1 trade every NHL team should make

Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets are certainly an exciting team, but they aren’t a contender quite yet. At the same time, they are past their hard core rebuilding days. Winnipeg has built a core of players who should lead them in the near future. Their 2016-17 NHL trade deadline strategy should revolve around getting whatever they can get for forward Drew Stafford and goaltender Ondrej Pavelec.

Getting rid of Pavelec might be too difficult to be done. Not even the Los Angeles Kings expressed much interest in him. However, not all hope is lost. His cap hit isn’t too terrible, so maybe at the trade deadline, a team will look to add a veteran backup. Getting just about anything for the pending unrestricted free agent would be a huge bonus for the Jets. Pavelec clearly isn’t a part of their future.

Stafford, despite his unimpressive four points this season, still has a bit of value. Teams value big guys who can get to the greasy areas to score goals. Stafford’s inconsistent, but if he gets hot, he’s a pretty great forward. However, his terrible plus-minus rating of -23 last season certainly won’t help his cause. A third or fourth round pick for him seems quite reasonable.