Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets: Live Game Thread
The Nashville Predators (20-30-7, 47 points) will wrap up their four-game home stand with a Central Division showdown against the first-place Winnipeg Jets (42-14-3, 87 points) Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators, who have lost two straight, will be without their captain, Roman Josi, who exited Tuesday's loss to the Florida Panthers with an upper-body injury and is currently listed as day-to-day.
Juuse Saros will get the start in goal for Nashville, while Eric Comrie will mind the net for Winnipeg.
Forsberg-O'Reilly-MarchessaultStamkos-Svechkov-NyquistJankowski-Novak-EvangelistaSmith-McCarron-Sissons
Josi-SchennSkjei-BlankenburgEnglund-Barron
SarosAnnunen
Extra: Josi (day-to-day, upper-body), L'Heureux (week-to-week, upper-body)
IR: Lauzon, Wilsby
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New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Are the Cardinals this season's plot twist? Plus: Boston rookie brought the spice
The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic's MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox. Are the Cardinals this year's plot twist? Plus: Ken dives into the Roman Anthony conundrum in Boston, where the Red Sox just took two of three from the Yankees. And if you're looking for an underdog, I found him: He's in Detroit. I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup! I think the MLB season is more or less a theater show. It's never quite the same, but every year, some familiar roles are recast. Here's who's playing whom this year: There are the stars of the show (Tigers, Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Padres), the What Happened ensemble (Orioles, Rangers, Red Sox, Diamondbacks and the Braves), the 'Hmmm, as I suspected: bad' chorus (Rockies, White Sox, Pirates, et al.), and then, there's everyone's favorite character: the Plot Twist. Advertisement By nature, plot twists are hard to identify less than halfway through the show. Remember last year, when the Pirates started the season 9-2? Had a winning record on Aug. 4? They almost had me. (In the end, it was the Tigers and Royals.) But this year … man, I'm starting to think it might be the Cardinals. After taking two of three from the Dodgers over the weekend, they're four games back in the NL Central, at 36-29 — the same record as the AL West-leading Houston Astros. So, are they for real? Hard to say. Going into last night's 7-3 loss to the Dodgers, they had scored 298 runs — seventh-best in the league. But everything else has been pretty aggressively average: Defensively, they were tied for 14th with 11 Defensive Runs saved, and their pitchers had allowed 266 runs allowed (also 14th). That rotation could get a boost soon, though, if they can find space for 24-year-old prospect Michael McGreevy, who showed some encouraging signs in his spot start against the Dodgers. As for the rest? We'll just have to keep watching, I guess. That's what makes the play so good. More Cardinals: Before Sunday's finale, the St. Louis played video of Matt Adams' home run off Clayton Kershaw in Game 4 of the 2014 NLDS. Kershaw said he thought it was 'bush league.' (He also picked up his first win of the year.) A few additional points to the column I wrote Sunday about the need for the Boston Red Sox to bring top prospect Roman Anthony to the majors: Did the Red Sox reward Campbell for agreeing to a potentially below-market contract? Did they effectively punish Anthony and infielder Marcelo Mayer for declining to do the same? No one can say for sure, particularly when the Sox were high on Campbell all spring and had more of a need at second base for him than in the outfield for Anthony or left side of the infield for Mayer. Still, player representatives often grow suspicious when teams make decisions clouded by financial implications. And Campbell wouldn't be the first whose debut appeared tied to his willingness to sign a pre-arbitration deal. NCAA athletes have gained control of their name, image and likeness rights and earning power. How is it that major-league teams still effectively control players for the first six years of their careers, and under a system that remains subject to manipulation, no less? The answer, of course, lies in the rules outlined in the sport's collective bargaining agreement. While players are free to market themselves the same way NCAA athletes do, they cannot bounce from club to club in search of better situations. The 2022 CBA struck a blow against service-time manipulation, awarding additional picks in the amateur draft to teams that keep rookies on their rosters long enough for the players to gain a full year of service. But service-time manipulation, while explicitly prohibited by the CBA, is difficult to prove. Forms of it still exist and always will, as long as baseball uses a tiered economic system based on a player's