Ladd came through yet again, to clinch the win.

Ladd has now registered a point in five consecutive games, scoring four goals and five assists in that span. Meanwhile, Pavelec continues to get the job done in the crease. He made 24 saves in what was his 39th game of the season.

 

Playoff Race        

The win gave the Jets 46 points on the season, the same as the Rangers, who have a game in hand. They're three points back of the New York Islanders, who are on fire of late and four points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres, who have slowly risen from the basement.

As for the Southeast Division title, that’s a long shot.

The Washington Capitals are the hottest team in the league right now and continue to beat up on their division rivals. With Alex Ovechkin returning to form (18 goals and eight assists in his last 16 games), expect Washington to continue to roll.

The Jets have five games remaining, three of which are at home against the Hurricanes, Islanders and Canadiens. Their two final road games are against the Sabres and Capitals.

Considering how easy the Rangers schedule is, with games against the Panthers, Hurricanes and Devils, the Jets will likely need at least seven or eight points out of a possible 10 in order to make the playoffs. 

The Winnipeg Jets remain in playoff contention with just six games left in the regular season, but there’s still a lot of work to be done if they want to get in.

The Jets are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. They sit four points back of the Washington Capitals for the Southeast Division lead, and two points back of the New York Rangers for the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Jets go into their final six games on a three-game winning streak, with all three of those wins being on home ice. They remain home for their next three games before going on the road for two. Their final game of the regular season will be on home ice at the MTS Center.

The Jets final six games look like this: vs. Tampa Bay, vs. Carolina, vs. New York Islanders, at Buffalo, at Washington, vs. Montreal. As far as difficulty goes, it’s split right down the middle, as three of the six teams are ahead of the Jets in the standings, while the other three trail them.

Obviously, if the Jets wish to make the playoffs, they must win their own games first. They can’t afford to drop any games to teams like the Lightning or the Hurricanes. At this point in time, it would be devastating and probably end their season.

With that being said, they’re going to need some help from other teams, as well.

Every win is important, but Winnipeg's two most important games during this stretch are the ones against the Islanders and Capitals. Both teams are ahead of the Jets in the standings, but not by much. Still, overlooking any game is a mistake. We’ve seen the Jets get dominated by Tampa, and even Carolina, this season.

Winnipeg does not control its own destiny. That means that if the Jets win out their final six games, they still won't have a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. Winning out is obviously the best bet, but other teams can win out, as well.

The best the Jets can do now is just to keep winning games and scoreboard-watch other teams later. If you can’t win your own games first, there is no point in scoreboard-watching to see how others fare.

Also, the Jets cannot take either of these next two games lightly.

It’s extremely important for the Jets to take care of business and get these next two wins over Tampa and Carolina. It would set up almost perfectly for a playoff-like showdown against the Islanders on Saturday. Any type of letdown-game loss would diminish all energy and hope for the playoffs.

According to Sports Club Stats, the Jets have a 32.8 percent chance of making the playoffs. Don't let that number get your hopes down. As long as the Jets keep winning, they'll set themselves up for the best opportunity.

With six games left and 44 points on the season, I’d say, at best, the Jets can only afford to drop one more game. A 5-1 record would give them 54 points, which should be enough to get in. If the Jets finish 4-2, they’d be pushing it, but may still get in. If they finish 3-3 or worse, it’s golf time.

Standout University of Michigan defenseman and top-tier Winnipeg Jets prospect Jacob Trouba has decided to turn pro this season. The news was first reported on Twitter last Tuesday by NHL.com writer EJ Hradek.

It’s been a week since Trouba’s decision to turn pro and he hasn’t played a game with the Jets… yet.

Trouba’s collegiate career came to an end on March 24 when he played in what will now be recognized as his final game as a Wolverine. Michigan made it to the CCHA Championship game where they eventually lost to Notre Dame by the score of 3-1.

Trouba played in 37 games with Michigan this year and tallied 12 goals to go with 29 points. He was tremendous defensively for them the entire year as well.

Trouba was the ninth overall pick of the Jets in the 2012 draft. He was a highly touted defenseman to begin with, but he broke on to the scene as one of the top prospects in all of hockey after the 2013 World Junior Championships. Trouba won the award for best defenseman in the tournament.

Trouba fits the style of Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber, playing the game similar to him both offensively and defensively. Trouba plays stout positional defense, but he isn’t afraid to throw the body around. He also has that rocket of a shot which scores him a lot of goals.

He is the complete package.

