ANALYSIS: What upgrades could surging Jets make in season’s second half?

With the recent flip of the calendar year and the second half of the season just a mere week away, it’s probably not too early or irresponsible to start considering what Winnipeg might do at the trade deadline or even beforehand.

After all, this is a team that appears destined for the playoffs and beyond — a tight-knit group that might just be on the verge of something special this season, or at least trending in that direction.

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Sure, there’s a lot of hockey to be played, but it’s never too early to start assessing where you might be able to improve and what might be available on the market to do that, especially as teams continue to fall out of contention.

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For those around the Jets on a daily basis, it’s often felt that upgrading in two specific areas would be prudent, centre ice and a right-hand shot defenceman, although doing either would come at a healthy price.

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And one also wonders if something might come down the pike sooner-than-later, as Kyle Connor, Rasmus Kupari, Ville Heinola and David Gustafsson get closer to returning to full health.

Of course, Connor would slide back into his spot on the top line, but the other three would create a further logjam on the roster that already has defencemen Declan Chisholm and Logan Stanley eating more press box meals than the off-ice officials this season.

And while the window appears to be wide open for the Jets to climb to great heights this coming spring, the extra bodies soon to be hanging around the team will need to be dealt with, and swiftly, as only one of them could find the Moose as a landing zone without waivers.

So as the calendar has flipped to the new year and the second half of the season is just about upon us, one wonders if the Jets will start flipping some assets to improve their team now or closer to the trade deadline.

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