service. Could it be, though, that they want to ensure he does not finish first or second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, thus depriving him of gaining a full year of service and keeping him in Boston for an extra season? That also seems doubtful. Even if the possibility of Anthony winning Rookie of the Year was part of the initial equation for the Red Sox, it shouldn't have been. As stated in the column, the Sox are a big-market team. They need not fret over service-time considerations. They could always sign Anthony to an extension. At this point, it's probably too late for Anthony to win Rookie of the Year, anyway. Paul Skenes captured the NL award last season after debuting on May 11. Anthony would be getting started nearly a month later, and Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson is the clear front-runner for the award. Again, here's the column. Speaking of those Boston Red Sox … The vitriol isn't what it once was, but they butted heads with their division rivals over the weekend, and we did get at least one good quote: Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins, 25, said if the Yankees were the last team to offer him a contract, he'd retire. Whoa. Way to make it interesting again, kid. Advertisement The Yankees took the first game by getting revenge on the guy who threw the last pitch of the World Series. Walker Buehler only lasted two innings Friday night, allowing seven runs (five earned) as the Yankees cruised to a 9-6 win. Saturday, the Sox struck back, winning 10-7 to overcome Garrett Crochet's worst outing this year. Then last night, Aaron Judge's 22nd and 23rd home runs went to waste — it was Carlos Rodón's turn to have his first dud. Boston scored five runs in the sixth inning and five different Red Sox homered en route to an 11-7 Boston win. Oh, and the winning pitcher? Dobbins! He backed it up! The 32-35 Red Sox are still 6 1/2 games behind the Yankees, with the Rays and Blue Jays between them. It's not great in Boston, but the 39-25 Yankees missed an opportunity to make it much worse. A really cool moment happened Friday. With the Tigers clinging to a one-run lead over the Cubs in the eighth inning, manager A.J. Hinch decided to pinch hit for right fielder Kerry Carpenter. The new hitter? Jahmai Jones, whose big-league experience consisted of 69 games for four teams — the Angels, Orioles, Brewers and Yankees — since his 2020 debut. On the first pitch he saw from Génesis Cabrera, Jones swung hard and sent a hanging breaking ball soaring over the left-field wall. In Detroit, which is significant. See, Jahmai's dad Andre played for the Detroit Lions in 1992. So did Jahmai's brother T.J., from 2015-2018. But Andre didn't get to see either of them carry on his Motor City tradition. He died in 2011 of a brain aneurysm at just 42 years old. Cody Stavenhagen has the full story here. It's enough to make you root for the 27-year-old Jones, even if this is the first you're hearing about him. Oh by the way, Jones pinch-hit in the eighth inning again Saturday and singled. His pre-Tigers batting average? .198. As a Tiger, though — he's batting 1.000 so far. If you're the sort of baseball fan who needs an underdog to root for, Jones is my nomination. Trending up: the Blue Jays (8-2 in their last 10 games). Mitch Bannon explains what is going so right lately. Trending down: the Phillies (1-9 in their last 10, swept by the Pirates over the weekend). Bryce Harper (wrist) is on the IL, and Matt Gelb explains what (else) is going so wrong lately. It's official: Corbin Burnes is having Tommy John surgery. Ken says the implications go well beyond just the 2025 Diamondbacks. Juan Soto reached base six times yesterday. His OBP is up to .384, 15th in the majors. The (second) Craig Kimbrel era in Atlanta is over. After one day. Pete Alonso's new game-planning routine has been at the center of his big year, says WIll Sammon. Looking for the key to the Cubs' success? Don't overlook Kyle Tucker's 'aura,' but a resurgent Matt Shaw hasn't hurt, either. (Check back after the deadline to see if 'pitching' is added to this list.) 📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Nate Schmidt ‘found his fun again' with Panthers en route to sensational playoffs run