At 19 years of age, Trouba is more than ready to take on NHL action, but is now the right time?

Trouba hasn’t played a game with the Jets since turning pro. The Jets have seven games left in the regular season with a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Whether Trouba can play in the NHL right now or not isn't what's holding him back from playing NHL hockey. It's another situation.

If Trouba plays more than five games with the Jets this season, the Jets would burn one year off of his entry-level contract.

It’s probably not a smart idea to let Trouba play more than five games. The ELC is valuable because of cap hits and money purposes. It would be a complete waste of time to burn an entire year when there are only seven games left to begin with.

However, it’s not out of the question whether Trouba will play this season or not. He can, obviously, play five games without any consequences to his contract.

In Tuesday night’s win over the Buffalo Sabres, the Jets suffered an injury to one of their top players, defenseman Tobias Enstrom. The severity of the injury is unknown at this point, but anything more than a few games would be a huge blow. Does a spot open up for Trouba?

The Jets' management can think either one of two things: Trouba helps the playoff push, or his inexperience hurts it. Well, there is that third thing, which is probably the real reason Trouba has yet to play and may not at all this season.

The management is fully aware of how important the full three years of the ELC is. Whether Trouba helps a playoff push or not, it’s the “five game rule” that is most important and the debate currently surrounding Trouba.

We all want to see Trouba in a Jets uniform, and there’s no doubt about Trouba being a full-time Jet next season. Whether he sees any action at all this season is still up in the air, but consider it highly unlikely.

In the midst of a five-game losing streak, there may be more serious problems brewing for the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets have been playing mediocre hockey in the past five games. After leading the Southeast Division for a good two weeks, the Jets have finally fallen out of a playoff spot. The red-hot Washington Capitals overtook the Jets for first place and suddenly things are looking bleak.

The Jets have nine games left on their schedule, seven of those which will be played on home ice. Unless the Jets finish unexpectedly strong, they could end up with a top-five draft pick come June. Things aren’t looking good in Winnipeg.

Amongst the mediocre play, another situation is brewing involving defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.

In the past 15-20 games, Byfuglien has been a complete non-factor. His offensive presence has disappeared and his defensive game has never been worse. This isn’t just about his woeful play; it’s more about the lack of effort and laziness that he displays almost every shift.

Byfuglien was playing defense until coach Claude Noel decided to try and change it up a bit. On Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, Byfuglien started the game as a right winger on the Jets’ top line. Byfuglien has had experience as a forward in the past, but the experiment at forward as a Jet was short lived.

At the start of the third period, Byfuglien was sent back to his normal defensive role. I guess you could say that was also short lived. The Canadiens scored their fourth goal of the game as Byfuglien failed to tie up his man. As a result, he was benched.

This wasn’t the first time Byfuglien played with no effort or looked like he could completely care less about hockey. Surprisingly, it took about four weeks before Noel decided to act on it.

In the postgame presser, Noel didn’t shy away from the topic.

“This isn’t the first time that they have put a puck at the net and he is standing beside the guy without taking stick, so after awhile you just can’t continue down that road. You have to make changes.”  (sportsillustrated.com)

Now, I’ve disagreed with Noel more times than not in the past, but I back him all the way on this one. Noel is blunt during his postgame conference as he calls out Byfuglien. He is absolutely right for doing so. Byfuglien has to be held accountable for his insulting play which has gone on for long enough.

Byfuglien wears an ‘A’ on his jersey, but he hasn’t shown any leadership at all. It’s time for him to smarten up and play with passion or this will be an ongoing problem all the way into the offseason.

The Jets will be in action next on Saturday as they host the Philadelphia Flyers. It’ll be interesting to see how Byfuglien responds to being called out. Will he respond with passion, energy, effort and the sense that he actually cares, or will he just ignore the coach’s message?

Either way, it’s going to be an interesting storyline to follow.

If Byfuglien plays well down the stretch and shows the fans, as well as the coach, he cares, it’ll send a positive vibe to Noel and the staff. If it’s the latter and Byfuglien ignores the message, a lot of questions will arise.

Not only will Byfuglien be questioned, but I’m sure Noel will be looked at as well. I don’t want to get ahead of the game, but if Byfuglien is unhappy, we have a problem. Who else is unhappy? Alex Burmistrov? Anyone else not yet named? Does Noel have to take some heat as well?

It’s a road I’m not going to go down yet, but the storyline is one we all have to keep an eye on as the season winds down.

The Winnipeg Jets stayed quiet on NHL trade deadline day, opting not to make a deal. They did, however, claim forward Mike Santorelli off waivers, according to TSN.ca. 

