According to a recent report from Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, the Winnipeg Jets have officially begun canvassing the NHL for a dance partner who has an interest in acquiring Jets captain Blake Wheeler.
Wheeler played just 65 games for Winnipeg last season, but was near a point-per-game player scoring 17 goals and adding 43 assists, totaling 60 points in his injury-shortened 2021-22 campaign.
The Jets are believed to be headed the route of either a top-to-bottom rebuild or an aggressive re-tooling this summer after failing to make the playoffs last season, and Wheeler and his $8.25M cap hit for 2 more seasons could be the first major domino for the Jets.
Until July 1st, Wheeler had a full no-move clause in his contract, which means that the Jets would have needed Wheeler's permission to make a deal. Now that July 1st has come and gone, Wheeler's full NMC reverts to a modified no-trade clause (M-NTC), which means the Jets can now ask the 35-year-old for a list of 5 teams that he would allow a trade to.
In terms of a potential fit, I would imagine that Wheeler will be looking for the best opportunity to win a Stanley Cup, so I'd bet dollars to donuts that there won't be any middling or bubble teams on his list. It's likely going to be 5 legit contenders who are all going to be near the cap, which could make things tricky.
That said, it's also entirely possible that Wheeler could approve a trade to a team that is not on his list to avoid enduring two years of a rebuild in Winnipeg before he'll have the chance to depart as a UFA.
