Article content continued

While one splash has been made, others could be on the horizon. A third-rounder at the 2020 Draft later this year in Montreal was quite the steal for the Jets, even if DeMelo is just a rental at the end of it. It’s as shrewd as it gets and possibly took the best defenceman off the board before anyone realized it (just look at the price paid for Brenden Dillon by comparison).

Speaking of boards, let’s now turn to those to see what else the Jets could be hunting for over the next couple of days, as well as some players that won’t appear as trade bait but could help the team beyond this season.

DEFENCEMEN

Matt Dumba, Minnesota Wild

If the Wild are selling Dumba, the Jets should be tapping Bill Guerin’s phone to get as much intel as they can before shooting their shot on an offer.

Dumba would become the team’s point man on the power play and at 24 with a $6 million cap hit (and three years remaining), he’s quite the value providing he can get back to where he was a couple of years ago.

Give him a better team and Dumba could give you a scoring defenceman with plenty of physicality to boot. A Dustin Byfuglien-lite.

He’ll cost a lot, but a first-round pick and a prospect (*gasp Dylan Samberg) might be worth it for a proven force on the blue line.

Josh Manson, Anaheim Ducks

A true, stay-at-home defenceman who can lay the body. Manson doesn’t score much, but he doesn’t allow other teams to do so, either.

The Jets need stalwarts on the blue line and Manson is certainly that. He’s 28 with two years left on a deal that comes with a $4.1 million cap hit.