CORE VALUES
Jets GM navigating cap concerns confidently
In some ways, life was a whole lot easier for Kevin Cheveldayoff when the Winnipeg Jets internal budget was closer to the salary-cap floor than it is to the ceiling.
But those days figure to be in the past for the foreseeable future.
With the Jets just a few weeks away from opening the 2018-19 NHL season, expectations are higher than at any point since the franchise relocated in the summer of 2011.
After reaching the Western Conference final last spring, the Jets managed to keep the bulk of its core group together following a busy off-season and that’s one of the reasons the franchise is one of the early Stanley Cup favourites.
When restricted free agent defenceman Josh Morrissey signed a two-year bridge deal worth $6.3 million on Sept. 16, it represented the final piece of the puzzle for Cheveldayoff to get locked up.
Yet while the off-season is done, the hard work is just beginning when it comes to the balancing act that is staying under the cap.
Among the players needing new contracts next summer (provided extensions aren’t signed before that) are backup goalie Laurent Brossoit, defencemen Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot, Joe Morrow and forwards Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Brandon Tanev, Marko Dano and Nic Petan.
With 13 players under contract for next season (including Finnish forward Kristian Vesalainen, the Jets have already committed $57 million and change — and that doesn’t include guys like Laine and Connor, who are going to get big raises.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (48) was the only player in the NHL to score more goals than Laine’s 44 last season.
Laine is expected to challenge for the Rocket Richard Trophy and is a candidate to score 50 goals.
Connor led all rookies in goals (with 31) and playing alongside captain Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele on the top line, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think he could push for 35-to-40 goals if he continues his progression.
Goal-scoring is a precious commodity in the NHL and players who put the puck in the net with regularity almost always get paid big bucks.
The simple math suggests not every young core player can earn $5-to-$6 million coming out of their entrylevel contracts, but Cheveldayoff isn’t worried about a boost in production leading to a bump in pay for guys like Laine and Connor.
“Bring it on,” said Cheveldayoff. “There’s excitement. That’s what this is all about. I’m excited about our group. I’m hopeful about our group. I’m passionate about our group. The business will take care of itself.”
The business side always works out in the end, though sometimes that means a popular player is shipped out of town because the numbers just don’t add up.
Fortunately for Cheveldayoff, he witnessed this reality first-hand as the assistant general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Jets were the beneficiaries of the Blackhawks needing to pare salary back in the summer of 2010 when the Atlanta Thrashers acquired defenceman Dustin
Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd.
“The experience with Chicago, obviously, was a great one,” said Cheveldayoff. “You found a way to build a roster that ultimately wound up winning a championship, but there are lots of things that go into it when you’re dealing with a cap.
“There are things we haven’t yet experienced here with the Jets that I had to go through with Chicago, but I think the understanding of the perils that you might be seeing down the road, or we might be seeing down the road. We’re kind of trying to look at it with a very wide lens.”
More tough decisions are coming, but the Jets can only worry about the players that are here right now.
Cheveldayoff did his part to provide the pieces, what the Jets accomplish with those pieces is the next step in the process.
“It’s a business and it’s kind of a juggling act,” said Jets centre Adam Lowry, one of 10 restricted free agents to get a new deal this past offseason. “To be able to get all of the guys under the salary cap, that’s a tough job. We have a lot of great players here and we really believe in this group. To be able to keep as much of it together as we were able to for the next few years at least, that means a lot to us.
“It gives us a chance to build off of what we were able to do last year. We’re looking to get that much better.”