Picking up Santorelli may have something to do with the fact that Nik Antropov will be out for two weeks because of an injury sustained Tuesday against the New York Islanders (per TSN.ca). Antropov left in the third period and did not return due to what is now being called a lower-body injury. 

The Jets went on to lose their fourth consecutive game, 5-2, to the Islanders. 

Antropov, who is in the final year of a four-year, $16.25 million contract, has not been at his best this season. The 33-year-old has just five goals and 11 assists in 38 games and is winning a mere 42.2 percent of his draws. 

Unfortunately, Santorelli has had his fair share of struggles this season in Florida, registering just two goals and one assist in 24 games. However, perhaps a drastic change of scenery will help provide a boost for the 27-year-old Vancouver native.

Santorelli was selected in the sixth round, 178th overall, in the 2004 NHL entry draft by the Nashville Predators. He spent most of his time with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, playing just 32 games with the Predators before being traded to the Panthers in 2010. 

Santorelli does offer good speed and has shown he can contribute on offense, having recorded 20 goals and 21 assists in the 2010-11 season. At the very least, Santorelli should help Winnipeg win more faceoffs while playing on the third or fourth line. 

According to Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press, Santorelli should make his Jets debut Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. 

The NHL trade deadline has come and gone and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff decided that the Winnipeg Jets were good enough as is. Or at least he saw nothing that intrigued him enough to pull the trigger on a deal Wednesday afternoon.

Going into Wednesday, it was speculated that the Jets could have been both buyers and sellers. As it turns out, they did neither. Many thought the Jets would make at least one move, but in the end, the organization stood pat.

The Jets are in a weird position. While it’s no secret the Jets are a rebuilding team with the future being their No. 1 priority, they’re also in prime position to make the playoffs right now. With just 10 games remaining on the season, the Jets are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference.

Can the third-placed team really just forget about the present with playoffs staring them in the face?

The Jets didn’t do anything to further their push, but they didn’t do anything that made it seem like they’re waving the white flag either. It seems like the organization is having a difficult time trying to establish an identity.

Do the Jets want to make the playoffs this season? Do they want to continue rebuilding for the future? Do they want both? Standing pat doesn’t really answer any of those questions. It just says the organization is happy with what they have and believe they’ll be playing meaningful games this postseason regardless.

We can only hope.

With the way things are going in Winnipeg, I’d have to question that, however. Clearly there is room for improvement. But if management believes the team can overcome the struggles down the stretch, then who am I to judge their decision?

There are a couple of possible scenarios that could occur as a result of standing pat at the deadline. The Jets could catch fire and finish off strong with the talent they already possess on their roster. That means that they would win their division. Or they could continue struggling, fall down the standings as fast as they climbed them and end up drafting in the top 10 again.

We all want the former, but the latter isn’t out reach just yet. And if it's going to be top 10, it might as well be lottery.

With the Jets roster as is, it’ll be a tough task for them to get back on track. They’re slumping while other teams are surging. The Jets are going to have the same lineup on Thursday night in Montreal as they had in the previous four losses. In essence, nothing has changed.

On the other hand, if the Jets miss the playoffs, standing pat instead of selling some players will come back to haunt them. Ron Hainsey, Nik Antropov, Kyle Wellwood and a few other unrestricted free agents are likely walking away in the offseason. The Jets could have sold some of these players to acquire draft picks, but instead they could lose them for nothing.

OK, with some of the negatives out of the way, what positives come from this?

For starters, the Jets didn’t lose anything significant. They’re indeed a rebuilding team and they didn’t do anything to hurt that today. But also, they didn’t lose anything that would hurt their playoff chances now. Hainsey, as well as other UFAs, remain Jets.

If the Jets are truly happy with the play of some of their UFAs, the possibility of re-signing them in the offseason isn't out of the question.

Also, if the Jets do indeed make the playoffs, they would have done so without any additional deadline help. They now have the leverage to acquire players via trade, and can do so around draft day with the high number of draft picks they own.

Would rushing an Alex Burmistrov trade been that much of a benefit right now? Certainly if the Jets want him traded, they could wait until the offseason.

All in all, I don’t necessarily agree with the Jets' decision of standing pat. There are bargains out there that would have upgraded the top six and wouldn’t have been too cost effective. You don’t have to give up the farm to get better now.

It is true that some playoff-ready teams usually overpay in desperate times. And while the Jets aren’t desperate or really "playoff ready," they probably wouldn’t have had to give up much to acquire a scoring presence.