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It was one of Nate Schmidt's first preseason games with the Florida Panthers. He tried something on the ice, but it didn't exactly work as planned. He returned to the bench, and in no uncertain terms, someone shouted over to him, 'We don't do that here.' It wasn't coach Paul Maurice, whom he played for briefly in Winnipeg and loved every second with, nor assistant Sylvain Lefebvre, who runs the defensemen. Advertisement It was one of his new teammates. Schmidt won't reveal who. Asked if he could at least say what he did, Schmidt — 33 years old and a veteran of 741 regular-season games and another 95 in the playoffs — said with a laugh, 'I cannot.' But it was in that moment with those few terse words that Schmidt realized how high the standards were in Florida. 'This team has such a defined way that they play, and you just have to get on board,' he said. It also reinforced why he chose to sign a one-year, $800,000 contract to play here. Schmidt wants to win and reestablish himself after a rough final year with the Winnipeg Jets as a quality, trustworthy and (as we all know by now) energetic, talkative and bubbly hockey player. He could have made double the money elsewhere, but he turned down that opportunity to sign with the Panthers two days into last summer's free agency. So this decision wasn't financial. Coming to South Florida was about finding the right fit and potentially winning the Stanley Cup, knowing full well that if he played well and won, he'll probably get paid on his next contract this summer. 'It's not easy to do this year after year, and this team went to the finals two years ago and won the Cup last year,' Schmidt said after Sunday's practice in advance of Monday night's Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers. 'So you wonder, 'Would they have enough in the tank? Can I be a help?' But when I went through the roster early last summer, this is exactly what I envisioned.' VIDEO! Inside the @flapanthers Radio Booth for the first of Nate Schmidt's two goals during Tuesday's Game 1 win over the Lightning. — Doug Plagens (@DougPlagens) April 23, 2025 The one thing about the Panthers and the culture that players like Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad and Sergei Bobrovsky have cultivated is that everybody is welcome and can be themselves. Carter Verhaeghe says one of the nicest things he can say about the Panthers is that when you walk into their locker room, you feel like you've been there for 10 years. Advertisement Schmidt, a former University of Minnesota star who grew up in St. Cloud, Minn., feels that way now. But he admits that even being as comfortable in his own skin as he is, as confident as he can come across, he was walking on eggshells those first couple of weeks. The longtime NHLer with a long pedigree of playoff success still saw a winning recipe that worked and didn't want to mess it up. Plus, when a significant defenseman like Brandon Montour departs via free agency, there is an internal pressure to make everyone feel like you're replacing that player perfectly. 'There were still (nerves),' Schmidt said. 'I found it pretty difficult for the first couple of weeks, being like, 'Hey, how do you find your way with this team that just won? How do you know where you fit in with this group and what you can do to provide? Is it enough? Is it the same as (the players) they lost?' All those things get in your head until the first couple weeks. Then you start to settle in and you get into the system and then you start to get integrated with the guys and then, as a veteran guy, you start to let your own personality start to show. I found that just being me is the easiest way to go about doing it.' And one reason the Panthers showed such interest in Schmidt is his motormouth personality. As Maurice jokes, some of the players Florida lost — Montour, Nick Cousins, Josh Mahura and Ryan Lomberg, to name a few — were loud, boisterous and 'didn't shut up.' Schmidt could fill that role. 'I think it's something we knew right from training camp, right when he came in,' said first-line right winger Sam Reinhart. 'You need those personalities in the room, especially this time of year when games get tighter. Nothing changes with him. It's huge to have personalities like that in the long run.' Advertisement Plus, Schmidt is a good player. Just look at his postseason for the Panthers. On a blue line that leads the NHL with 17 goals and 46 points in 19 playoff games, Schmidt is tied with Ekblad for the lead with 11 points. He scored the game winner in each of his first two playoff games against Tampa Bay, becoming the second defenseman since 1943-44 to score the winner in each of his team's first two playoff games. He has scored at least one postseason goal with four different franchises (Washington, Vegas, Winnipeg and Florida), the only active defenseman to achieve this feat. He joined Mike Green, Janne Laukkanen and Sergei Gonchar as one of four NHL defensemen in the past 30 years to score multiple goals in a playoff debut with a franchise. And two games into the Stanley Cup Final, Schmidt has four assists, three primary, including some beauties on two goals by Sam Bennett and one by Brad Marchand, and one secondary assist on a Seth Jones goal that was downright gorgeous after evading a couple of defenders. SETH JONES! WHAT A PLAY BY NATE SCHMIDT! 2-2 — Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) June 7, 2025 'I'm so happy for him, especially because I go back to the kind of conversations we had (last) summer of what he was looking for from a tour with the Florida Panthers,' Maurice said. 