Should the Winnipeg Jets TRADE for a Defensemen?

Should the Winnipeg Jets TRADE for a Defensemen?

[Music] What’s going on everybody and welcome back to another video. Today we’re going to be talking about the Winnipeg Jets and their situation on defense. Obviously in the preseason Dylan Samberg had gone down with a broken wrist. At the time of the injury it was a 6 to 8 week you know injury about a week leading up to the season. So, minimum five weeks without one of their best shutdown defenseman with a pretty hefty early schedule here as we have a condensed year because of the Olympics of course in February. Now, the Jets are kind of, you know, taped together with glue and bubble gum at this point on the back end. Of course, Josh Morrisy and Dylan Dlo were holding down the fort as the first pairing, but the rest of the pairings are inconsistent to say the least. Sometimes they have their moments in the first few games that we’ve seen here in the early season, but a lot of the times it is a bit of a circus. Dylan Samberg is a unique player because he is just so good defensively that he hides a lot of Neil Pianc’s imperfections and allows Pian to be his best offensively and kind of allows Pian to have a little bit more freedom. If Pian decides to have that kind of freedom with a partner like Hayden Flurry or Logan Stanley and he gets caught, those guys are just not going to be able to cover the way that Samberg does. They are just not on that level. And uh early on, Flurry hasn’t looked great. He’s actually hurt right now dayto-day. We’ll see how early he’s able to come back. Uh Logan Stanley has had, you know, admittedly some very nice plays and some very nice moments here in the early season, but there’s been a lot where the goalending has been bailing him out and sometimes not being able to bail him out. Now, if we take a look at the bottom pairing, it’s been, you know, Luke Shen and one of Stanley and Flurry this last game. Colin Miller filled in and I thought he looked great. He was playing on his offside and uh I just really don’t understand why Miller of all people is the seventh defenseman. I understand the Jets acquired Luke Shen for a pretty hefty price of a second and a four, but Luke Shen outside of laying some hits every once in a while doesn’t do a whole lot. He’s uh definitely not a very mobile defenseman. And I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that. Um he just hasn’t looked very good. He is up there in age and I just think Colin Miller is a much better fit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, he’s big. You need big guys in the playoffs. Well, you know, he got scratched for like half the postseason. So, you know, make it that what you will. The bottom line here is that without Dylan Samberg, the Jets defense corps is not a very pretty one, and they’re relying on Josh Morrisy a lot right now. Now, let’s take a look into the future here in February when it’s going to be, you know, around the trade deadline. Are the Jets going to be looking for a left-hand shot defenseman? I’m sure they will be, you know, based off of what they went through last year with an inconsistent bottom pairing, you know, with Shen being in and out of the lineup, Stanley being in and out of the lineup, Flurry, uh, Miller, right? They didn’t really have a rock solid guy on that bottom pairing. And the need is for sure on the left hand side. You know, you could say that Elias Salammonson could, you know, draw a call up, but that’s not going to be happening. Plays that right side. Doesn’t seem like they’re crazy about playing him on the off side. If they were, I think he would have already been called up and played in front of Miller, right? He has too many vets in front of him right now. He is not going to be an option. So, do the Jets look to make a move for a defenseman here early in the season? I think it’s very possible that they sniff around. Um, I’m not saying that they’re going to or anything. And I’m not saying that it’s going to be like a top 10 defenseman in the NHL. I’m not saying they have to go out and pluck Douggee Hamilton uh from the New Jersey Devils and give up, you know, two first round picks and a prospect or anything like that, but I am saying they may need to find a reliable warm body to be playing on that bottom pair for now while Dylan Samberg, you know, heals and comes back, maybe even a guy that could slip into the top four because it’s asking a lot of guys like Logan Stanley, like Hayden Flurry, like Luke Shen to play like regulars all the time. These guys realistically are not regulars on many contending teams. And the fact that you have all three of them in the lineup at the same time, you can’t really make a combination of these players that is going to be effective consistently. Yeah, these guys are going to have their moments. Logan Stanley looks fine sometimes on the penalty kill, but five on five, I’d argue that, you know, he’s one of the weakest players on the entire team. Uh same goes for Luke Shen. I think there’s a lot of times where his speed doesn’t really help him out there