With the NHL's Olympic roster freeze coming into effect at midnight on February 4, Winnipeg Jets' general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff should be a popular man within the league's 31 other front office staffs.
With his team currently enduring the worst season it has had in both recent and distant memory, the league's second-longest tenured GM is in a place no one expected him to be following last season's Presidents' Trophy winning campaign.
Winnipeg could become just the fifth team in NHL history to miss the postseason after finishing first the year before. But the Jets could also do something way more catastrophic: they could be competing for the first overall selection at June's 2026 NHL Draft.
Yes, things have been that bad for Winnipeg over the 2025-26 season.
And you really can't blame injuries for the significant portion of the year. Sure, Connor Hellebuyck missed three weeks with a knee injury and Dylan Samberg did not start the year until November, but those injuries pale in comparison to Winnipeg's record even with their stars in the lineup.
The Jets are currently tied with St. Louis for the 30th spot league-wide, and despite their 6-3-2 record in their last 11 games, remain 10 points out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
It's just not worth the effort to fight for that final spot only to get a first round matchup with juggernaut - and recent postseason fiend - Colorado or Dallas.
A surge up the standings might make the typical, fair-weather Winnipeg fan happy in point production. But it's the true die-hards who will take more offence from the compounding victories.
Each point gained is a percentage point lost at the first overall selection this June.
Sure, Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg look very appealing, but at this point, one of them is Vancouver's to lose and the other will likely go to one of the teams within that bottom-five standings placement (lottery odds have not been generous to the biggest losers over the last few seasons).
A player of McKenna's or Stenberg's caliber will immediately fix offensive issues left gaping by Nikolaj Ehlers' departure this past summer.
For Cheveldayoff and Co., the biggest need is that of the 'develop' aspect of True North's tried and true 'draft and develop' mantra.
At this point, the team may have actually lost more players than it has gained through the development stage: think Sami Niku, Rutger McGroarty, Pierre-Luc Dubois (not a draft pick), Evander Kane, Jacob Trouba, Patrik Laine - and now recently Luke Schenn, Ville Heinola and Brad Lambert? At one point Logan Stanley had event expressed his desire to leave the city.
At this point, with the Olympic roster freeze (February 4) and the NHL's trade deadline (March 6) fast approaching, Cheveldayoff has a number of priorities on his hands.
The first is that of allowing his younger players a chance to shine.
That said, packaging up a struggling veteran forward with a more highly-regarded piece (Stanley) could be a centrepiece to Winnipeg's long-term success.
Players considered to be more highly sought after are that of Stanley, Schenn and Cole Perfetti - all of whom could benefit from a change of scenery.
Perfetti should demand the highest return, with Stanley a close second.
Veteran forwards Nino Niederreiter, Tanner Pearson, Gus Nyquist and Vlad Namestnikov could also be considered moveable candidates.
They should be no-brainer 'throw-ins' to complete larger trades involving Stanley, Schenn or Perfetti that would demand significant returns on draft capital.
With Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, Colby Barlow, Brayden Yager, Parker Ford and Danny Zhilkin all waiting in the wings, the time is now to truly bring that 'develop' aspect to the fold.
There is no reason to keep those young prospects in the minors. The time is now to sell the aging vets and promote the farm - Jonathan Toews aside.
Let the losses keep piling up, shut down injured players preventatively, waive the leftovers who weren't picked up as trade bait and watch the ping pong balls stack up.
Now is the time - to let off the throttle.