'He's not 23 anymore, and he wanted to get his game back. That was the whole point. He felt he was a better player than he was playing, and he took full responsibility for that. There was no blame to anybody else. 'He just thought he had more to give, and it took him probably three or four months to get used to the way that we play, and since that time he's been incredibly effective. What I'm most happy for, for him, is especially in Game 1, (Game 2) as well, but he's getting up the ice and he looks like he did when he was a kid when he first came into the league in Washington. He was dynamic with the way he'd get up the ice. And then coaches beat that out of you and take the fun out of the game for you, but it looks like he's found his fun again.' This postseason, Schmidt is reminding the rest of the league he can still play this game and at a high level. If the Panthers don't have the cap space to bring him back, that'll come in handy July 1 when he's due for a new contract. 'The other part of it is kind of reminding yourself that you have that game in you and you're just unlocking it,' Schmidt said. 'Being able to feel the confidence from your staff and any other guys, and just the team in general. Our team believes that we have a good structure, a good chemistry, all those things. But when you get on the ice and when all the things have to come together in order to win a game, that's when you start to really feel that continuity on the bench and on the ice.' Advertisement Schmidt said when he first arrived in Florida, he sat down with Lefebvre and was provided a blueprint of how he wanted his defensemen to play, but then the coaches adapt the plan to the new players' strengths and begin tailoring it for them. But he also said the Panthers' system is complicated and it takes time to master the nuances. Schmidt admittedly struggled at first. He was scratched in the season opener but has been a lineup constant for the most part since. He says he started to feel comfortable when the Panthers traveled to Finland for the Global Series late last October and early November to play Dallas. 'It was like, 'OK, there's a role for you here,'' Schmidt said. 'That's the biggest thing with Paul and our D coach, Sly — what they talk about is where you are in our system, how you fit, what your role is, and knowing that it's OK just to do that. We don't ask you to do more. So that's one of the biggest things that I felt once I learned that and understand that that's good enough. And then you don't have to try and be like, 'Oh, I need to be playing more.' It was like, you're right where we needed to be.' After the Panthers won their third straight conference title late last month, Matthew Tkachuk came to the podium in Raleigh and without prompting credited the Panthers' new guys — players like Schmidt, Marchand, Jones, Tomas Nosek and A.J. Greer — for providing that extra hunger needed to a roster that largely was part of last year's championship. Maurice couldn't have agreed more, saying, 'Toward the end, they became our identity. They were closer to our identity game than the guys who had been here for a couple of years, and they got us back in that Toronto series. So the different dynamic is when you come into our team after Vegas, you're coming in to help push them over the top. But when you come into our team this summer, you don't want to screw things up.' Maurice said in some ways, players like Schmidt are the drivers now because they have such a desire to help their new teammates repeat and, in most cases, other than Marchand, win the Stanley Cup for the first time themselves. 'You don't want necessarily the entire team back the next year where everybody's reasonably well-fed,' Maurice said. 'You want a few hungry guys in there, too, because they can push you.' ELITE display of vision from Nate Schmidt 😮💨 #StanleyCup 🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ — NHL (@NHL) June 5, 2025 Schmidt has gone on long runs before. His first year in Vegas, the Golden Knights made a shocking run to the Stanley Cup Final before losing to his old Capitals. His third year there, they went to the conference final before losing to the Dallas Stars. But that first year was a blur, he said, and came and went too quickly for him to appreciate it. Advertisement Now? He's trying to cherish every second. 'When you're at that stage of your career, you're thinking, 'Oh, our team's good. We're back here all the time,'' he said. 'But the reality is that it's hard. It's incredibly hard to get back to this stage, and this time I'm just trying to slow it down and enjoy it. Just not knowing if you're ever going to get a chance again or be in a position or on a team again that's going to have a chance to do that. 'This is the pinnacle of our sport and to be able to be here at the end is special, and it's fun to be a part of. You just never know.'
