Mind you, Trouba can still sign with the Jets and this all goes away. However since he has made his feelings known to the Jets brass since May, I doubt this will turn out right for Jets fans. Unless of course Kevin Cheveldayoff can make the right deal that would have a similar player coming back to the Jets.What would a deal that would benefit the Jets look like?
Lets see...
Teams that come up in the scenario so far (at least theoretically) are:
Edmonton Oilers - Does Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli have an interest in Trouba? Well, judging by the fact Oilers coach Todd McLellan who was the bench boss for Team North America for the World Cup of Hockey tournament and he didn't insert Trouba into the line-up until Aaron Eckblad went down with a neck injury says a lot about how he feels about Trouba's talents. if they were to do a deal with the Jets, Darnell Nurse or or Oscar Klefbom would have to be in the discussion. However, in a few years when the Oilers re-sign Connor McDavid and other up-and-comers such as Leon Draisaitl, Trouba's salary could be the deal breaker here.
Philadelphia Flyers - The Flyers do have a couple of left-handed defencemen in their system. Russian junior Ivan Provorov and another Manitoba native, Elkhorn-born Travis Sanheim.
Provorov is a Western Hockey League defenceman of the year with the Brandon Wheat Kings, so the Flyers would probably balk at him being part of any trade anyway. However Flyers GM Ron Hextall must have watched the World Cup of Hockey and had visions of sugar plums in his head at the thought of pairing up Trouba with Calder trophy finalist Shayne Gostisbehere. The down side to this deal is that the Flyers are already hard up against the cap, so the Jets would have to take a substantial salary in return.
Colorado Avalanche - Back in the summer, there were rumblings of a possible straight-up player-for-player trade of Trouba for Matt Duchene. That may be still in the works, as long as Cheveldayoff doesn't show all his cards and try to deal Trouba too quickly, as I suspect he won't as time is on the Jets side right now. Duchene is under contract to the Avs for three more seasons at $6 million annually. No team really wants to trade within their own division, especially if the player going the other way may come back to bite you in the behind in a tight divisional race. But if this is the right deal for the Jets, Cheveldayoff won't hesitate in pulling the trigger.
Boston Bruins - The Bruins pretty much started this whole thing when rumors started circulating that the Bruins were considering an offer sheet for Trouba that would have had the Bears give up their next four first-round picks in the Entry Draft until 2021. That would have been the very best case scenario for the Jets and not much of a decision for Kevin Cheveldayoff. I mean, who wouldn't take that deal? Bruins GM Don Sweeney would have to be the first in line, kicking the tires, sort of speak, wouldn't he? One would think Torey Krug would have to be part of this deal that would have to include a draft pick or prospect. The Bruins however, would have to consider the salary cap as due to past deals in the last two seasons, they don't have much leeway in that department.
Arizona Coyotes - Mike Stone might be an interesting trade for the Jets as well as the Coyotes. Stone is a native-Winnipegger which True North always finds appealing, and he is entering his final year in his current contract with Arizona as he will become a unrestricted free agent come July 2017. The Coyotes also have a number of prospects, but not many left-handed defencemen the Jets would fit into their needs right now. Perhaps a trade package with a pick and a prospect might interest Cheveldayoff, but this seems to be a player-for-player now situation.
Detroit Red Wings - This one makes the most sense geographically speaking for Trouba. Not that he has much control in where he gets traded, but being from Michigan, this could be the best projected destination for the young blue-liner. Trouba would certainly be paired with and work well with Mike Green. How about a package involving Danny DeKeyser? The Jets have an obvious interest in DeKeyser as they tried to sign him as a free agent out of college. His cap hit is $5 million per for the next six years.
Toronto Maple Leafs - The Leafs have more than a few prospects in their cupboard, in fact judging from the list of "experts" that rank the NHL's best prospect pools, the Leafs are in the top three most times. One name that stands out is Jake Gardiner. Throw him in a package for Trouba and Lou Lamoriello may just bite.
The Rangers and Canucks are also said to be interested in making a deal with Winnipeg for Trouba, but they have issues with cap space as well.
An article by Lyle Richardson over at The Hockey News has more.