and, you know, it ends up being him running around in circles just praying to God that one of Connor Hellabuk or Eric Omry will cover up the puck. Now, you know, we take a look at what’s out there. Uh, I don’t really know early on in the season. You don’t see a lot of big trades going down or anything like that. I see a lot of people bringing up Mario Ferraro as he was a name that was floated out at the deadline last year. I do think that the Sharks were looking for a first round pick. Winnipeg wasn’t interested in doing so. No, you know, and I don’t really think he warranted a first round pick to be totally honest with you guys. But if the Jets could find a guy that could just slip in, maybe a guy that’s just a little bit more reliable, a little bit more stay at home and, you know, not 45 years old. You know, I like Hayden Flurry. I think he’s a good defenseman, but asking him to play top four minutes with a partner like Neil Peon just really isn’t a recipe for success. And it’s not a, you know, last couple of games analysis on those two guys. It’s going back to last year when the exact same thing happened. Dylan Samberg went down. Flurry and Pox numbers were not very good and that was the Jets worst point in the entire season. They were not very good when those guys were out there. they were getting caved in five on five. And that’s what we saw here early on in the, you know, beginning of the year. Now, it’s undetermined when Flurry comes back if he’s going to draw into the lineup or if, you know, Colin Miller is going to stay there. I think the Jets defense looked much better and much more stable with Miller in the lineup. But is that enough? You know, are you still going to be able to scave by with Stanley and Pian playing, you know, 15 plus a night? That’s, you know, very suspect. We’re gonna have to see, you know, what Scott Arneal decides to do. Uh because I don’t believe in that pairing as a whole. Yes, sometimes they have their moments. Stan squeaked one in there. Kind of a funny goal, uh through the wickets of Ilia Sroken the other day on uh Thanksgiving Monday here in Canada. But are you going to trust that pairing night in night out for the next, you know, month and a half? I don’t know if you can and expect not to, you know, get caved in. So, time will tell, but I do think the Jets are probably sniffing around just seeing what’s out there on defense. I would be surprised if they weren’t. Um, but adding a defenseman now may save them having to acquire one later on when prices are possibly higher. Now, I’m not saying there’s one of these guys available, but last year Alexander Kerier was struggling in Nashville and Nashville flipped him for a third round pick to the Montreal Canadians. that stabilized Montreal’s defense and he ended up being a really nice option that was able to, you know, play on the bottom pairing but also able to step into the top four and he was really good last season. If Kevin Chevoff can come across an opportunity like that to get a guy that can, you know, possibly chip into your top 4 D but can definitely solidify your bottom pairing on the left side. I think that would be an awesome move. And the reason, you know, I bring up, you know, early on in the season Montreal did that is because you take a look at a guy like Alexander Kerier who had a really nice season. He only went for a third. Take a look at Luke Shen who is a far, you know, older player, a player that doesn’t have as much skill or ability like Harry anymore. And he went for a two and a four, right? Like Brandon Taniv went for a two. And what did those guys really do for the Jets last year, right? Not a whole lot. If Chevy can stumble upon a bargain, you know, why not give it a try? If it works out, you know, you’ve got your bottom pairing D when Samberg comes back, a guy that can fill up and down in your defense core if there is some injuries and you don’t have to worry about it come February, March when the trade deadline comes. I think it would be a nice piece of business, but what do you guys think? Do you think that the Jets can scave by and, you know, we’ll get consistent production from Logan Stanley, Hayden Flurry, Luke Shen, Colin Miller? Do you think that the Jets have that ability with what they have up front and in goal? Let me know down below because I am curious. I think this is a, you know, very interesting topic, uh, given how the first few games of the season have gone. Of course, it’s only a few games. We’re going to have to see how, you know, the first 10 to 15 go. But, uh, I’d love to hear what you guys have to say. Uh, but with that guys, thank you so much for watching. As always, leave a like and subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already, and I’ll see you guys in the next one. Go Jets Go. Bye-bye.

The Winnipeg Jets have had some injury problems, and it has caused many to wonder if they would look to the trade market to patch holes in their lineup. The Jets have a big hole left by Dylan Samberg as he is out for 6-8 weeks. Will the Jets make a deal?

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