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Jets mailbag, Part 2: Landing a second-line centre, Dmitri Rashevsky's potential and more
Today we're finding Winnipeg its second-line centre. We're also projecting timelines for its top prospects, from Elias Salomonsson, Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov through Brayden Yager, Colby Barlow and beyond. Then we're taking our first steps toward rewriting the CBA and exploring trade possibilities, UFA signings, and even an offer sheet or two — and we will do all of it based on your questions for our latest mailbag. Advertisement Thanks, as always, everyone — it's been a great start to the offseason. Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length. How can the Jets address their recurring need for a second-line centre? — Travis R. There are four ways, as I see them. The first is to take a different approach, forgive Gabriel Vilardi and Cole Perfetti their lack of footspeed, and attempt to use them in the role. Coach Scott Arniel prefers faster centres who can offer low support in the defensive zone and help lead transition attacks. Perfetti and Vilardi have the hockey sense to do so, but Arniel hasn't typically been satisfied with their skating. The second is to approach the unrestricted free agent market, where the most realistic acquisition is one of the NHL's all-time great players, but he hasn't played since April 13, 2023. Jonathan Toews, 37, was not an elite centre for Chicago in either of his last two seasons, but he is someone with whom Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff maintains a relationship. Winnipeg is interested and likely willing to bet on Toews' return to good health, mitigating continued age-related decline. (If the Jets do manage to sign Toews, it may be safer to think of him as a bottom-six centre until his return to form — if there is one — proves otherwise.) The UFA market also includes Sam Bennett, John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Ryan Donato and Pius Suter — who all strike me as various shades of unlikely to sign in Winnipeg. If I'm right, the idea of Toews gains appeal — not because I view him as a sure thing but because throwing a dart at his middle-six capability offers some odds of helping Winnipeg. This stands in stark contrast to signing someone like Bennett: a zero percent shot at signing him equates to zero help, regardless of his current effectiveness as a player. (The zero percent number is my belief, not sourced information.) Advertisement The third approach is the restricted free agent market, which provides younger players but requires Winnipeg to commit assets to a trade or an offer sheet. Let's take a quick look, using information from PuckPedia: Let's start by using Marco Rossi as an example. Michael Russo and Joe Smith have reported that the Wild are not interested in signing the 23-year-old centre to a deal in the $7 million range and are thus exploring the idea of a trade. The appeal of acquiring such a player is clear: Rossi is already a 60-point centre, he turns 24 this September and he's not UFA-eligible until 2029. If he helps, he helps through the heart of Winnipeg's current window. A trade for such a player could cost a first-round pick and a top prospect — or more, depending on the market. What about offer sheets? If you're unfamiliar with the process, an offer sheet is a way for teams to acquire RFAs from rival clubs. Winnipeg could theoretically sign Rossi to a contract, which Minnesota would then have the option of matching. If the Wild matched the Jets' contract offer, then Minnesota would keep Rossi without any cost to the Jets. If they declined to match that offer, Rossi would join Winnipeg and the Jets would send Minnesota draft picks. The number of picks would depend on the price of the contract: Some of the offer sheet tiers are shown in red because Winnipeg doesn't have its second-round pick in either of the next two drafts and thus can't make an offer sheet in that range. Let's consider two examples. First, imagine that Winnipeg signed Rossi to a five-year, $35 million contract with a $7.0 million average annual value. That would only cost the Jets a first-round pick and a third-round pick, which carries tremendous appeal. If the Wild believe in Rossi at all, though, they'd likely be willing to match that offer sheet and look for a better trade