Kadri just what the Jets need

We have reached the point in the offseason where folks start pondering what permutations and combinations could be on the horizon.

With unrestricted free agency mostly taken care of — other than some veterans still waiting for an opportunity to bet on themselves or a team looking for a purchase or two from the discount aisle — rosters are mostly taking shape.

General managers around the NHL are teetering between vacation mode and stealth shopping, squeezing in some rest and relaxation when possible while also thinking about other ways to improve their respective hockey clubs before training camp arrives next month.

Where does that leave Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff?

He’s taken care of most of his offseason to-do list, with the exception of locking down a new contract for restricted free agent Cole Perfetti.

With just under US$6 million of cap space projected by Puck Pedia, there’s room for a longer-term deal, provided both sides find common ground — though the most likely outcome remains a bridge contract.

That would allow the player to get a more complete picture of how incoming head coach Scott Arniel plans to utilize his skill set and give the organization another two years to get a better handle on Perfetti’s longer-range projection — both in terms of impact and dollar figure.

There is still some question as to where Perfetti will fit best in terms of position.

Despite winning the second-line centre job with a strong training camp, Perfetti quickly found himself patrolling the wing before the NHL season was five games old.

During a recent interview with the Free Press, Arniel left the door open for Perfetti to get another crack at showing what he could do at 2C, though Brad Lambert and Vladislav Namestnikov are options to fill the void left after the departure of Sean Monahan in free agency.

Based on that conversation with Arniel, Namestnikov is the front-runner, though the new bench boss has been around long enough to leave ample wiggle room for things to develop during training camp (and beyond).

The second-line centre job has essentially been in flux since Paul Stastny was acquired prior to the NHL trade deadline in March of 2018.

There hasn’t really been a homegrown player who got an extended run in that slot for the bulk of that time period since Bryan Little was forced to retire because of a head injury, though Andrew Copp did spend some time there over the years before he was traded to the New York Rangers.

It’s easy to make the argument the Jets would benefit greatly from an internal candidate grabbing the job — whether that’s a recent first-round draft pick such as Perfetti (2020) or Lambert (2022) or a versatile journeyman like Namestnikov.

History has shown the Jets aren’t afraid to make a move to add experience and depth down the middle.

They’ve had varying levels of success in that department when you work your way down the list of players brought in to do that job, whether it be Kevin Hayes, Cody Eakin, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Stastny for a second tour of duty or Monahan.

It’s impossible to know for sure which direction the Jets will be going this season, but one of the options would be to trade for a guy with either term or team control.

That’s where things have the potential to get interesting.

While guys like Connor McMichael and Cole Sillinger would have appeal, it’s also possible the Jets could give an in-house candidate the chance to solidify their spot on the depth chart and punt the decision to a later date.

When you consider the Jets are in win-now mode and have big-money extensions kicking in for Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, bringing in a more experienced pivot with term has to be a consideration.

One name that could make a lot of sense — but probably more likely closer to the deadline or as a pre-emptive strike like Monahan was — would be Nazem Kadri.

Kadri is about to enter the third season of the seven-year, $49 million USD contract he signed with the Calgary Flames in the summer of 2022.

He would provide more of a longer-range solution, unlike most of the previous deadline deals for pivots.

This is a player the Jets showed interest in before he ended up being dealt from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Colorado Avalanche.

With the Avalanche, Kadri played a vital role on the 2022 Stanley Cup championship club.

One of his signature moments saw Kadri come back from a thumb injury to score the overtime winner in Game 4 to put the Avalanche up 3-1 in a series they would capture in six games.

Kadri has an abundance of skill and still plays with an edge.

On a Flames team that missed the playoffs, he still managed to produce 29 goals and 75 points to go along with strong possession numbers, while showing durability by appearing in all 82 games.

He’s eclipsed 30 goals on two occasions and hit 20 or more four additional times.

Kadri will turn 34 in October, which means any trade for him will carry some element of risk — especially in the final years of the contract that includes a US$7 million AAV and a full-no movement clause for the next two seasons — and shifts to a modified no-trade for the final three.

So, Kadri would need to agree to any deal to Winnipeg.

The feisty centre didn’t envision being part of a rebuild when he signed with the Flames and he might be open to a new address depending on how things go this winter.

The Jets would also need to move out money to make a deal like this work, especially when you consider Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor will soon require raises to remain in the fold.

Kadri plays with a certain swagger the Jets could use a bit more of and his championship pedigree could have a positive influence on a team that’s looking to end a string of playoff disappointments.

Kadri could also provide a jolt to the Jets power play, as he’s produced 29 goals and 41 points with the man-advantage during the past three seasons.

Now, the addition of Kadri would bring a few complications on the salary cap front and some retention would be required, but perhaps the Flames could eat around US$2 million per season to get the AAV down to US$5 million?

With the salary cap expected to rise during the next several seasons, that level of reduction wouldn’t make the final years of the contract nearly as onerous as they might otherwise be.

That’s why it’s something to be filed in the food-for-thought category for the time being.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld