Please don’t trade Copp for a bag of pucks we can afford him

Still so tight for cap space, would probably demote Riikola to the AHL and keep Niku as a cheaper #7 dman if this happened.

Gotta wonder if Chevy didn't like what he was getting from Pionk's camp so he acquired Schmidt and Dillon.

That would be quite the plot twist.

Blueger is elite defensively and a top 5 penalty killer and much cheaper. Riikola is a solid depth guy and you also get rid of Beaulieu and get a pick.

Doesn't look like the Jets can afford Copp. Ates (The Athletic) put together a likely 22 man roster -- accounting for Little's LTIR -- and came up with just $10.7 million to spend on Pionk, Stanley, and Copp (I guess Kovacevic doesn't matter because he will be sub- $1million and in the minors). He has Stanley at $1 million, Pionk at $6 million (just below Morrissey money) which would leave $3.7 million for Copp, which isn't enough for a long-term deal.

That is just enough to sign them

Nope. On a long term deal, Copp will be in the $4+ million neighbourhood.

Here’s my plan then bye bye Stanley welcome Samberg

Negotiations with both Copp and pionk never even started until after those trades were made. That came straight from Chevy too. So that theory is thrown out, I think it’s inevitable that Copp is traded. Likely asking for too much as that’s his agents MO and Jets cannot let it get to arbitration. I’m expecting a lacklustre return for Copp. Something in the neighborhood of a b prospect and a 3rd at best.

That only gets you $75k net savings.

Well, we're taking Chevy at his word but don't we think he already has an idea of what these guys are looking for well ahead of actual negotiations?
I've heard that Pionk likes Winnipeg so I really hope Chevy isn't playing too much hardball with a guy that actually wants to be here, is a good player and plays a position that can be hard to fill that also the organization is very thin at.
Seems like he's waited too long to trade Copp and the return will likely be lower, guess we'll see, maybe other GM's aren't as high on Copp as so many Jets fans seem to be, he might be asking for 5M+ as he was on pace for a 58 point season BUT it was a unique year and was the first time he actually broke the 30 point mark, if I was an actual GM I'd very reluctant to give Copp anymore then $3.5M.

For reference, Evolving Hockey's contract projections (from a couple of months ago) for Copp and Pionk.

Neal Pionk
Term AAV (mil) Probability
1yr $4.982 6%
2yr $5.114 6%
3yr $5.891 6%
4yr $5.976 34%
5yr $6.434 7%
6yr $6.862 5%
7yr $6.418 26%
8yr $7.422 10%

Andrew Copp
Term AAV (mil) Probability
1yr $4.067 6%
2yr $4.276 12%
3yr $4.697 11%
4yr $5.093 29%
5yr $5.392 17%
6yr $5.928 14%
7yr $6.134 10%
8yr $6.854 1%

Every team has a model (this one is similar to the one done by Matt Cane who then went to the Devils) and every agency likely has a consultant with a model.

This Matt Cane guy went to work for the Devils?

Don't think Copp will ever live up to a $5M contract, think any team who signs him to that will regret it.

I agree. It would be a huge risk to drop that kind of money based on one year of good stats.

I think most Jet fans would be rightfully upset if that's all the Jets get back for Copp.

He published and updated his model for a few seasons and then he stopped several years ago when he got a job either to run the Devils' analytics team or to be a part of the Devils' analytics team. The Evolving Hockey model has similar specifications to Cane's model.

Yes but it's cuz Beau makes too much. Trade him and we have enough for a 4M Copp

Taking Beaulieu out and replacing him with a league minimum guy brings you to $4.2 million. Just have to run a 22 (instead of 23) man roster for the full year and hope there aren't many injuries.

22 man is fine as we have the Moose in town

If there is an injury, then the roster increases (without salary relief) because of the replacement is called up. The Moose option of running 22 with an injury only works well when both the Jets and the Moose are in the same city at the same time, but if they are in different cities then nope.