at a later time. Advertisement A second example would target a player in that same compensation range who would be harder to match for his current club. Maybe they don't have enough cap space — or maybe, unlike our Rossi example, the Jets' offer is rich relative to the player. Let's say Winnipeg approaches Morgan Geekie with that same five-year, $35 million contract offer. Let's say Geekie loves the idea of living in Winnipeg, just under a three-hour drive down the Yellowhead Highway from his hometown of Strathclair, MB. And let's say the Boston Bruins look at Geekie's 33-goal breakout season, gamble on his 22 percent shooting percentage being unsustainable and let him go. It's not quite realistic, in that Boston has a ton of cap space, but $7 million AAV is further outside a reasonable contract projection for Geekie than it was for Rossi. There are challenges in this approach. Offer sheets get discussed more than they get executed because it's tough to find the perfect mix of a player willing to be poached, a rival club unable or unwilling to hold onto him, and a team willing to run the risk of retribution somewhere down the line. There's thought in some circles that teams will be more likely to go this route, given the St. Louis Blues' successful acquisition of Dylan Holloway and Phillip Broberg from Edmonton last summer, but the Oilers were more cap-strapped than any of the clubs I've listed above. Maybe it's less about an offer sheet, then, and more about acquiring one of these RFA targets by trade. As a final and very different thought: If we're talking about offer sheets at all, what about 23-year-old power forward Will Cuylle, who scored 20 goals and 25 assists for the New York Rangers last season? Cuylle can play either wing and has the ability and intensity to drag teammates into the fight. How big of an addition would Dmitri Rashevsky be for the Jets if they convince him to come overseas? — Brad B. According to a report from Sport Express, Rashevsky has signed a three-year offer sheet with Avangard Omsk, with Dynamo Moscow now given the opportunity to match. Either way, it looks more like he'll play the next three years in Russia than come to North America. But let's run the analysis anyway. Rashevsky is a 24-year-old prospect whose elite stickhandling leads to highlight-reel offence in the KHL. He's scored 62 goals and 59 assists in his last 199 KHL games for Dynamo and stunned a lot of observers — myself included — when he scored 19 goals in 48 games right after the Jets drafted him as an overager in 2021. I don't think the Jets are going to be successful in bringing him to North America this season, but it's still a fun question to explore because the range of possibilities seems to be enormous. Advertisement The data-informed approach would be to take a look at every player who moved between the KHL and NHL in recent seasons, check out how their scoring rates changed and build an estimate for Rashevsky. Thankfully, this study of NHL equivalencies (NHLe) is commonplace, with one recent study estimating Rashevsky's KHL offence would translate to approximately 50 points per 82 NHL games. First up, new NHLe values! 7.0 brings new NHLe values for every league in every year, calculated in a new way (more on the specifics in my 7.0 writeup coming soon). Here are the 20 best leagues in the 2024-2025 season based on NHLe and their change over the past 5 years! — Nick (@nickiacoban) June 8, 2025 If Rashevsky pulled off a 50-point NHL season, it would tie him with Perfetti for sixth among Jets skaters. That's a touch ambitious. There have been a lot of players to move between the NHL and KHL (and back) in recent history. When I look at the scoring of NHL castaways like Josh Leivo, Ryan Spooner and Jordan Weal (Rashevsky's teammate in Moscow), one gets the sense of overinflated offensive totals. Take Leivo, who I remember best as a Maple Leaf but whose NHL work included 16 points in 51 games for the 2022-23 St. Louis Blues. He's 32 years old now and just scored 80 points in 62 games for the Chernyshev Division-winning Salavat Yulaev in Ufa. Spooner, who I remember best as a Boston Bruin and who scored at a point per game in the AHL at his peak, is 33 years old and has scored at a rate of 0.80 points per game through his last three KHL seasons, while Weal — who was also a roughly point-per-game AHL scorer — has scored 0.88 