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Tucker Poolman, Marko Dano Re-Sign With Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets have locked up one of their depth defensemen, signing Tucker Poolman to a three-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $775K and take Poolman right through to unrestricted free agency in 2021. The team has also re-signed Marko Dano to a one-year $800K contract, crossing out another one of their arbitration eligible restricted free agents. Dano was scheduled for an arbitration hearing on July 30th, but will now not need to travel to Toronto for the meeting.

Though Poolman and Dano both had to get new contracts, the Jets still have a remarkable number of restricted free agents left to sign this summer. Josh Morrissey, Nicolas Kerdiles, J.C. Lipon, Nic Petan and Eric Comrie are all still sitting without contracts. None of those four are scheduled for arbitration though, giving the team some respite from the ticking clock that the hearings brought.

The 25-year old Poolman only played in 24 games with the Jets this season, but also wasn’t given the opportunity to develop in the minor leagues. The former University of North Dakota standout served as the extra man on many nights, something that he may have to suffer through again in 2018-19. When Morrissey is signed, the Jets will have eight defensemen signed to one-way contracts, with Poolman earning the lowest amount of the group. Perhaps he’s fine with the role he’s been given though, as a three-year deal is longer than many expected. It actually buys out a year of unrestricted free agency, but gives Poolman barely a raise on the minimum NHL salary.

For Dano, this may be one of his last chances to prove that he’s an NHL regular. After being selected in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets five years ago, Dano has failed to secure a full-time spot in three different organizations and played only 23 games for the Jets last season. He’ll turn 24 this November and with 45 points in 130 career games, there may not be another one-way contract waiting for him in free agency next summer.

Jets Re-Sign Brandon Tanev

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After going through an arbitration hearing with defenseman Jacob Trouba, the Jets were able to avoid that step with winger Brandon Tanev, announcing (Twitter link) that they have inked him to a one-year contract.  Team reporter Jamie Thomas adds via Twitter that the deal is worth $1.15MM.  That represents a nice raise on the $700K he earned last season while he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer.

Tanev is coming off of his best NHL season, posting eight goals and ten assists in 61 games in 2017-18 while logging 12:40 per night in ice time.  He followed that up with a strong showing in the postseason, collecting four goals and two helpers in just 17 games while seeing an uptick in playing time to 17:19 per night.

The 26-year-old figures to reprise his role in Winnipeg’s bottom six and should once again play an important role on their penalty kill.  He averaged 1:58 per night shorthanded, third among all forwards.  For perspective, center Adam Lowry, who also re-signed earlier in the week, ranked first among forwards at 2:02 per night.

Meanwhile, the Jets still have plenty of work to do on the free agent front.  The team still has seven restricted free agents to sign, headlined by defenseman Josh Morrissey.  Of that group, only forward Marko Dano has an arbitration hearing on the horizon.  They have more than $10MM of cap space to work with so they shouldn’t have any trouble getting anyone locked up although they will likely want to leave themselves some space for any in-season moves as well as expected bonuses from their entry-level players such as wingers Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor.

Winnipeg Jets’ Jacob Trouba Awarded One-Year, $5.5MM Contract From Arbitrator

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Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba was awarded a one-year, $5.5MM contract from an arbitrator, according to Elliotte Friedman. The deal is an even split down the middle as the Jets submitted a $4MM bid, while Trouba requested a salary at $7MM.

The deal is very cap friendly for the Jets who could have seen a much larger sum awarded to Trouba. The Athletic’s Sean Tierney reports that the salary comparisons included Duncan Keith, Andrej Sekera, Tyler Myers, Justin Schultz, Colton Parayko and Jeff Petry.

Now with the deal complete, the Jets must turn their attention to their other restricted free agents. The team still has to deal with Brandon Tanev, Marko Dano, Tucker Poolman, Josh Morrissey, Nicolas Kerdiles, Eric Comrie, Nicolas Petan and J.C. Lipon. With the Trouba deal, the team will have less than $13MM in cap space to lock them up. However, that number will be reduced even further once performance bonuses have been added into the cap, making it closer to $9.3MM.

