Even Winnipeg’s wins leave them with all with kinds of difficult questions.
Winnipeg’s 2019 playoff nemesis, Ryan O’Reilly, was traded to Toronto. Homegrown talent Jonathan Toews won’t be traded at all; he hasn’t played for the Blackhawks since before the All-Star break and announced Sunday that he’s dealing with Long COVID symptoms and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome.
Timo Meier was always this trade deadline’s biggest and most obvious target; now the 26-year-old Sharks forward stands alone atop the list of available impact players.
How much should the Jets be willing to pay for him, Jakob Chychrun or any of the players who could help the team mount a playoff run?
Meier is a player we’ve discussed for the Jets at length: a point-per-game power forward who uses his size and speed to take the puck to the most dangerous areas of the ice. He’s well-known to several current Jets, including his former junior teammate, Nikolaj Ehlers, and former Sharks teammates, Dylan DeMelo and Brenden Dillon. Meier’s $6 million cap hit is also well within the range of what Winnipeg can afford now, with the Jets one of just a few teams capable of accommodating his $10 million qualifying offer — if Pierre-Luc Dubois indicates a desire to move on.
Winnipeg could also explore a long-term extension below $10 million or even move Meier in the offseason if they can’t convince him to stay. When a prime-aged player is that good, the options are plentiful — it’s one of the many items that make Meier or Chychrun more appealing than, say, Patrick Kane.
I recognize that connecting the biggest and most exciting names to Winnipeg feels counter to some fans’ expectations. The Jets followed a three-game winning streak with two losses to Columbus and New Jersey, while Monday’s 4-1 win took 50 saves from Connor Hellebuyck. Colorado is nipping at the Jets’ heels and there’s a chance the narrative shifts away from “can they catch Dallas for first in the West?” and toward “can they hold onto their wild-card spot?” Emotions are high in the post-All-Star break, pre-trade deadline world, and the power play against Columbus and puck management against New Jersey and New York have asked questions of Winnipeg’s quality that the Jets need to dig deep to answer.
Fans will also remember the time Kevin Cheveldayoff pulled the previously undiscussed Paul Stastny trade seemingly out of nowhere, finding a nearly perfect fit for the Jets’ 2018 stretch run. That was in the midst of Winnipeg’s push to compete for the Stanley Cup; Winnipeg traded its first-round picks in 2017, 2018 and 2019 in the name of securing its competitive window. Yes, the Jets’ 13th pick (which became Nick Suzuki) returned the 25th pick (Kristian Vesalainen) by trade and yes, Winnipeg got its own 2019 first-round pick back from New York but it cost the Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba. Cheveldayoff did what he could to slow the drain of draft capital but he couldn’t stop it altogether. Winnipeg wanted to “win now.”
To that end, I think Cheveldayoff’s biggest decision to make is how much of Winnipeg’s future he’s willing to sacrifice to chase a deep playoff run.
Winnipeg is good but not dominant, a virtual playoff lock and a tough out against any opponent but not a surefire contender. We’ve dug through the pieces and concluded that they can wear the contender label this year in a wide-open Western Conference, but the Jets lag behind the top teams in the East and behind Cup winners from most of recent history.
What is Cheveldayoff supposed to do with that?
In a typical year, the ideal play might be to supplement his team with veteran depth pieces — perhaps a third-line forward with enough quality to play up the lineup in a pinch and a second- or third-pairing defenceman. Stay out of the Meier aisle, protect the prospect pool and pay a more modest price to supplement Winnipeg’s biggest difference-makers — Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, Dubois, Kyle Connor, Ehlers and Blake Wheeler. Six out of those seven players are young enough to bet on to do it all again next year.
But Winnipeg is well aware that this is not a typical season. Scheifele, Wheeler and Hellebuyck are scheduled to become free agents in 2024 and Dubois can join them by filing for arbitration or signing his qualifying offer (again.) If the Jets risk losing any of these players then they may look at moving those players this summer instead of losing them for nothing in 2024. (Dubois seems most likely but dare yourself to imagine a Jets landscape without Hellebuyck, the perennial Vezina Trophy candidate who stole Winnipeg’s win in New York.)
That puts Cheveldayoff in a quandary, a dilemma, a state of perplexity.
His scouts built this team. His efforts to protect Toby Enstrom from Vegas and to acquire Stastny, Kevin Hayes, Cody Eakin, DeMelo, Dillon, Nate Schmidt and other useful players hurt his prospect pipeline. Now that Chevelayoff’s more recent work has finally restocked that pipeline with top-end talent — Cole Perfetti, Chaz Lucius, Rutger McGroarty, Brad Lambert — those are precisely the players teams like San Jose should covet for a player like Meier.
Perfetti’s name may seem incongruous with the rest, given he’s scored 30 points in 51 games — a 48-point-per-82-game pace — as a 21-year-old rookie. He’s established himself as an NHL player and is tracking similarly to former Jets centre Bryan Little in terms of early career performance. He’s exactly the sort of player that Winnipeg has held onto in the past, protecting its stake in the future, ahead of former Jets like Jack Roslovic at the same age. He’s also injured right now, as Bowness announced on Monday.
Timo Meier is the top player left on trade boards ahead of the deadline. ( Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
Perfetti is not a power forward or an established NHL star; he’s a creative, highly intelligent player who processes the game faster than most players do. His ceiling is thought to be a first-line winger who can help (or even lead) a first-unit power play. I don’t see him putting a team on his back the way Meier can through his unique combination of speed and power, but I do see him having a substantial impact as a top-six player.
He’s not so good that I’d hesitate to trade five years of Perfetti for five years of Meier but that’s not the ask, is it? Meier is just like Dubois in that he could become a free agent as soon as 2024 if he signs his $10 million qualifying offer this summer. (In the theoretical world where Dubois signs a long-term deal this summer and Meier wants out, the Jets could simply not qualify Meier, making him a free agent in 2023.) Meanwhile, Perfetti is under team control until at least 2028.
I suppose the Jets could trade a player with Perfetti’s promise if they have an extension lined up for Meier but, if I’m Meier, I take my $10 million and see what the world has to offer me in 2024. That’s not meant as a slight to Winnipeg — a city I know and love better than Meier ever will — it’s just good economics.
That’s why, as much as I think it makes sense for Nick Kypreos to theorize about Perfetti (as he did in the Toronto Star this weekend), I absolutely do not see the Jets trading their 21-year-old rookie.
But if it’s not Perfetti, then is it Lambert, Lucius or McGroarty?
That’s the sort of dilemma I think Cheveldayoff is in with the trade deadline less than two weeks away. In any other year, the sensible thing might be to tinker or stand pat in the name of widening Winnipeg’s long-term window. This year, with this Western Conference, with that 2024 UFA situation facing the team? There’s nothing ordinary about it.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
