For fans, it’s the most exciting off-season week in hockey. For the teams, it’s the busiest.
Over the next seven-plus days in the NHL, there’s going to be a lot going on. It starts Friday with the annual draft, a two-day selection process that enrolls highly talented young amateur players into the professional system.
From there, the league’s 32 teams move into the July 1 free agency period — a stimulating time for all, whereby teams acquire the services of players in what can only be described as a sailor’s shore leave — a wild day of spending under the expectation of improvement.
Of course, when those two entities of league business are conducted within days of each other, along with the propensity for other horse trading, it makes for an intriguing kick off to summer in the NHL.
And in the midst of all of it are the Winnipeg Jets, a team looking to build on its solid last season, but like their league counterparts, are also dealing with the roster volatility that each off-season brings.
For the Jets, it will be well worth watching to see what they do with their first-round, 28th overall draft pick between now and Friday, or who they select in the draft if they retain it.
With a win-now undercurrent around the team and plenty of prospects still in the system, that pick could be used as a chip toward a bigger transaction and something that helps Winnipeg vault another hurdle.
On the free agent front, the Jets have money to spend!
Even with a handful of raises due to players like Dylan Samberg and Gabe Vilardi coming down the pike, Winnipeg is pretty flush with cash. And adding a free agent top-six forward to play with, say, Jonathan Toews, would make the team deeper and presumably better, especially if that player is a right shot and can equal or exceed the production Nikolaj Ehlers will assuredly leave behind for another organization.
Summer across the NHL is just getting started and a new season won’t begin for more than three months, but the next seven days across the league are expected to be exciting for the fans and busy for the teams in hockey’s most interesting week of the off-season.
