Neal Pionk #4 of the Winnipeg Jets +

A trading partner?

We all know how much the Rangers like to find a team willing to make deals and then just keep going back to the table again and again. First it was Columbus and then it was Tampa Bay. So why not see if there is something to be done again with Winnipeg?

Winnipeg lost Jacob Trouba and Dustin Byfuglien (look it up) before the year started, then Dimitry Kulikov went down in November and is now on the IR. They are relying on former Ranger Neal Pionk to eat over 23 minutes of ice time every night. After Pionk they have Josh Morrissey, after that they have these guys.

Nathan Beaulieu, Carl Dahlstrom, Tucker Poolman, Luca Sbisa, and Anthony Bitetto. Can you say unimpressive? Yet despite that defensive line-up the Jets are battling for a wildcard spot in the west. Why? Because they are very talented up front, led by Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine.

You have to imagine that a guy like Brady Skjei would be a most welcomed addition to the Jets line-up. His $5.25 million cap hit would not be an issue as the Jets look to have over $7 million in cap space available next year and that is before they sort out the issues with Byfuglien who carries a $7.6 million hit.

None of their top-tier players are in line for a new contract next year. They have plenty of space and their window for winning the Cup is open now. They need to capitalize.

The Rangers wouldn’t need much to make this deal work. It would be nice to think they could get a number one pick for Skjei, but a conditional first rounder would work just as well. They could also make the deal a no brainer for the Jets by simply asking for their second round pick in 2020 to replace the one that is missing from the Rangers stable. The Jets would have to throw in a prospect or two to make it somewhat more fair.