- The Jets showed interest in forward Calle Jarnkrok earlier this summer, even offering him more money than he ultimately accepted from Toronto, reports Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe. The 30-year-old is coming off a quiet finish to his season with Calgary but his track record of being a capable and versatile third-liner would have helped him fit in quite well with Winnipeg. The Jets are one of the few teams that still have some money to spend this offseason – they have over $6MM in cap space per CapFriendly – so while they didn’t add Jarnkrok, they will certainly be adding a player or two in the coming weeks.
- Still with the Jets, after missing pre-tournament games for Finland, prospect Brad Lambert will be available for the start of the World Juniors, reports Corey Pronman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 18-year-old slipped to 30th overall in the draft last month after being touted as a likely top-ten selection not all that long ago. Meanwhile, Lambert told Petteri Ikonen of Helsingin Sanomat that a decision on where he will play next season will be made next month during training camp. His contract with Pelicans in Finland is now up although he could sign a new one there. Alternatively, the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL hold his major junior rights while Lambert is eligible to play in the minors as well.
Jets Rumors
Free Agent Profile: Paul Stastny
When the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup this year, they did so without a player who many thought a decade ago would be a long-term franchise cornerstone. That player is Paul Stastny, who, now 36 years old, remains a free agent almost a month after the signing period opened this offseason. After falling to the second round in the 2005 NHL Draft, Stastny blew the doors off the Avalanche franchise with three out of four 70-point seasons to begin his NHL career in 2007, 2008, and 2010.
While he never replicated that offensive success, largely due to a variety of injuries, Stastny remained a capable top-six two-way center for years to come. Now a veteran of over 1,000 games, though, Stastny is coming off his second full season with the Winnipeg Jets and remains without a Stanley Cup. He may be somewhat of a forgotten name as his best seasons are behind him, but Stastny’s still managed 74 points in 127 games over the last two seasons while averaging over 17 minutes per game. It’s fair to say that while the end of the road for Stastny may be near, it’s not here yet.
Stastny’s 16-year resume with Winnipeg and Colorado in addition to time with the St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights still make him a valuable asset to teams looking to add cohesiveness in their locker room as they vie for a championship. He hasn’t been a name that’s popped up in many rumors, but he should certainly be on the radar of teams as the offseason slogs on.
Stats
2021-22: 71 GP, 21G, 24A, 45 pts, +14 rating, 14 PIMs, 141 shots, 17:47 ATOI
Career: 1072 GP, 284G, 516A, 800 pts, +50 rating, 484 PIMs, 2246 shots, 18:53 ATOI
Potential Suitors
Poetically enough, a reunion with the team that drafted him shouldn’t be out of the question. If the Avalanche can’t manage to re-sign Nazem Kadri this late in the game, they have more than enough cap space to accommodate a reasonable one-year deal for Stastny. Providing a little more offensive upside than J.T. Compher and more experience than Alex Newhook, Stastny could be a strong short-term solution to Colorado’s open spot at center on the second line.
Another team that could look to acquire Stastny to fill the same role to shelter a younger player is the Carolina Hurricanes. While Jesperi Kotkaniemi will get paid a decent chunk of change next year, he hasn’t really done much to earn that dollar value with his performance. With a team like Carolina that’s so close to winning, Stastny could be a desirable veteran backup to Sebastian Aho, and, with Carolina’s depth on the wing, he’d have a lot of offensive support. The team would likely need to shed cap to make room for him, however.
Projected Contract
Stastny is coming off a one-year $3.75MM contract with Winnipeg. With a decent performance last season, too, there will be a team out there able and willing to pay him more than the league minimum. While he likely won’t replicate that dollar value, a contract in the $1.75MM-$2.5MM range could be there for Stastny in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Winnipeg Jets Sign Mason Appleton, Avoid Arbitration
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Winnipeg Jets have avoided an arbitration hearing with forward Mason Appleton. He’s signed a three-year deal with the Jets worth a cap hit of $2.167MM. He’ll be paid $2MM in 2022-23 and receive $2.25MM in the following two seasons.
The Jets already lost Appleton once, and they don’t seem intent on having it happen again. Left unprotected in the last offseason’s expansion draft, Appleton was an inaugural member of the Seattle Kraken before Winnipeg re-acquired him at the Trade Deadline. Across 68 games with Seattle and Winnipeg in 2021-22, Appleton scored eight goals, 13 assists (tying a career-high), and 21 points.