Regardless, the biggest concern was Trouba’s deal, which the team has 48 hours to accept it (which they will) or allow him to walk away now as an unrestricted free agent. While this relieves immediate pressure, the one-year deal suggests the team must go through the same process once again next season as he will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights for the 2019-20 season before he will become an unrestricted free agent. The team has to hope they can come to a long-term agreement at some point in the next year before losing him before the 2020-21 season. With the possibility that Trouba is not interest in signing long-term with the Jets, Trouba’s name could find itself in the rumor mill for quite a long time. The team, however, cannot talk extension until Jan. 1, 2019.

Central Notes: Trouba, Crawford, Wild

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The Winnipeg Jets have proven to be a place where winning and success is starting to take fruition. Over the last couple of years, the team hasn’t had much trouble signing their key free agents, whether it’s Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers or Connor Hellebuyck.

That’s why its troubling to see the Jets and defenseman Jacob Trouba going to arbitration, the first player to take the Jets to arbitration in their history. This will be the second time the two sides have gone against each other in contract negotiations with the first encounter being quite heated and made it clear that Trouba didn’t want to be in Winnipeg. Considering that only one case in out of 55 last year went to arbitration, this just is another bad sign, according to Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free-Press.

No matter what happens, the damage will have been done as arbitration only increases animosity between teams. With still lingering effects to the 15-game holdout between Trouba and the Jets, this will only worsen the problem. Wiecek suggests the team has two years to fix the problem and should start looking for a trade partner as soon as possible, because no matter how much he claims he loves it in Winnipeg, it looks more and more like he’ll bolt the first chance he reaches unrestricted free agency. Trading him as soon as possible will only bring home the best returns, which would be another solid defenseman.

  • Mark Lazerus of The Chicago Sun-Times writes that the Chicago Blackhawks will know more about the status of goaltender Corey Crawford in the coming weeks. The veteran goaltender, who missed a large portion of the season last year, is expected to start skating soon and so far looks to be on track to returning this season. “I ran into him [Monday] and talked to him for a while,” general manager Stan Bowman said on Tuesday. “Things are looking good. He said he hasn’t done a whole lot of on-ice stuff yet, but a few of our guys were just starting to skate today, as well. I think they’ll get ramped up over the next six weeks and get more on-ice preparation. I know he’s been training off-ice. Hopefully, things are good.”
  • The Minnesota Wild announced their new affiliation with the Allen Americans as their new ECHL franchise for the 2018-19 season. The team, based in Allen, Texas, has been a successful franchise over its nine years of existence, making the playoffs nine straight years including five years in the CHL and another four in the ECHL. They won the President’s Cup in 2013 and 2014, while winning the Kelly Cup in 2015 and 2016. The Wild used their Rapid City Rush last year as their ECHL affiliate.

Jets Renew Affiliation Agreement With ECHL Jacksonville

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  • The Jets announced that they have renewed their affiliation agreement with the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL for next season. 2017-18 marked the inaugural year for the franchise and they struggled in the standings, finishing fifth in the South Division.  There are still several teams that have yet to announce affiliations and with only 27 in the league, at least four NHL teams won’t have an affiliate for next year.  While teams without specific affiliates can loan their players elsewhere via a working agreement, they can’t technically share an affiliation with another NHL team.

Behind The Scenes Of The Jacob Trouba Arbitration Case

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Arbitration cases rarely go through the hearing stage in the NHL, so for Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets to have reached this point in their negotiations – on the first scheduled day of hearing dates no less – is a major surprise. TSN’s Sara Orlesky reports that the two sides did in fact sit down for their hearing with the arbitrator and that a decision will be handed down in the next 48 hours. The Jets and Trouba have until that decision is made to agree to a deal on their own terms, likely a long-term extension, otherwise they will be stuck with a one-year deal and have to go through the process once again next summer.

So what exactly did it look like in the hearing today? Likely not what many would think. While the player and team are present during presentations to the arbitrator, neither team executives nor the player’s representation are in charge of arguing the case. The NHL Players’ Association handles the player side, while the teams use one of three lawyers to present their side: Dan Rabinowitz and Andre Nowakowski of Miller-Thomson in Toronto or Andre Lepage of BFC in Montreal. Each side makes their case based on briefs that they have previously filed to both the opposing side and the arbitrator, bringing in exhibits to support their arguments as well. The briefs contain the salary figures sought; the Jets reportedly filed at $4MM and Trouba at $7MM. It is a wide spread for the abitrator to consider and he may decide at or in between those figures.

