NHL Rumors: Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights

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Welcome to the Sunday edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The Stanley Cup Playoffs are right around the corner, which means the NHL’s offseason is rapidly approaching. While all eyes will be on the teams playing for the Stanley Cup, the teams that did not make the playoffs will be focused on improving their team for next season. Plus, the teams in the playoffs have work to do once their season is over as well. In this edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Vegas Golden Knights.

Winnipeg Jets – Offseason Possible Moves

Rumor: Per – Ken Wiebe – sportsnet.ca, Scott Billeck – winnipegsun.com, Mike McIntyre – winnipegfreepress.com. All three of these sources concur that there could be changes to the Jets’ front office this summer. That would include perhaps a new head coach, and of course, some roster adjustments.

Kevin Cheveldayoff has been the general manager in Winnipeg since 2011. He did take them to the Western Conference Final in 2018, but things have seriously gone south since then. Is it time to replace the GM and even the head coach and blow things up after this season’s disappointing results?

Mark Scheifele could be a trade candidate as well as Blake Wheeler. The latter may be difficult to move with his $8.25 million cap hit through next season. Then, throw in his age (35) and that causes difficult barriers to making a deal. If the contracts of even one of these veterans can be alleviated, that will leave room for the Jets to give two prospects a shot at improving their 21st-ranked defence. Both Dylan Samberg and Ville Heinola are on the rise and deserve a shot to improve the team.

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The other issue at hand for Cheveldayoff, or his replacement will be trying to keep Pierre-Luc Dubois who becomes a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration rights.

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Minnesota Wild – Matt Dumba, Kevin Fiala

Rumor: Per – Michael DeRosa – nhlrumors.me. With the Wild sustaining just under a $13 million buyout penalty from Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, the club will be in cap trouble. Both Matt Dumba and Kevin Fiala may be considered to be traded to make the cap sheet balance in Minnesota. Here’s where they could go.

Dumba has been involved in NHL rumors for a while now. With his $6 million cap hit through next season, the 27-year-old defenseman could be on the move. DeRosa thinks the New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, or Los Angeles Kings could be interested in Dumba’s talents. All three teams need help on the right side of the blueline and Dumba’s salary could be worked out.

Kevin Fiala has had an excellent season with 32 goals, and 50 assists in 78 games. He will be due a huge raise with those kinds of stats. Unfortunately, the Wild won’t have the money to do it. The buyouts for Parise and Suter will raise from $2.37 million this season to $6.37 million next season severely crippling their cap space. That is why BOTH Dumba and Fiala may need to be gone. Sad but true, Wild fans… sorry. Fiala could be packing his bags to go to the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, or Detroit Red Wings according to DeRosa. Whichever team lands him, they will get a very talented and useful 25-year-old forward to build upon for the future.

Vegas Golden Knights – How much of a disappointment would the Golden Knights missing the playoffs be?

Rumor: Per – Eric Duhatschek – theathletic.com. In Duhatschek’s mailbag, the question came up… could Vegas be the biggest disappointment in years if they miss the playoffs? Can you think of a comparable? — Stephen B.

When the 2021-22 season began it was pretty well determined that the Vegas Golden Knights would not only be in the running for the playoffs but a deep run. They acquired Jack Eichel and with that, they thought they’d be dominating. Until… injuries decimated those plans. If the Golden Knights do miss the playoffs (they’re currently two points behind Dallas for the last wildcard spot with four games left) Duhatschek rates this as the biggest disappointment of the salary-cap era.

He further speculates that if Vegas missed the postseason it could be in part due to two teams coming through with unexpected successes in the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames. Neither team was expected to do as well as they have. Now, so to speak… the Golden Knights odds to make the playoffs according to Moneypuck.com are set at 31.7 percent. Not exactly ideal. It may take quite a bit of luck along with help from other teams for Vegas to keep their Cup dreams alive.

That concludes the Sunday edition of NHL Rumors. Be sure to check back for our next article!