Jets Made a Mistake Not Trading for Sanheim

General manager (GM) Kevin Cheveldayoff did a great job with the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade and at the 2023 Entry Draft. It just felt like there was another opportunity to make the team better and acquire a player that would want to be in Winnipeg. The Jets already have a wealth of defensemen who are left-handed, but this would be a good problem to have. I have never heard a GM complain about having too many talented defensemen. Furthermore, Sanheim would have been the second-best defenseman on the 2023-24 Jets. Brenden Dillon is not getting any younger and only has one more year on his current contract. Sanheim, who is arguably better, could have been acquired for a similar cost to moving out Dillon to a contender.

Sanheim is a Difference Maker

Sanheim has all the qualities, intangibles and attributes the Jets are looking for when adding a player. He’s a 6-foot-3 left-handed defenseman who is signed for the next eight seasons. As of July 1, 2023, he currently holds a full no-move clause. Therefore, the Jets missed the opportunity to strike when they had the best opportunity to do so. There were many rumours from prominent sources that the Philadelphia Flyers were frantically trying to move Sanheim. This is pure speculation but I assume the Jets weren’t comfortable acquiring a player who’s coming off a down year and is signed for a very long time (through 2030-31).

A Prime Bounce-Back Candidate 

Sanheim has been featured in a minute munching role for the Flyers throughout his career. For the most part (every season except for last year) he controlled play while on the ice according to Money Puck. He would have been the Jets’ second-best defender on the team last year. Plus if he were to bounce back this season, he could have given Josh Morrissey a run for his money for the position of Winnipeg’s top defenseman.

Sanheim is a skilled defender that has Manitoba roots as he was born in Elkhorn, MB. While I myself disagree, I’ve seen a lot of Jets fans on social media upset that the Jets do not have many Western Canadians in their roster makeup. It has frustrated these fans as they have witnessed the Vegas Golden Knights be filled with them and have great success. Sanheim would have been a great opportunity to improve the roster and bring in a Western Canadian.

Addition Via Subtraction

By making a move for Sanheim, the Jets also had an opportunity to take advantage of Philadelphia’s cap space. Due to Sanheim’s $6.25 million cap hit, they would have had to include one of Blake Wheeler, Schmidt, or Pionk in the trade to make the money work. Schmidt currently possesses a small 10-team no-trade clause, while Pionk on the other hand has a six-team no-trade clause. Or Wheeler could have been traded and then bought out by Philadelphia to save the Jets’ organization over $5 million in dead cap space. All three players were on bloated contracts and I think Pionk’s would have been the most movable due to his brief resurgence in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The extremely small sample size of the playoffs could’ve potentially been enough for the Flyers to take a “flyer” on Pionk who had seven assists in five games against the Golden Knights.

Jets Missed Out On a Chance to Get Better

This scenario perfectly captures how the Jets have approached the defensive logjam over the past few seasons. It is extremely disappointing to continuously see them pass on opportunities to acquire a highly skilled defenseman. With the way things are currently projected for the 2023-24 season, it seems like they are going to run back an entirely identical defensive core. After watching these players all last season and playoffs, that does not make me very optimistic for the upcoming season.

The Jets have one difference maker currently on the backend in Morrissey and two solid players in Dylan Samberg and Dylan Demelo. Combine that with Connor Hellebuyck forming a solid tandem with freshly acquired Laurent Brossoit, the Jets are a playoff bubble team. Adding Sanheim could have been one of the acquisitions that moved them into legitimate contender territory.