Appleton’s point production may not jump off the page, but he’s posted decent defensive analytics throughout his 206-game NHL career. 26 years old now, Appleton has produced a nice NHL career for a sixth-round pick. The native of Green Bay, Wisconsin will try to continue to prove his worth as a valuable bottom-six forward over the next three seasons in Manitoba.
For Winnipeg, their only remaining restricted free agent is 22-year-old David Gustafsson, who appeared in just two games for them last season.
Jets Re-Sign Leon Gawanke
August 2: Today, the Jets officially announced Gawanke’s contract extension.
August 1: The Jets have taken care of one of their remaining restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed defenseman Leon Gawanke to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will pay $750K in the NHL, $125K in the minors, and has a guarantee of $150K.
The 23-year-old, who was a fifth-round pick of Winnipeg back in 2017 (136th overall), recently finished up his entry-level contract. He has yet to play at the NHL level and spent last season with AHL Manitoba where he had 10 goals and 26 assists in 65 games, earning him an invitation to play for Germany at the World Championship where he got into four games.
Gawanke is now waiver-eligible so it won’t be as easy for Winnipeg to send him down next season. At this point, it’s unlikely that he will break camp with the Jets unless there are injuries or trades so he will have to be exposed to waivers to return to the Moose. Even without any NHL experience, that could be risky as young right-shot blueliners are often in demand. If he makes it back to Manitoba, Gawanke will once again be an all-situations player and should have a chance to get his first NHL opportunity in 2022-23.
Nikita Chibrikov Traded In The KHL
Svechkov was the Nashville Predators first-round selection, 19th overall in 2021. The forward made his KHL debut in 2021-22, getting in four games, but was primarily a dynamic playmaker for SKA’s VHL team, where he had nine goals and 22 assists in 30 games. The 50th overall selection in 2021, to the Winnipeg Jets, Chibrikov is another dynamic forward who spent time at the KHL, VHL, and MHL levels this season with SKA. The majority of his time was also spent with Svechkov in the VHL, where he had an impressive 15 goals and 16 assists in 28 games.
Jets Offered Danton Heinen More Than Penguins
- When Danton Heinen opted to re-sign with Pittsburgh on a one-year, $1MM deal, it seemed a little on the light side relative to his production. He was, after all, coming off an 18-goal, 33-point season. However, it wasn’t the biggest offer he had as Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays (Twitter link) that several teams, including the Jets, tendered higher offers. Heinen would have made some sense for Winnipeg – they have some cap flexibility this summer that they haven’t had in recent years which gives them the flexibility to upgrade their depth. Fortunately for them, there are several similar wingers still on the market and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them pivot to one of those before long.
Latest On Pierre-Luc Dubois
Very few players have had as much discussion surrounding them this offseason than Pierre-Luc Dubois. Even after accepting the one-year, $6MM qualifying-offer the Winnipeg Jets made him, the discussion around Dubois has not quieted down. Recently, The Athletic’s Murat Ates and Arpon Basu had a chance to sit down with Dubois and discuss where he lies with his contract, rumors of a trade request, and his status as an impending UFA in the summer of 2024 (subscription required).
Notably, when asked about his decision to accept the qualifying-offer and his plans for free agency in two years, Dubois explained that this one-year contract at the $6MM rate was what he and his agent, Pat Brisson, believed to be the best fit for him at this point in his career. When asked specifically about his willingness to sign long-term in Winnipeg, the Jets star said that was something to be decided at the conclusion of his current contract.
On attending the draft in Montreal with the expectation that he would be traded to the Montreal Canadiens that night, as reported by Radio-Canada Sports’ Martin Leclerc and confirmed by The Athletic, which has since been walked-back, Dubois contended that he did so because his bank had invited him and he lived close to the area. Lastly, Dubois made it clear that he did not request a trade from the Jets, telling Ates and Basu “If I wanted out, I would have asked for a trade. I didn’t ask for a trade.”
Sitting down for the interview with The Athletic shows Dubois is intent on tidying up what could be seen as a divisive and difficult situation. Regardless of what he and his representatives do and don’t want, the forward is obligated to spend the next two years in Winnipeg if the Jets choose, so keeping the situation as amicable as possible, even if he does not have his heart in Winnipeg would be wise. Dubois’ answers were also rather to the point and not very elaborative, not necessarily clearing all that much up on the situation, outside of making his formal position clear.
