Winnipeg Adds Niederreiter in Trade with Divisional Opponent Nashville

Nino Niederreiter will remain a Central Division mainstay, through at least the 2023-24 season. On Saturday afternoon, the Winnipeg Jets acquired the 30-year-old winger from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2024 second round draft selection. The trade helps fill the hole left by youngster Cole Perfetti, to whom will miss the next two months with an upper-body injury suffered in a game against the New Jersey Devils last week. Having already missed the past three games, Jets' head coach Rick Bowness made it clear that he will be out long term, despite not needing surgery for his ailment. Niederreiter will likely step up into his place on the team's second line with fellow winger Blake Wheeler. With the Jets in the midst of a scoring slump, the two will either be centred by Pierre-Luc Dubois or Mark Scheifele. Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers will likely serve as the wingers between the other centreman. In order to allow Niederreiter onto the roster, Winnipeg needed to send down Waiver-exempt forward Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, who saw his AHL recall dissipate with news of the trade. The newcomer, however, will not be in the Jets' lineup on Sunday, as he is a Swiss citizen and has only previously played in the United States. He is in the process of acquiring a Canadian work Visa, but for the time being, he will need to wait it out until all governmental regulations have been attended to. It is expected he will have cleared all hurdles by Tuesday night's home game against the Los Angeles Kings. Through 56 games for the Predators so far this season, Niederreiter has 18 goals and 28 points. Last season, he put up 24 goals and 44 points for the Carolina Hurricanes. For his career, the 6-foot-2, 218-pound winger has 199 goals and 396 points in 788 regular season games. He has played 82 career postseason games, to which he has scored 15 times and added another 15 assists. Originally a top-10 pick back in 2010, Niederreiter has also suited up with the New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild over his 12-year NHL career. The best part about this trade for the Jets is the fact that it isn't solely a rental situation for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and Co. Niederreiter is still in the first season of a two-year, $8 million contract signed this past offseason, meaning he will remain in the blue and white through the 2023-24 season.