Take the Columbus Blue Jackets for example. They improved their team tenfold and kept all of their first-round picks for this year’s draft. Did I mention they have three of them? Also, they didn’t have to give up a single noticeable prospect in any deal. Almost forgot, they acquired Marian Gaborik in the process (Yahoo! Sports).

If the Jets miss out on playoff hockey, a lot of fans are going to be bummed. The Jets have blown plenty of opportunities and the management have let some slip. If the Jets do miss the playoffs, there’s going to be a lot of questions surrounding this year’s trade deadline, especially if players walk for nothing.

Maybe we're just not ready to see playoff hockey in Winnipeg.

On a night where the Winnipeg Jets lost 5-2 to the New York Islanders, dropping their fourth straight game, it’s hard to imagine there could be any good news for Jets' fans. 

However, Winnipeg announced, via press release on its website, that the team reached an agreement on a contract with Jacob Trouba.

The 19-year-old defenseman is one of the Jets’ top prospects and has spent this season playing for the University of Michigan Wolverines. In 37 games he has 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points, to go along with 88 penalty minutes. 

Trouba was selected ninth overall in the 2012 NHL entry draft by the Jets and has the potential to be a top-four defenseman in the league for many years. 

He has great speed and agility which allows him to be dangerous offensively. At 6'2" and weighing in around 190 pounds, Trouba also plays a solid physical game.

These skills were on full display at the 2013 World Junior Championship, where Trouba won gold with Team USA and was named the tournament’s best defenseman.   

Overall Trouba is a fairly well-rounded blueliner, who should be able to adjust to the NHL when given the opportunity. Keep in mind the Jets have just 10 games remaining in the lockout-shortened season. And, if Trouba plays in six games, it will count toward a year of his contract, according to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. 

It's a standard, three-year, entry-level deal with #NHLJets for Trouba. As said elsewhere, 1st year of contract burned after 6 games played

— Ken Wiebe (@WiebeSunSports) April 3, 2013

It’s interesting to note that the signing was announced during Tuesday’s game and Dustin Byfuglien played forward in the third period. Perhaps Claude Noel was just trying to change things up in an attempt to motivate the Jets, or maybe Byfuglien will spend more time up front when Trouba arrives.   

Regardless, the Jets need to turn things around and quick. 

Jets vs. Islanders Synopsis

The Jets put forth another lackluster effort Tuesday, as the Islanders outworked them throughout the game, out-shooting them 39-25. If not for the acrobatic sprawling of Ondrej Pavelec, the Islanders would have put up six goals prior to the empty netter. 

Paul Postma, who scored both Jets goals, deserves some credit for a good game as well. He put one upstairs on Kevin Poulin to tie the game at one and actually gave the Jets a brief lead in the second, when he redirected a smooth pass from Chris Thorburn. 

Even with the lead, the Jets didn’t look much better and midway through the second period Colin McDonald tied the game for New York. 

One positive take away would be the fact that the Jets took only one penalty. However, they failed to kill it off, as Frans Nielsen scored what would be the game winner, at the end of the second period. 

On top of that, Nik Antropov left the game in the third and did not return. 

With the loss the Jets are now just two points up on the Washington Capitals for first place in the Southeast Division. 

The Winnipeg Jets are in the hunt for postseason. Not only are they in the hunt, but they are currently leading their division. With the trade deadline approaching, however, they are playing themselves right into seller status.

When reality sets in, they might have no choice but to become sellers on Wednesday.

The Southeast Division is heralded as the weakest division in the entire NHL. With the way the Jets play and have been playing as of late, they are lucky to even be in the playoff hunt. A weak division has them in first place.

It may not last much longer.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals are both gaining ground in a hurry. Both teams have games in hand on the Jets. The Hurricanes have played in three fewer games, while the Capitals have played two fewer. Both teams trail the Jets by only four points.

It might be safe to say that the division winner will be the only team to make the playoffs out of the Southeast.

Does that mean the Jets are completely out of it? Not yet. But with the way they’re playing, it may not take much longer. Then again, it seems no one wants to take advantage in the Southeast. Maybe it’s a matter of the team that bleeds out the slowest will win the division. In any case, it’s not looking good for Winnipeg.

The Jets have lost three straight games and six of their last nine. They’ve only managed to score three times during the losing streak. The Jets will be in New York to face the Islanders on Tuesday night—another hungry team jostling for a playoff spot. 