Still, the decision to make his position clear, and his views, taken as true, represent a move in good faith to put speculation to bed. With a contract in place, Dubois and the Jets can focus on the season ahead as the team tries to rebound from a disappointing 2021-22 that saw them finish sixth in the Central Division. On top of helping Winnipeg succeed, Dubois will also have the opportunity to build on his 28 goal, 32 assist campaign and build value towards his next contract, as well as his looming free agency. For now, it appears the Dubois rumors will quiet down as the 24-year-old appears intent on going into next season as a cornerstone member of the Jets.
Pierre-Luc Dubois Accepts Qualifying Offer
5:10 PM: The Jets have now officially announced the extension.
3:40 PM: With his name featuring heavily in trade rumors, Pierre-Luc Dubois has taken himself one step closer to an exit from Winnipeg. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Dubois has chosen to accept his one-year, $6MM qualifying offer in advance of the upcoming deadline.
This means that Dubois has, at least for this summer, elected to not sign a long-term deal with the Jets, as many have expected. Dubois will be an unrestricted free agent in two years’ time. Dubois’ representation has communicated a desire for their client to end up playing for the Montreal Canadiens and Dubois actually attended the draft in Montreal because he believed a trade would be completed on the draft floor. That did not happen, though, so Dubois has now accepted his qualifying offer as a means of simplifying his exit from Winnipeg.
The Jets surrendered two significant players to acquire Dubois: Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic and did so because they believed a one-two punch at the center position of Dubois and Mark Scheifele would be the key to the next era of contending Jets squads.
That pairing of Dubois and Scheifele doesn’t look like it’ll remain in place for much longer, as the Jets will have to decide if they want to deal Dubois this summer or continue with him on the roster in the hopes that he changes his mind about staying in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Johnathan Kovacevic
The Winnipeg Jets have signed restricted free agent Johnathan Kovacevic to a three-year contract, which will carry an NHL cap hit of $766,700. The deal is a two-way contract in the first two years and a one-way contract in 2024-25.
PuckPedia provides the full breakdown:
- 2022-23: $750K NHL / $150K AHL / $175K guaranteed
- 2023-24: $775K NHL / $250K AHL / $275K guaranteed
- 2024-25: $775K
Kovacevic, 25, made his NHL debut this season and played in four games for the Jets but mostly continued his stellar play for their minor league affiliate. A 6’5″ defenseman that can contribute at both ends of the rink is incredibly valuable, and his play for the Manitoba Moose was a big reason why they finished with a 41-24-7 record.
With 30 points in 62 games, the 2017 third-round pick continued his offensive improvement and has worked his way up to being a legitimate call-up option for the Jets. The interesting part about that is that he is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning they could potentially lose him if they try to send him to the minor leagues.
In fact, that may be part of why the two sides agreed on a multi-year deal like this. Teams rarely want to pluck these kinds of commitments off the waiver wire without any previous experience with the player, meaning Kovacevic likely is able to slip through once again. That is of course unless he makes the Jets out of camp, though with how many other defensemen will be in line for NHL opportunity, that is unlikely.
Winnipeg Jets Sign Jeff Malott
July 22: The Jets have officially announced the contract, confirming the term and NHL cap hit.
July 21: The Winnipeg Jets are bringing back restricted free agent forward Jeff Malott on a two-year, two-way contract, per CapFriendly. The contract carries a $762.5K cap hit and will take him to unrestricted free agency in 2024. The breakdown is as follows:
2022-23: $750K NHL salary, $125K minors salary
2023-24: $775K NHL salary, $175K minors salary
Malott made his NHL debut this season, playing just 4:06 in a singular game. He did manage to take a minor penalty in that time as well. That’s not a strong indicator of his overall success, though, as he’s put together two strong professional seasons since graduating from the Cornell University program in 2020.
He was stuck in the ECHL for four games in 2020-21 but made an impact when given the chance in the AHL with Manitoba, notching 14 goals, six assists, and 20 points in 34 games during his first professional season. He solidified a top-six role in Manitoba this past season, too, breaking the 20-goal mark and finishing with 41 points in 62 games.
He’ll be turning 26 next month, and while there’s likely not a whole lot of long-term NHL upside with Malott, he’s showing he can be a solid contributor at the top of an AHL lineup and should be higher up on Winnipeg’s list of call-up options.