The Winnipeg Jets locked up their starting goaltender. Most of the heavy lifting is done for this Free Agent period, so I think the Jets should pivot to clean up some of their in-house players.
The Winnipeg Jets have yet to agree to a contract with Josh Morrissey, but the arbiter will decide that one. Connor Hellebuyck received an extension.
Among the priorities: Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor will both hit RFA status next off-season. Not a huge deal, but a long-term extension might be in the works. I’d believe that more for Laine than I do for Connor, but hey.
The team has two big UFA after this coming season: Tyler Myers, who will probably need to take a pay cut to stay on the roster, and Blake Wheeler, the captain coming off the career year at age 31.
A previous career high of 78 points, Wheeler blew that away and hit 91. Sure, a lot of that has to do with playing on a much-improved Jets squad.
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But he really hit his stride the last three seasons, with point totals of 78, 74 and 91. All of those represent his three best.
Is that common? I’m not certain, and my inability to use the Play Index (maybe it’s not even Play Indexable) is telling me that I’m going to have to wing it and tell you that it isn’t common.
Very rare. Only some number of players have done it and the last one was all the way back in some year. Wow.
The point is, despite being over 30, Wheeler has shown no indication he’s ready to slow down. I mean, it’s not like he’s 35, but he genuinely seems to be improving still. Also, he’s kinda the team captain.
I get it, teams trade their captains all the time. I mean, the Rangers did it twice in a decade. But still, when you get a team like this, I would wager the idea is to keep them together. And if Wheeler is the leader you need, extend him.
It’s not like you’re doing it just off of his leadership abilities. He just led your 114 point team in points and led the NHL in assists.
For what it’s worth, he’s not injury-prone either. In fact, only once did he not break the 80 game mark (excluding the strike season, in which he played in all 48 games) and in that one, he played 79.
I would understand wanting to wait until after the season to see if he can repeat what he did this past one. Even if he hits 75 points, that’s still worth re-signing (duh).
I can assure you of one thing: Wheeler won’t be signing a contract with a cap hit of $5.6MM again, so that’s out. PAY THE MAN.
Look, if you’re having trouble improving your team because the optiions aren’t there, at least make sure your team doesn’t decline. Would I have a problem with a seven year contract for a man entering his age 33 season? Probably, yeah.
But that’s the risk you run. I’m no expert, but maybe they can pare down the years. Give him four with a cap hit north of $7MM. It’s tough, but hey, business is tough. You gotta give something to get something.
And Blake Wheeler has been giving something.