What is the content of the arguments? Also somewhat contrary to what one may think, the two sides spend little time actually arguing the merits of the player, at least in absolute terms. The backbone of a salary arbitration case is the comparable players. For Trouba, the NHLPA would generally have comparable players that make $7MM or more to show that their filing number is fair, while the team reps will use comparable players around $4MM or less to prove their value. Each side will identify strengths or weaknesses to the player and find comparables that they can use to strengthen those points. The use of concrete search criteria to choose comparable players is key and often results in both sides tweaking their criteria ever so much that it includes only player who benefit their case. There are also rules regarding the players used: they must be current contracts, they must be recent contracts, and they must be contracts signed by a player who was or would have been an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. Any deviation from this criteria would seriously injure the persuasiveness of the use of that comparable player. Other things that cannot be considered are off-ice behavior, even including something like Trouba’s previous contract holdout, or the team’s salary cap or roster depth status, which the Jets wish they could use in this case.

So who might be comparables in the Trouba case? The filing numbers for both sides suggest that there could be a wide range of possibilities. Using only the most basic metrics – games played and points-per-game – players like Justin Schultz, Colton Parayko, and Tyson Barrie lie right in the middle of the two values at $5.5MM and either side might struggle to use them effectively. Unfortunately for the NHLPA, those appear to be their best options. The case for any might be percentage of the salary cap rather than actual salary, given the major jump this off-season. Players like Torey Krug, Jared Spurgeon, Sami Vatanen and Dmitry Orlov would favor the Jets slightly more, but their home run option is likely a player like David Savard at $4.25MM.

After all the comparables have been presented, arguments have been made, and rebuttals and closing comments have been heard, the arbitrator will take his time to make the decision on just how much Trouba is worth based on everything he has witnessed. During that time, the two sides – who have also been enlightened to some extent – also come back together and talk contract terms. In recent years, hearings have more often than not led to independent agreements and not official decisions. Will it be the same for Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets? We will know soon enough.

Adam Lowry Re-Signs With Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets have avoided arbitration with forward Adam Lowry, signing him to a three-year $8.75MM contract. Lowry was scheduled to have his arbitration hearing on Sunday July 22nd, but will no longer be on the docket. This deal will carry him right through to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2021.

Lowry, 25, played just 45 games this season for the Jets but put up the best offensive pace of his young career. With 21 points in that shortened season, he was an effective bottom-six player for a club that has one of the deepest forward groups in the NHL. Unfortunately that point production dried up in the postseason when Lowry was held to just two assists in 17 games, but with the departure of Paul Stastny in free agency he was a must-sign to keep the Jets strong down the middle. The team will likely use Lowry once again in a third-line center role, where his size and physicality can continue to punish defenders and opposing forwards.

Earning just under $3MM, Lowry now becomes a potential bargain for the Jets if he can continue to contribute offensively. The team has plenty of other restricted free agents looking for big pay days—including Jacob Trouba who will argue his $7MM arbitration ask tomorrow—and it looked like they may be in trouble financially. With Stastny heading for Vegas and no other significant additions the team may be able to fit everyone in. Lowry’s contract was a big part of that, as giving him any more term would have forced the cap hit even higher and left the team in a crunch. Three years makes it easy to swallow, but also sets him up to hit the unrestricted free agent market as a prime target.

If Lowry can continue his steady progression and put up 30-40 points for the next few seasons, he could easily get a big raise in 2021 as a 28-year old center. It looks like he’ll get plenty of opportunity over the next three years to show he can be a playoff performer, as the Jets are set up to be one of the most competitive teams in the league for some time. With the emergence of other young talents like Jack Roslovic, Lowry may even get more skill on his wings and a chance to really break out. For now though, expect him to just be a valuable penalty killer and versatile option for the Jets.

Winnipeg Jets, Jacob Trouba Submit Arbitration Figures

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After Chris Tierney re-signed with the San Jose Sharks, the only arbitration hearing on the books for Friday July 20th is now Jacob Trouba of the Winnipeg Jets. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the two sides have submitted quite different salary figures, with the Jets filing for $4MM and Trouba’s camp asking for $7MM. If an agreement isn’t reached before the hearing, the two sides will actually have a bit more time before the arbitrator rewards a contract. Several players in the past have settled after the hearing, but before a decision was reached. Unlike MLB arbitration, an awarded salary does not need to be one figure or the other and can land somewhere in the middle.