The game in New York is the last game before Wednesday’s trade deadline.

No one said it would be easy battling for the playoffs, but the Jets have had plenty of golden opportunities to which they’ve choked away. Whenever they are tasked with a meaningful game, they lose. They’ve blown opportunities against Washington twice just over a week ago, and they blew another against the Hurricanes on Saturday.

The Jets are slumping and at a time when their general manager will have to make vital decisions in the next day. With more than a few pending unrestricted free agents, the Jets may want to go ahead and start trading some away.

At one point, the Jets could have been seen as buyers. They have issues that need to be filled, but management obviously didn’t want to fill them via trade. And now that losses have piled on one another, the Jets may have no choice but to assume the role of sellers.

The Jets have played their way right into a seller's role. Tuesday night’s game could give Kevin Cheveldayoff a more complete idea as to where his club stands before Wednesday’s deadline.

Despite losing four of their last six games, the Winnipeg Jets are still in good position to make the playoffs.

The Jets lost 3-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday but are still four points clear of Carolina for the Southeast Division lead. As such, Winnipeg holds the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

However, the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils are seeded fourth through seventh and all have more points than Winnipeg. Should the Jets fall to second in the division, they would find themselves fighting for one of the last playoff spots.

With next season’s realignment set to alter how teams are seeded and move Winnipeg west, this is an opportunity for the Jets to take advantage of a weak division and secure home-ice advantage for the first round.

At this point, the two teams that appear to pose a threat are the Hurricanes and Washington Capitals. They may be four and five points back of the Jets, but the Hurricanes have three games in hand and the Capitals have two.

The Jets do have the advantage of an easy schedule down the stretch, however, which would make anything but a division title disappointing.

Of their 12 remaining games, just three are against teams that currently hold a playoff spot. Two games are against the Montreal Canadiens, while the other is against the New York Rangers, a game which will take place Monday at Madison Square Garden.

The Hurricanes, on the other hand, will play nine playoff teams in their final 15 games, including two games each against the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers.

The Capitals don’t have it much easier, with seven games against playoff teams over the course of their final 13 contests.

With that in mind, expectations are growing in Winnipeg and rightly so.

The Jets have shown great potential thus far this season, playing tight games with some of the Eastern Conference’s best teams.

Captain Andrew Ladd and goaltender Ondrej Pavelec have both had a huge impact and will need to continue to be at their best for the Jets to make the playoffs.

Ladd has led by example all season, whether it’s scoring a timely goal, laying a big hit or making a smart defensive play. Pavelec has put his early-season struggles aside, giving the Jets an opportunity to win nearly every game this month.

They key to success down the stretch will be continuing to improve on special teams and finding more consistency on offense.

If Winnipeg is going to make the playoffs, they will need their top line to continue to score and score often. But, perhaps even more importantly, they need their second and third units to step up.

Players such as Kyle Wellwood and Nik Antropov need to regain their scoring touch as the season winds down.

Of course, there is also the trade deadline, which could impact Winnipeg’s playoff chances for better or worse. However, given the number of teams still in the playoff hunt because of the shortened season, it seems unlikely that any huge deals will be made, at least in the Southeast Division.

The Jets weren’t expected to contend for the division title this season, but neither were the Florida Panthers last year.

Now, with a month remaining in the season, the Jets are poised to bring playoff hockey back to Winnipeg.

The Winnipeg Jets are currently in first place in the Southeast Division with just 14 games left in the regular season. However, it’s a race that won’t likely be decided until the final week of the season.

A trade-deadline acquisition could be all that is needed to ensure them a spot in the playoffs. Well, nothing is ensured in the NHL, but additional depth would certainly give the Jets a better chance at making the playoffs.

A trade would also solve one of their major needs.

The Jets have a lot of high-quality picks for the coming 2013 NHL entry draft. They have one first-round pick, three second-round picks and two third-round picks—a total of six draft picks in the first three rounds. That’s more than enough firepower to play around with.

The Jets also have some other assets that they could deal in a package, including prospect defenseman Paul Postma, who is already on the roster. It shouldn’t be too difficult to package a player like Postma and a draft pick or two to acquire a player for a playoff push.

I’ll also point out that I’m not one to give up on Jets top prospects Jacob Trouba or Mark Scheifele. Those two are as close to “untouchable” as it gets in my books. It would be counterintuitive to deal such talent away, and the Jets have other prospects and even some roster players that are viable assets.

Clearly, the Jets have ammo. Now the question is, who would be a viable option for the Jets to target?

