Will the Jets trade Neal Pionk this offseason?
Photo credit: The Hockey News
As we go full steam ahead into the NHL mid offseason, Jets fans are wondering what Kevin Cheveldayoff will do regarding defenceman Neal Pionk.
Neal Pionks 5th season with the Jets generated some mixed results. His game on the blue line is for the most part pretty solid, but it comes with some inconsistencies as well.
An NHL fan vote for the best top 100 defenders in the league was published yesterday and had Pionk ranked 97th in the league. This is quite bullish in terms of bolstering his value if GM Kevin Cheveldayoff ever decided to potentially pull the trigger on trading Pionk.
Pionk got 5 goals, compared to 10 last season, but got 28 assists, compared to 23 last season. Pionk notched 33 points in total and was a +9. One career high was set for Pionk this year, but it was in penalty minutes, with 63.
Pionk is entering the final year of his campaign with the Jets and Kevin Cheveldayoff will need to start doing some critical thinking about his situation.
Pionk signed a 4 year, 23.5 million dollar deal. Currently at 5.8 million per year, Pionk hasn't fully justified his cap hit, but as mentioned he's shown some flashes of being a fully capable top 4 defence.
One can only think that being ranked in the top 100 increases his trade value significantly. With showing signs of top 4 capability, Jets enthusiasts seem encouraged to re-sign Pionk to a short term deal next season rather than trading him away.
| POLL | ||
12 JUILLET | 176 ANSWERS Will the Jets trade Neal Pionk this offseason? Should the Winnipeg Jets keep Neal Pionk? | ||
| Yes | 64 | 36.4 % |
| No | 112 | 63.6 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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