The discrepancy between the two figures is large, but also not unexpected for a player of Trouba’s skill. The 24-year old defenseman already has five NHL seasons under his belt, including a shortened 2016-17 due to a holdout that lasted into November of that year. The two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on his contract at that point, and Trouba had reportedly asked for a trade given his role on the team. Winnipeg already has two excellent right-handed defensemen in Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers, and Trouba felt as though he could handle a bigger role even as a young player.

He got his wish that season as Myers dealt with injury and Trouba would end up logging nearly 25 minutes a night playing in all situations. That number dropped back down in 2017-18, but it’s not like Trouba isn’t utilized. He still averaged the second-most minutes on the team behind Byfuglien and scored at a good pace while healthy. That health was a concern though, as the young defenseman only suited up for 55 games and has now failed to play all 82 in any of his five seasons. In fact, he’s averaging just 65 games per season thanks to previous injuries and his contract issues, which certainly won’t help his arbitration case.

Still, Trouba is obviously an extremely talented player and deserves to be paid well. If an arbitration settlement is need he’ll likely come in somewhere between the two figures, but it will almost certainly be a one-year contract. Because Trouba filed for player-elected arbitration, the Jets get to make the decision on whether the awarded contract will be for one or two seasons. If they pick two, it would carry him to unrestricted free agency in 2020 and allow him to test the market. A one-year deal would give them another chance to sign him to a long-term deal and buy out some of those UFA seasons.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jets Likely To Elect One-Year Arbitration Award For Jacob Trouba

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  • The Jets are expected to elect a one-year arbitration award for defenseman Jacob Trouba if the two sides are unable to come to terms before Friday, notes Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe. This was the expected outcome since a two-year pact would take him to unrestricted free agency.  Since it was Trouba who filed, Winnipeg gets to pick the term instead of the other way around.

Central Notes: Seguin, Parise, Trouba

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The Dallas Stars have a tough road ahead of them. With new inspiring head coach Jim Montgomery ready to take the reins in Dallas, the team is eager to force their way to the top of the Central Division, but they also know that if the team can’t sign star Tyler Seguin to an extension sometime this year, everything they’ve worked for could fall apart.

The 26-year-old star is coming off a career-high 40 goals, but has also seen his team not reach the playoffs in three of his last four seasons. On top of that, Seguin has not signed an extension as of yet, something that could have happened on July 1. NHL.com’s Mike Heika writes that while Seguin has been careful about what he says about his next contract, he has expressed his love for the city.

“My focus is I have another year with the Dallas Stars, so there is no real thought of thinking of other teams or thinking of free agency,” Seguin said. “My focus is getting ready to play this year … I love it here. My objective is I want to win a championship here. I love Dallas, it’s home to me. So that’s my No. 1 goal.”

Heika writes that one obstacle is the team is hesitant to sign any player to a higher AAV than the deal they gave Jamie Benn back in 2016. Unfortunately, Seguin might easily be able to pass that mark as John Tavares recently signed for an $11MM AAV and with salaries increasing yearly, that could be an issue that Dallas might have to re-examine.

  • Dane Mizutani of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press writes that Minnesota Wild winger Zach Parise, who suffered a fractured sternum just three games into the playoffs, says he is 100 percent now and will be ready for training camp. In fact, the 33-year-old feels so good that he has decided to participate in Da Beauty League, a weekly 4-on-4 league, to get himself back into game shape after suffering the injury. Parise, who was one of the top scorers for Minnesota late in the season, including scoring 12 goals over the final 18 games and then three more goals in the first three games of the playoffs, will be a key piece for the Wild to compete for a playoff spot next season.
  • Scott Billeck of NBC Sports writes that the Winnipeg Jets are likely going to have to pay up to sign restricted free agent Jacob Trouba and predicts the team will hand him an eight-year deal. The real question is how much will the team have to pay for Trouba, who has developed into one of the best top defensive lines next to Josh Morrissey. Trouba’s numbers may not look impressive, but he had career numbers in assists per 60 minutes at 1.03 and points per 60 minutes at 1.22. Those numbers actually compare to elite defensemen like Victor Hedman, Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban. Those numbers could bring his pricetag to a very high number.

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