Jets decline. If the are fully out of the playoff picture, they may well move on for Copp but they are unlikely to trade for a LHD prospect with third pairing upside (according to The Athletic). Heinola and Samberg project higher than Joseph according to their rankings.

It doesn't have to be POJ. It can be Poulin, Legare, Hallander, etc. Whatever WPG needs to make the deal.

"Whatever needs to happen to get MAF down to $1.75MM"

You got it! PIT 2022 1st OR PIT 2022 2nd and Joel Blomqvist.

Just reading the Athletic's take on Pittsburgh's prospect pool, it seems pretty light. If prospects are the currency being used, then I suspect Winnipeg would look elsewhere.

No they should take that and run!

2 things…
Can we make it Maniscalco over POJ?
What are KKs contract expectations?

I think there's too much focus on the prospect part. It should be whether or not Kapanen is either a better fit than Copp or makes more financial sense than Copp considering Kapanen is an RFA. Truthfully, this is an overpayment by the Pens when you consider a 2nd is being thrown in as well. This is a pretty darn good return for Copp if in fact WPG decides to move him.

Legare or Hallander would be preferred over POJ I'd think, Jets have lots of Lhd prospects that are quite good.

I can't see anything in it for Winnipeg. If they move Copp, it will be to gain cap space. Kapanen will likely be looking for close to what Copp wants and isn't as good and doesn't play a needed position, so the Jets are far better off keeping Copp. The second is alright, but none of Pittsburgh's projects are interesting or are better than anything Winnipeg currently has.

The way I see it... Kapanen is playing pretty inconsistent right now. Nights where he's invisible, other nights where he's the most dynamic player on the ice. So his contract will likely be in the area of Jake Debrusk's current contract: 1 year at ~$3.75MM. Assuming Copp's next contract is somewhere in the ballpark of $5.25MM AAV, that saves $1.5MM in space.

I’d prefer the first

I guess it's a possibility if Copp won't re-sign. It would probably depend then on how comfortable the Jets are with Kapanen's contract ask and if they could agree on any extra picks/prospects if they think they are required.

Not giving you flower for free