Jets Draft Preview: Winnipeg in position to trade back into first round

Despite the fact they do not currently own a first-round pick, the Winnipeg Jets have suddenly become a real team to watch at the 2024 NHL Draft.

Winnipeg jettisoned its first-rounder this year to the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the trade deadline in exchange for centre Sean Monahan. And before we go any further, let’s just point out that Monahan’s performance — he put up 13 goals and 24 points in 34 games with the Jets — combined with the fact there’s a decent chance the 29-year-old will ink a contract to stick around as the second-line centre in Manitoba make surrendering what turned out to be the 26^th-overall pick for his services look like a wonderful decision by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.

Now, the question is whether Cheveldayoff might pull off another deal that would see the Jets re-enter the first-round conversation — possibly in a spot where they could get a serious prospect.

In the weeks leading up to the draft, momentum seems to be growing around the idea that 2022 first-rounder Rutger McGroarty will be moved by the team because, for whatever reason, the player and the club won’t be able to hammer out a contract that would see the University of Michigan winger leave school for pro hockey next fall.

And that’s only the most recent source of trade speculation in Winnipeg because there’s a strong sense lifetime Jet Nik Ehlers — with one year to go before he can hit the open market as a 2025 UFA — is more likely to be dealt by the squad than ink an extension with it this summer.

If a 28-year-old winger with 30-goal capabilities is available, people are going to come calling.

While the Ehlers speculation is interesting, the potential for a McGroarty trade is fascinating because — unlike the former — the latter could conceivably fit with a contending team, a rebuilding team and basically every club in between. What team wouldn’t at least make a call on a strong, six-foot-one player drafted 14^th overall who’s 20 years old and will be on a cost-capped entry-level deal when he joins the NHL four-to-16 months from now?

A quick peek at the draft board shows two teams that seem like viable dance partners for Winnipeg in the New Jersey Devils at 10^th overall and the Buffalo Sabres one slot later at No. 11.

The Devils are almost certainly looking to add a young forward, so would they look long and hard at McGroarty as a guy who will surely be ready to make an NHL contribution sooner than anyone New Jersey could draft on Friday? As for the Sabres, yes, Buffalo is already prospect-rich, but the organization might jump at the chance to get its hands on a more rugged type like McGroarty, especially after selecting the likes of Zach Benson and Matthew Savoie in recent drafts. The Sabres’ perfect-world scenario might be swapping the pick for instant, significant help, but given McGroarty’s profile — which includes being captain of the gold medal-winning Team USA squad at the 2024 World Junior Championship — maybe they’d be willing to do the deal.

Meanwhile, from the Winnipeg side of things, sliding into the first 11 picks could represent a chance to walk away with an extremely enticing prospect. We haven’t seen a draft with this much uncertainty after the first selection in years and that anarchy could be an opening for Winnipeg. Even if you delete McGroarty from the prospect pool, the Jets already look pretty good up front with 2023 first-rounder Colby Barlow and Brad Lambert — who’s coming off a strong AHL debut this past season — in the pipeline. Should the dominoes fall just so in this defenceman-heavy draft, who knows, maybe Winnipeg could wind up with Zayne Parekh, Sam Dickinson or Carter Yakemchuk in their midst.

And even if there’s a run on the D-men early on, you could easily see a world where young forwards like Tij Iginla, Berkly Catton or mega-riser Beckett Sennecke wind up being fantastic top-six finds for Winnipeg over the long haul.

And what about Ehlers? As much as you can imagine a wider variety of suitors for McGroarty, you could certainly see a playoff team in search of scoring (New York Islanders, 20^th overall; Boston Bruins, 25^th overall; Carolina Hurricanes, 27^th overall) or a non-playoff team desperate to get in there (Minnesota Wild, 13^th overall; Detroit Red Wings, 15^th) feeling things out to see if there’s some kind of deal to be struck.

Of course, Cheveldayoff is no stranger to big moves around the draft. Five years ago he traded Jacob Trouba to the New York Rangers with the understanding that the defenceman would not ink long-term to stay in Winnipeg. And it was just 12 months ago the Jets moved Pierre-Luc Dubois to the L.A. Kings for Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a 2024 second-rounder in a swap so rank from the Kings' side of the equation that they got out of the Dubois business at the first (and possibly only) opportunity to do so by sending him to the Washington Capitals last week.

Cheveldayoff has certainly done some of his best trade work at this often-dizzying time in the NHL calendar.  By the look of it, he could be called upon to do so again.