- The Winnipeg Jets scored a big return in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade.
- The Jets landed future captain Blake Wheeler in a deal with the Bruins.
- The Jets landed Dustin Byfuglien in a massive swap with the Blackhawks.
The Winnipeg Jets have a complicated history.
They joined the NHL in 1979, lost 106 of their first 160 games, and then won just two playoff series before the club relocated to Phoenix in 1996.
The Jets would return to the NHL some 15 years later after the Atlanta Thrashers relocated ahead of the 2011-2012 season.
Both iterations of the Jets have made some massive trades, but this countdown will focus on the deals that had the biggest impact on the current iteration of the franchise.
1. Pierre-Luc Dubois for Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a Second-Round Pick
The Jets knew they were in between a rock and a hard place with Pierre-Luc Dubois. The former No. 3 overall pick had made it clear he wasn’t interested in signing an extension in Winnipeg, so the Jets made the decision to trade him to the Los Angeles Kings, rather than risk losing him for nothing.
At first, it seemed like both teams got a fair shake on the transaction, but since it’s become clear that this was a home run for the Jets.
Dubois was traded from Los Angeles to Washington after just one season, while Gabriel Vilardi has developed into a terrific first-line winger for Winnipeg.
2. Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik for Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart
This was a win-win trade.
While the Boston Bruins would end up winning the 2011 Stanley Cup with Rich Peverley playing a solid depth role, the Jets landed their future captain in Blake Wheeler.
With Wheeler leading the way, the Jets went from an NHL betting long shot to a consistent playoff team.
Wheeler was the franchise leader in points and games played when he left the team in 2023.
3. Joey Crabb, Marty Reasoner, Jeremy Morin, First-Round Pick, and a Second-Round Pick for Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager, and Akim Aliu
The Jets (then known as the Thrashers) were in a fortuitous spot in this trade. The star-studded Chicago Blackhawks were in a cap crunch and needed to make room by moving out Dustin Byfuglien, who had just played a key part in helping Chicago win the 2010 Stanley Cup.
Byfuglien would go from a supporting role with the Blackhawks to a starring one during his tenure with the Jets.
The man known as “Big Buff” recorded five 50-point seasons in his nine years with the Jets and he led Winnipeg on a magical run to the Western Conference final in 2018 despite being a long shot according to the hockey betting lines prior to that season.
4. Patrik Laine and a Third-Round Pick for Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jack Roslovic
This trade was a blockbuster on paper, but the results have been underwhelming across the board.
Patrik Laine and Dubois were drafted second and third overall, respectively, in the 2016 NHL Draft, and both players got off to strong starts in their first few seasons.
But things began to spiral for both players after the COVID-shortened seasons, and the Jets and Blue Jackets thought the best course of action was to swap their problems.
The hockey world gasped when the deal was made, but the fallout from the trade has been pedestrian.
Dubois put up decent numbers with Winnipeg, and Laine had some moments with the Blue Jackets, but both players are now with new clubs.
5. Jacob Trouba for Neal Pionk and a First-Round Pick
This was a tricky trade to win, but general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff pulled it off.
There was no secret that Jacob Trouba was angling for a move to the New York Rangers, but even with very little leverage the Jets were able to land Neal Pionk and a first-round pick for the hard-hitting defenceman.
Pionk has been a steady influence for Winnipeg since the trade, while Trouba’s tenure in Manhattan was polarizing, at best.
6. Ivan Vishnevskiy and a Second-Round Pick for Andrew Ladd
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Jets (then the Thrashers) were able to take advantage of a cap crunch in Chicago to land a franchise cornerstone.
After winning Stanley Cups with the Carolina Hurricanes and Blackhawks, the Jets were more than happy to take Ladd off Chicago’s books and build a culture around him.
The club named Ladd captain soon thereafter and the British Columbia native wore the ‘C’ in the team’s first season back in Manitoba.
7. Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, and Jason Kasdorf for Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, Drew Stafford, Brendan Lemieux, and a First-Round Pick
Evander Kane had shown flashes of promise with the Jets since he was drafted fourth overall in the 2009 NHL Draft, but his off-ice issues clearly became too much of a distraction for a team that was trying to take the next step.
Thus, the team shipped Kane and Zach Bogosian to Buffalo for a package built around Tyler Myers.
Myers would end up being the most valuable piece of this entire puzzle, but this deal falls into the same category as the Laine-for-Dubois swap.
It was a whopper when it was made, but the actual impact didn’t live up to the hype.
