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Winnipeg Jets Hire Brad Lauer, Marty Johnston

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The Winnipeg Jets have finished their staff, naming Brad Lauer and Marty Johnston as the new assistants under head coach Rick Bowness and associate coach Scott Arniel. Nolan Baumgartner will be joining the Manitoba Moose as an assistant, taking over the role that Johnston held the past five seasons.

Lauer, 55, recently won the WHL championship as head coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings, finishing a four-year run with the club that saw nearly unprecedented success. The Oil Kings went 154-46-23 over his tenure, as he helped top prospects like Dylan Guenther and Jake Neighbours reach entirely new heights. He returns to the NHL where he coached for seven seasons as an assistant with the Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks, and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 34th overall pick in 1985, the Saskatchewan native played more than 300 games in the NHL, retiring in 2002 after a short stint in the UK.

Johnston, meanwhile, is being promoted from the AHL where he served as an assistant since 2017. Before that, he was the head coach at Carleton University for seven seasons, where he led the school to a 129-49-12 record. This will be his first opportunity to coach in the NHL, a nice jump for a coach who will be one to keep an eye on in the future.

The staff will also include goaltending coach Wade Flaherty and video coach Matt Prefontaine.

Jets Sign Saku Maenalanen

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The Jets have decided to give Saku Maenalanen another opportunity in North America as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed the center to a one-year, two-way deal.  The contract will pay $750K in the NHL and $225K in the minors.

This will be the 28-year-old’s second stint in North America after spending the 2018-19 campaign with Carolina.  He split that season between the NHL and AHL, picking up eight points in 34 games with the Hurricanes (while also getting into nine postseason contests) and added 14 points in 31 appearances in the minors.  However, while Carolina tendered him a qualifying offer in 2019, he opted to go back overseas instead.

Since then, Maenalanen has played in Finland, spending two years with Jokerit in the KHL before joining Karpat of the SM-liiga last season.  He was quite productive in 2021-22, leading the team in scoring with 41 points in 47 games while also making appearances for Finland at the Olympics and World Championships.  That was enough to convince Winnipeg to offer Maenalanen another NHL opportunity while the center walks away from the two remaining years on his Finnish contract to do so.

Winnipeg has several roster spots up front to fill next season so as things stand, there will be some openings in training camp in the fall.  With him doing reasonably well in a limited role with Carolina in the past, Maenalanen could have an inside track on one of those openings with the Jets likely opting once again to turn to low-cost depth to round out their roster for 2022-23.

Winnipeg Jets Do Not File For Salary Arbitration With Pierre-Luc Dubois

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As today’s 5:00 pm ET deadline for teams to file for club-elected player salary arbitration came and went, the Winnipeg Jets apparently chose not to file for arbitration with forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, says Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription required). The decision didn’t appear as much of a surprise given Dubois’ and the Jets’ situation, and allows both sides to continue discussing a long-term extension or perhaps explore different trade scenarios as has been speculated. Winnipeg had previously issued a $6.65MM qualifying-offer to Dubois in order to retain his rights and give both sides the ability to file for arbitration.

There are several reasons as to why the Jets may have decided not to file for arbitration with Dubois. Firstly, if contract discussions have been amicable and progressive, electing for arbitration and forcing a decision, either through negotiation or arbitration, may have served to disrupt a positive situation. Another reason could be, given the $6.65MM qualifying-offer, Winnipeg would have to file, at minimum, at that number in arbitration with the strong possibility Dubois could be awarded even more. Lastly, because Dubois is two years removed from unrestricted free agency, it was also possible an arbitrator would award the 24-year-old with a two-year contract that would carry him directly to the UFA market in 2024, something not only Winnipeg would want to avoid, but perhaps also the team they could trade him to, if they elected to go down that road.

Mason Appleton Files For Salary Arbitration

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A key distinction to add is that any player who has filed for arbitration is no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet, effectively taking the players on this list off the market. Three notable names that did not file for arbitration are Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine. Though contract talks have been quiet on Dubois and Tkachuck, word of amicable discussions between Laine’s camp and Columbus has been made known. Once tomorrow’s club-elected salary arbitration deadline passes, teams and players will have time to prepare their cases before hearings begin, running from July 27th through August 11th.

Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Jansen Harkins

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Another depth signing has come in tonight, this one with Jansen Harkins and the Winnipeg Jets. Per CapFriendly, Harkins has re-signed with the Jets on a two-year deal carrying an $850K AAV.

Harkins, 25, has been with the Jets organization since being drafted by the team in the second round of the 2015 draft. Harkins was a star in the WHL for the Prince George Cougars, scoring at least 20 goals in three straight seasons and over 70 points twice.

As a professional, Harkins has taken a long road to the NHL. Harkins spent parts of four seasons in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose and even spent a few games with the Jacksonville IceMen of the ECHL.

At the NHL level, Harkins has been a useful, if a bit unimpressive depth player for the Jets. He has 22 points in 132 career games and had seven goals and 13 points in 77 games this past year, his first as an NHL regular. Harkins played in an extremely limited role, getting under 10 minutes of ice time per game.

Such little ice time and zero special teams use isn’t ideal for a bottom-sixer, but Harkins provided energy to the Jets’ lineup, which is something they valued enough to keep him on their NHL roster.

At an $850k salary, getting Harkins back to fill out the Jets’ depth isn’t a bad piece of work for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.

