Logan Stanley Will Return For Memorial Cup
Winnipeg Jets fans will get an extra boost this weekend if they decide to tune into the Memorial Cup. Logan Stanley, the Jets’ other first-round pick from last summer (to go along with Patrik Laine) will suit up for the Windsor Spitfires after missing much of the season with a knee injury. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that Stanley is ready to go for Friday’s opener that will see the Spitfires take on the QMJHL Champion Saint John Sea Dogs. Despite getting knocked out of the OHL playoffs in the first round, Windsor gets a berth in the tournament as the host city.
Stanley played just 35 games this season but was off to a great start, matching his season total from last year with 17 points. The 6’7″ defenseman had improved his skating and confidence before the injury, two things that he’ll need when stepping into the toughest tournament in junior hockey. The Spitfires have an incredible team that includes Canadiens’ top prospect Mikhail Sergachev, shifty Toronto prospect Jeremy Bracco and potential top-3 pick Gabe Vilardi among many others. They are by no means a pushover just because they were knocked out of the OHL postseason early.
Along with Sami Niku who signed today, Stanley represents the future for the Jets among left-handed defenseman. Now that Josh Morrissey has graduated to the NHL and isn’t really a prospect anymore, the long-term bet of Stanley needs to pay off. Still just 18-years old and learning how to use his huge frame, Stanley will almost certainly return to the OHL next season and try to put together a healthy campaign as the team’s #1 defender. He’s also a leading candidate for the Canadian World Junior team for next year’s tournament in Buffalo.
Remembering The Early Trades From 2015-16
The month between the All-Star game and the NHL trade deadline is an interesting one. While most of the action happens right at the end, even sometimes extending past the official deadline due to trade calls, sometimes big moves happen early in February.
Last season, 33 trades happened in the last few days (from February 26-29) before the deadline, but there were also seven deals that happened in the weeks immediately after the All-Star break. Those deals were just as important to the futures of their teams as any made on the day itself. Let’s look back at the seven deals made between February 9th and 25th last season.
February 9th: Toronto trades Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert and Cody Donaghey to Ottawa for Jared Cowen, Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Tobias Lindberg and a 2017 2nd-round pick.
Starting with a whopper, the Maple Leafs continued their drastic tear-down by trading their current captain and highest paid player to a cross-province and divisional rival. The Senators had been looking for another big-minute defenseman and thought Phaneuf could become that player for them.
While it hasn’t worked out perfectly for the Senators, Phaneuf has logged over 23 minutes a night since coming over and is having a fine if unspectacular season offensively this year. While his massive looks like an albatross on their books – he’ll have a cap-hit of $7MM (more than Erik Karlsson) until 2020-21 – the actual salary is much lower. The team also rid themselves of dead money in Cowen, Greening and Michalek and only had to pay the price of a middling prospect in Lindberg and what looks like a fairly late second-round pick.
Lou Lamoriello and the Maple Leafs worked some accounting magic, and have effectively rid themselves of the cap-hits for all three players, burying Greening and Michalek in the AHL and buying out Cowen after a lengthy dispute. Moving Phaneuf was an integral part of the plan going forward, and both teams are fighting for playoff spots a year later.
Jets Notes: Pavelec, Laine, Perreault, Stanley
Ondrej Pavelec’s return to the NHL has been a successful one so far as he has reeled off a pair of wins for the Jets since being recalled last week. As Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press writes though, he’s not thinking ahead towards next season and if he could be more than just a short-term stopgap for Winnipeg:
“I’m not thinking about next year — at all. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I’m gonna be a free agent, I guess, for the first time. I have no idea what I’m gonna do. There’s no point, there’s no reason to think about next year. Whatever happens, happens.”
Pavelec is in the final year of a five year, $19.5MM contract and while it’s unlikely he’ll be able to command a new deal near that same $3.9MM AAV, he should be able to catch on as a backup somewhere. Although the Jets have youngsters Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson in the fold beyond this season, both have battled inconsistency which has led some to believe that a veteran number two would be a good idea for Winnipeg to play behind Hellebuyck. The 29 year old Pavelec should get a chance in these final few months to make his case that he could be that veteran.
Other notes from Winnipeg:
- The team is hoping high scoring rookie winger Patrik Laine will be available to play the Sharks on Tuesday, Sawatzky notes in a separate column. He has missed the last seven games after sustaining a concussion on January 7th against the Sabres. Head coach Paul Maurice wouldn’t say for sure if Laine will return but said he is “very, very close”.
- After a slow start that was compounded by a lower body injury that caused him to miss 14 games, left winger Mathieu Perreault is starting to round back into form, writes Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. After recording just eight points in his first 25 games, he has picked up eight more in his last ten outings alongside Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler. Perreault is a popular choice to be left unprotected in June’s expansion draft and accordingly, some have wondered if the team will try to trade him even though he signed a four year, $16.5MM extension back in July. If he continues his current stretch over the next month, the Jets could have some options when it comes to moving him if they decided to go that route. [Update: Perreault sustained an upper body injury tonight against Anaheim, the team reports via Twitter.]
- 2016 first rounder (18th overall) Logan Stanley will miss the next four months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, the Windsor Spitfires (his junior team) announced. Not only will that end his regular season, it also should keep him out of the lineup through the playoffs and will leave his participation in the Memorial Cup in question as well. The Spitfires get an automatic entry into the Canadian junior tournament as they are the hosting team.