It would be ideal if they targeted players that can help right now as well as a couple of years down the road.

I’ll just go ahead and name eight players that I think would make a tremendous difference down the stretch. And some would even be difference-makers a few years from now.

Jason Pominville

The addition of Jason Pominville would be an ideal move. It would give the Jets a true top-line right winger and make their top line more of a legit threat. Currently, the Jets top line consists of Evander Kane, Olli Jokinen and Antti Miettinen. Pominville would likely replace Miettinen.

Pominville is still in his prime. He brings primary scoring and plays the game in all three zones. Also, the move wouldn’t just be for this year, as Pominville would stick around at least until his contract is up after 2013-14.

Acquiring Pominville would boost the Jets' chances at making the playoffs this season, and it would also give them a quality forward for the entire 2013-14 campaign.

Kyle Okposo

Kyle Okposo is an interesting story. He is a former seventh-overall draft pick by the New York Islanders in 2006 but hasn’t quite found his game. In 304 career games, Okposo has only scored 71 times. This season, he only has three goals in 33 games.

Winnipeg loves building their team around players such as Okposo. He’s a strong power forward with goal-scoring abilities. Islanders fans have seen the flashes, but nothing that's lasted for more than a short stretch. It might just be time for a change of scenery.

Okposo is signed through 2015-16. Not only would he give the Jets a much-needed boost on the right wing right now, but there is a chance he finds his game in the ‘Peg as well.

Chris Stewart

Imagine a line with Evander Kane and Chris Stewart. That’s scary good.

Stewart would be a perfect fit in Winnipeg. He brings everything the Jets build their team around. He’s a strong and physical power forward with goal-scoring abilities.

Not only would this boost the Jets' playoff run, but it would give the Jets another piece for the future. Stewart is an RFA after this season and the Blues have a dilemma: Do they sign him or trade him? If they go with the latter, Kevin Cheveldayoff has to be all over this for the right price.

Drew Stafford

Another Sabres player that is probably on the block is forward Drew Stafford.

Stafford is an interesting one. He’s an underachiever. In the 2010-11 season, Stafford scored 31 times in 62 games. After breaking out and showing promise in the process, Stafford regressed the following year, scoring 20 times in 80 games. That’s still respectable, though.

This year, Stafford only has four goals on the season in 31 games. Maybe a change of scenery will do some good. Obviously, the potential is there with his 30-goal history. He could find his form again in Winnipeg and help spark the Jets offense.

Devin Setoguchi

Another forward the Jets could potentially target is Devin Setoguchi. There’s a trend here with some of these targetable players. Setoguchi is another underachiever.

Setoguchi is a former eighth-overall pick of the San Jose Sharks. He is currently with the Minnesota Wild. He was a one-time 30-goal scorer and has scored 20 goals in a season twice. However, the feel that he should be doing more in the NHL exists.

He would be a unique addition in Winnipeg.

Tomas Fleischmann

Florida is looking to move a lot of players before the trade deadline. Fleischmann is another forward that is probably available for the right price.

Fleischmann is signed through 2014-15. He broke out last season with 27 goals and 61 points. He’s had a quiet season, but a change out of Florida could fix that.

Fleischmann would help the Jets in their playoff run. He’ll provide the Jets with secondary scoring or even primary scoring. At 29 years of age, he’s in still in the prime of his career and the Jets would benefit from him for another two full seasons.

Curtis Glencross

If the Flames are truly shopping the farm, Curtis Glencross could be a nice addition to the Jets roster.

Glencross has come on in recent years as a goal-scoring forward—something the Jets need. After back-to-back 20-plus goal scoring seasons, Glencross is still finding the back of the net this season. However, he does a lot more than just score goals.

Glencross is 30 years old and is signed through 2014-15. He has a $2.5 million cap hit, which is extremely low for a player like Glencross. He also has a no-movement clause, and he may not want to waive it. He’d be a serviceable player for the Jets now and in the future.

Radim Vrbata

At age 31, Radim Vrbata’s best years are probably behind him. That doesn’t mean he has nothing left to offer.

Vrbata is coming off of a 35-goal season in 2011-12. While he’ll probably never match that production again, all the Jets would want is primary scoring down the stretch and into the playoffs. Vrbata is also signed all the way through next season before he becomes a UFA in 2014-15.

Vrbata is struggling with only four goals this season, but a trade could lift his game again.

The NHL trade deadline is one week from today. However, with time ticking down in the regular season, the Jets may want to go ahead and make a move sooner rather than later.