Some of this was always baked into the pie when they went back to Winnipeg, a smaller and rather isolated northern city without an enormous pool of corporate support, a passionate but smaller fan base due to population size, and brutal winters.
I’ve family in Winnipeg. My dad was born there. It’s not a draw for older players with a modicum of choice.
This was never going to be an even playing field. Nobody promised the Jets 2.0 a rose garden. The rules were never going to be changed to accommodate the reality that it’s perennially going to be last on player destination wish lists.
That’s a team that has to be built through the draft, acquiring young players and seeing them depart more often than not after putting in their time. July 1st and free agency and veterans with trade protection is not how this team is going to thrive. That was never going to be a model for success there.
To some degree this applies elsewhere in Canada this week, due to climate and taxes, but all those factors are there to an extreme degree in that Manitoba market. I’m not honestly sure if we’re making an argument here to change the league’s rules or pointing out why going back might not have been ideal in the first place.