Latest On Pierre-Luc Dubois

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The full extent of the Montreal Canadiens’ offseason plans began to take shape today, as the team traded defenseman Jeff Petry and center Ryan Poehling to the Pittsburgh Penguins. One major name that many have connected to the Canadiens is that of Winnipeg Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois. It doesn’t take any detective work to understand why that connection is being made: Pat Brisson, Dubois’ agent, has communicated that his client would like to play in Montreal, and Dubois has reportedly communicated to the Jets that his intention is to leave as a free agent in two years time. Many have speculated, then, that the Canadiens would attempt to acquire Dubois this summer, and it appears that that sort of speculation is grounded in reality.

According to Arpon Basu of The Athletic (subscription link), Dubois attended the NHL Draft in Montreal because he “believed a trade would be completed on the draft floor.” Furthermore, Basu adds that “it is believed” that Winnipeg is “holding up a trade” because they want Montreal to include a player in the compensation package for Dubois that Montreal has no interest in moving. As we saw with the trade of Alexander Romanov to get Kirby Dach on draft night, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is willing to trade players he isn’t actively looking to deal if he believes the player he’s getting in return is worth it. Dubois is extremely talented, but as a result the player the Jets could be seeking from Montreal could be someone too important for the Canadiens to move.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Elias Salomonsson

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The Winnipeg Jets have inked a member of their most recent draft class to an entry-level deal. The Jets announced today that second-round pick Elias Salomonsson has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the club.

Salomonsson was the 55th overall pick at last Thursday’s draft and is one of the younger players in the draft class. He’s still just 17 years old and won’t turn 18 until August 31st. The Jets took him out of Skelleftea, a club in Sweden. Salomonsson split time last season between Skelleftea’s SHL and junior-level teams, and his 10-game stint in the SHL was extremely impressive given his age. Salomonsson had 11 goals and 22 points in 35 games at the U-20 level and zero points in his 10 SHL games, although he played in a very sheltered role.

Salomonsson is a smooth-skating blueliner with polished two-way ability. He has a lot of room to grow and with the right development could blossom into a top-four defenseman. His entry-level deal gives him the chance to earn a spot in Winnipeg at training camp, though in all likelihood he will return to Sweden and take on a larger role with his home club.

The new SHL-NHL agreement stipulates that Salomonsson cannot be sent to the AHL because he is under the minimum age and isn’t a first-round pick. So, if the Jets preferred to send him to their AHL affiliate for next season they won’t have the option to do so as they would have in prior years.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Ashton Sautner

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The Winnipeg Jets have added another defenseman, this time signing Manitoba kid Ashton Sautner to a one-year, two-way contract. The Flin Flon native will have an NHL salary of $750K this season.

Sautner, 28,  has been in the Vancouver Canucks system for his entire career, though did play two games for the Manitoba Moose during the 2020-21 season. For the Jets, he’ll now provide some depth at the position but is very likely headed back to the minor leagues, given he hasn’t appeared in the NHL since 2019-20. In fact, Sautner has just 23 appearances at the NHL level overall, most of which came in the 2018-19 season.

Still, every team needs minor league depth and the undrafted defenseman provides solid play at that level. In 41 games for the Abbotsford Canucks this season he recorded 13 points, matching a career-high. Given how many options are already in the Jets system, even the prospect of a handful of games at the NHL level seems like a stretch for Sautner at this point.

Andrew Brunette Joins Devils As Associate Coach

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July 15: The Devils have officially announced Brunette as the team’s new associate coach, mentioning how he was a teammate of general manager Tom Fitzgerald with the Nashville Predators in 1998-99.

July 13: It’s not just players making news today. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the New Jersey Devils have reached a three-year agreement with Andrew Brunette on an associate coaching role. TSN’s Darren Dreger was first to report that things were tracking toward an agreement between Brunette and the New Jersey Devils, but also listed the Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, and Vancouver Canucks as teams with interest in the 2022 Jack Adams Award finalist.

Not often do you see a coach of the year contender immediately hit the open market, let alone do you see them settle for an associate coaching role. But with just five years of coaching experience in the NHL in total, and the Panthers opting to hire the more experienced Paul Maurice, Brunette hits the open market as a high-end support man for teams’ benches. In New Jersey, he’d serve behind an extremely experienced bench boss in Lindy Ruff, allowing him to gain just a little more time in the league before undoubtedly returning to a head coaching role down the road.

And after those three seasons, that’s undoubtedly what he’ll do. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see him take over for Ruff in three years’ time, or even sooner if New Jersey decides to part with Ruff before that. It’s a good backup plan in case things go wrong with Ruff at the helm.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Alex Limoges, Kyle Capobianco

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed free agent forward Alex Limoges to a one-year, entry-level contract, per a team tweet today. Financial terms are currently unavailable. Per CapFriendly, the team has also signed former Arizona Coyotes defenseman Kyle Capobianco to a two-year deal worth $762.5K per year. Per PuckPedia, the contract is a two-way deal in 2022-23 with a $750K NHL / $325K AHL split, and a one-way deal worth $775K in year two.

Limoges, a 24-year-old native of Virginia, actually already has a year and a half of professional experience under his belt with the San Diego Gulls. He turned pro in 2020-21 after his college career with Penn State concluded, spending the remainder of the season with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

Staying in San Diego for the past two years, he’s been one of the most under-the-radar producers in the AHL during that time. He’s scored 34 goals, 27 assists, and 61 points in 85 games with the Gulls, and he also led the entire NCAA in points in 2018-19.

Now on an NHL contract for the first time, Limoges will get the chance to improve on those numbers in the Jets organization. If injuries strike Winnipeg hard this year, don’t be surprised if Limoges gets a crack at making his NHL debut.

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