Brandon Tanev

Winnipeg Jets: Time to trade Alex Burmistrov

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:28 p.m. ET

Fansided, Dylan Pare/FanSided via Jets White Out

It was only a few years ago that the Winnipeg Jets lost Alex Burmistrov to the KHL, but since he has returned, he hasn’t really been needed.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Burmistrov is not part of the Winnipeg Jets “Future Plan”. He’s playing minimal minutes each game, and isn’t playing very well when he does get to play.

There were even reports that Kevin Chevaldayoff (Winnipeg Jets GM) was letting teams know that Burmistrov is available.

Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

One of Burmistrov’s main problems is that he’s an “East-West Player” and not a “North-South Player”, meaning that instead of going up, and down the ice, he goes side to side, and tries to dangle.

Burmistrov, a former 1st round, 8th overall pick, hasn’t scored one goal in all of his twenty three games this season with the Jets. All he currently has is two assists.

When I watch him play, he just isn’t a very strong player. Half the time he’s literally invisible, and the other half of the time he’s making awful mistakes that cost the Jets goals against. It’s really hard for Jets fans to watch.

The Winnipeg Jets just sent Brandon Tanev to the AHL, even though he has been playing much better than Burmistrov. It could be because they want to raise his trade value, then deal him.

Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

If the Jets are going to trade him, they obviously need to find a team who wants him. They would most likely move him to a team with weak forward depth for a pick or a lower potential prospect. The Blackhawks could make sense because they are going to probably go for another Stanley Cup run, and thier bottom two lines aren’t what any championship team should look like. The only thing is Burmistrov might not even be able to crack their weak bottom six.

Would another possible option be Vancouver? They aren’t much of a team, and Burmistrov could play some shifts, and develop better than in Winnipeg. They hopefully would be able to get something a little more useful than Burmistrov in return.

I sure hope the Jets are able to find a suitor quick, so they can open up some space in the roster for younger, more talented players.