While the fact that Kyle Connor received a no-move clause and significant signing bonus money ($41MM) in his eight-year, $96MM extension with the Jets may not seem like a big deal, it was for Winnipeg. As Pierre LeBrun noted in his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), those were two elements that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff had never put in a contract before. However, Connor’s agent, Wasserman’s Rich Evans, told LeBrun that they were looking for a ‘free agent’ deal, one that typically carries those components and the Jets eventually agreed to those. Now that they’ve done it, it will be interesting to see if Cheveldayoff becomes more open to putting those in contracts or if they’ll be looking at this as a one-time situation.
More from the Central:
- Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson will miss tonight’s game against Montreal due to an upper-body injury, relays WGN’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link). Head coach Jeff Blashill noted that the veteran is listed as day-to-day but could miss a week. The injury occurred partway through Thursday’s loss to Boston. Dickinson had a tough year last season, notching just seven goals and nine assists in 59 games after setting new career highs in goals (22) and points (35) the year before. Now in a contract year, this minor setback isn’t a great way to start it.
- Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin is expected to return to the lineup tonight against Columbus, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 32-year-old underwent surgery to repair an upper-body injury in June and didn’t suit up at all in the preseason or the season opener while recovering from it. Brodin has long been a key shutdown defender and penalty killing anchor for Minnesota and is expected to jump right back into that role in his return.