points per game in the KHL in that same time frame. It's the sort of stuff that should bring our expectations for Rashevsky crashing down to earth. But then you take a look in the other direction. Kirill Marchenko was a star for Columbus this season, scoring 31 goals and 74 points in the NHL at 24. Rewind to his last KHL season — the 21-year-old Marchenko scored fewer points per game than Rashevsky did that year — and it's easy to understand why Winnipeg wants Rashevsky to sign as soon as possible. It feels like the Jets have a glut of youth ready to arrive within a year or two of each other. Parker Ford, Nikita Chibrikov, Brad Lambert, Dmitri Rashevsky, Elias Salomonsson, Colby Barlow and Brayden Yager. What do their arrival schedules look like? — Ryan F. This is a great question. There could be an opportunity available as early as this season. If UFA forwards Nikolaj Ehlers, Mason Appleton and Brandon Tanev sign elsewhere, then the current Jets roster has room for three additional forwards — four if you assume Adam Lowry starts the season on the injured reserve. Even if two of those players are veterans, there's room for Lambert and Chibrikov to start the season with Winnipeg if they earn it at camp. Advertisement Ford turns 25 this summer, so I'm not thinking of him as a prospect in the same light, but he does make sense as a depth forward on Winnipeg's current roster. He's a small player with a ton of competitive fire — a spark plug in a way Winnipeg could use. (That said, Ford hasn't been an elite scorer at any level. His career arc implies more of an NHL/AHL tweener than a middle-six impact player. He could 'make' the Jets a whole bunch of times in between AHL stints over the course of his next contract.) I'm projecting Yager and Barlow to start their pro careers in the AHL this season, while Salomonsson could be anything from a viable third-pairing defenceman if the Jets clear room ahead of him to a 2025-26 Manitoba Moose who has to bide his time for parts of two AHL seasons as Dylan Samberg did before him. Salomonsson is younger than Samberg was and likely a step ahead in terms of his eventual ceiling, but this may not earn him an early arrival. We'll deep-dive this later in the summer. Do you think the league would ever consider getting rid of modified no movement clauses? — Trevor G. No. The NHL and NHLPA appear to be on track to negotiate their next CBA smoothly and without massive changes. But I couldn't help but poke around a little bit. The number of no-trade clauses is unique to the NHL, and so too is the proportion of them likely to include the Jets. I was shocked to read that the NBA only has two no-trade clauses: LeBron James and … Bradley Beal. The NFL has eight, all of them star quarterbacks. The MLB automatically grants '10-and-5' trade-vetoing rights to players who achieve 10 years in the league, along with five consecutive years with the same club. I was told by an MLB writer that the number of players with 10-and-5 rights (or independently negotiated no-trade clauses) is 'relatively small.' According to PuckPedia, the NHL has 80 players with full NMCs and another 164 players with at least some amount of no-trade protection. Remember that 49 percent of polled NHL players report that Winnipeg would be the first team on their no-trade clause; add them to the 80 NMCs and you get at least 160 players — 21.7 percent of the league — likely to have a 'no thank you' to Winnipeg built into their contracts. Advertisement Winnipeg built a Presidents' Trophy team with Eric Comrie and Colin Miller as their marquee UFA signings and one-fifth of the NHL — or more — listing it in their NTC. Take a moment to applaud that fact and another one to rage against the machine. The Jets are flying against the wind both ways, even compared to other Canadian teams. What prospect in the upcoming draft excites you the most for the Jets (and why is it Blake Fiddler?) — Adam B. It's draft season! Great question. I consulted an array of scouts in making the Jets' pick in our next mock draft, which will be published on Wednesday. Fiddler is an intriguing prospect — read Scott Wheeler's feature story for more — but you'll have to stay tuned for proper draft content on my end. In the meantime, check out Wheeler's rankings here and Corey Pronman's rankings here. (Top photo of Marco Rossi: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
