Dreger: Cheveldayoff may not be ready to pay Perron-like trade price

Darren Dreger was on Winnipeg’s TSN 1290 on Wednesday afternoon.

On if the Jets will use their glut of defencemen to help land a forward on the trade market, once everyone is healthy:

“Yeah, well, I mean that’s likely what he’ll use as the bait. But although there’s a fair bit of chatter... there’s not a lot of concrete or substantive negotiations on the trade front, and I include Winnipeg in that. Winnipeg has needs and they’re well-documented. We know that they’d like to add a top-nine forward. And every team wants to improve their blueline. Winnipeg, collectively, has the assets to do it when they’re healthy. They can dive into their system and perhaps consider throwing in some prospects as well if the right player is available.

“But man, it’s tough to improve in-season, unless you’re willing to pay the premium. And I’ll give Jim Rutherford credit of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’d been searching for that top-six guy. He had identified David Perron pretty early in that process. Craig MacTavish and the Oilers weren’t willing to part with him earlier in the season. And when they were, it was because Rutherford and the Penguins paid the premium to get him - a first round draft pick and a character guy in Rob Klinkhammer.

“Those are the type of assets that you have to be willing to throw into a deal to improve your club, and I don’t know that Kevin Cheveldayoff is at that place just yet.”

Source: TSN 1290/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

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