NHL Rumors: Winnipeg Jets, Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks

Welcome to the Sunday edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors. The trade deadline is a little over two weeks away and the rumors off the ice continue to swirl around players being moved and contending teams preparing for the push to the playoffs. Therefore, we here at Full Press Hockey will continue to deliver NHL Rumors four times a week. The March 6th edition of NHL Rumors takes place in the Central Division with the Winnipeg Jets, Colorado Avalanche, and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Winnipeg Jets – Mark Scheifele

Rumor: Per – Murat Ates – theathletic.com. Murat Ates addressed trade speculation from his readers regarding Mark Scheifele’s future with the Winnipeg Jets. One of them mentioned Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli speculating this season could be the 28-year-old center’s last with the Jets.

Ates doesn’t believe it’s a certainty this is Scheifele’s last season in Winnipeg but doesn’t rule it out. He’s got two more years left on his deal, meaning a decision on his future will have to be reached by the end of next year at the latest. If they were to trade Scheifele, Ates believes they need to get the best center available in return.

That may be a tall order since Scheifele is pretty darn talented. In his 11-years NHL career, he is a 16.1 percent shooter and has tallied 60 powerplay goals and assisted on 76 others. He has collected 33 game-winning goals in 624 games. Scheifele has scored 20 or more goals in seven of his nine complete seasons.

While the Jets aren’t in need of an extreme rebuild, they have peaked like three years ago and could use some tweaking. Trading a true scorer like Scheifele would be one way of accomplishing that. We may not hear any more NHL rumors on Scheifele this season, but who knows?

Colorado Avalanche – 5 Trade Targets

Rumor: Per – Mike Chambers – denverpost.com. Chambers lists Philadelphia Flyers Claude Giroux, San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl, Dallas Stars Joe Pavelski, Vancouver Canucks J.T. Miller, Buffalo Sabres Colin Miller as five potential trade targets for Colorado Avalanche.

The two top choices on this list have to be Giroux and J.T. Miller. Giroux would love to win a Cup, and the Avs are approaching that goal thus far this season. J.T. Miller isn’t going anywhere unless the offer is too difficult to reject. Hertl is looking like he will stay in San Jose. Same with Pavelski not wanting to depart from Dallas.

Colin Miller on the other hand may be a good fit with the Avs once he returns from an undisclosed injury.

What could the Colorado club offer in return for any possible trade? How about Justin Barron, their 2023 first-rounder, and forward prospect Oskar Olausson? Then, GM Joe Sakic could also offer defenseman Sean Behrens with a 2023 second-rounder. How does that go? The rich get richer… the Avs seem to have some wild cards in their trade deadline poker hand. Or, are they bluffing?

Chicago Blackhawks – Dylan Strome

Rumor: Per – Patrick K. Flowers – bleachernation.com. Dylan Strome has earned the confidence of the Blackhawks … just in time to be involved in trade rumors.

Under the direction of former Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton, Strome hardly played and trade rumors were flying. Since then, under new bench boss Derek King he has been with the likes of Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. Strome’s game has improved to the point that if the ‘Hawks wanted to trade him, his play can increase the return the team receives.

Then, again if the new GM, Kyle Davidson of the Blackhawks listens to star player Patrick Kane things may look better for Strome staying in the Windy City. Kane said, “To be honest with you, keeping a guy that’s that young is probably a better solution,” Kane told Ben Pope of the Sun-Times.

Strome’s NHL career thus far has been an enigma. He is a former third overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft but was a bust with the Arizona Coyotes. He was traded to Chicago, and has had some success, yet seems to not have materialized into that strong center he should be. Perhaps he’ll stay, maybe not.

 

That wraps up another edition of NHL rumors. As the deadline approaches, be sure to follow along right here.