Winnipeg Jets Free Agency: Who Will The Team Miss Most?

We knew the Winnipeg Jets would have a different look in 2018-2019 than they did the previous season. It’s natural. Teams rarely keep the entire group together.

The Winnipeg Jets basically kept the core together. Well, from the start of last season. Paul Stastny was firmly part of the core and he departed. But he was a deadline add.

For the purpose of this post, we’ll skip Paul Stastny. Obviously, of the free agents and traded players the Jets lost, he’s the one they’ll miss the most. We’re talking spare parts here. Since, really, that’s all the team added and lost.

I guess there’s still time, but hey, I can’t wait forever, Winnipeg. And the Jets did tinker a bit on the back end of their roster. It’s only natural, after all. But while I can’t tell you if those moves will impact the Jets positively or negatively, I’m going to anyway.

The Fourth Line Vet

Every team needs a veteran center on the fourth line. It’s part of the CBA. Your fourth line center needs to be at least 35 years of age, and needs to be defined most by grit. Some recent examples are Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore and Matt Hendricks. The latter, of course, was with the Jets last season.

And you know what? He was pretty good. Hendricks is a veteran with a very steady defensive game and he can chip in a goal or two if he has to. He’s, you know, a fourth liner. Hendricks, 37, signed a one year deal with the Wild over the off-season.

Being from Minnesota, he’s understandably going home. But, mainly the reason the Jets will miss him? He was their main penalty killing option. That was his job. Center the fourth line, win defensive zone draws, and kill penalties. And he was good at it.

Who will replace him? I’m not sure. I’d stick Bryan Little on the PK, but understand if they didn’t want to give him big minutes. Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp are options as well, but they’re under 35. The Jets don’t want to get fined, but they might have to roll the dice with the kids.

The Backup Goaltender

A Canadian backup in his late 20s? Yep, the Winnipeg Jets lost one of those. No, I’m not talking about Steve Mason. Could they use him? Maybe. But will they miss him? Uh, no, he was pretty awful last season.

I guess Michael Hutchinson was, too. But! Hutch had his moments as Jet. He only started three games last season, and his save percentage was a mediocre .907, but still. I feel like you know what you’ll get from him.

He did have that good rookie season as a starter (Sounds like Steve Mason, huh?), but never again reached that success. He was a serviceable starter, but not anything you’d want on a playoff hopeful. But as a backup? I think he’d be steady.

And when you look at the risk the Jets are taking with Laurent Brossoit and Eric Comrie, the safety of knowing what you’ll get with Hutch seems like a reasonable thing to stick to.

A Steady Depth Forward

A just turned 25 year old forward who can play defense and keeps getting better? I mean, nothing wrong with having one on your roster. Joel Armia wasn’t going to be a star, but he was steadily improving.

Another one of Winnipeg’s big penalty killers, Armia was shipped off to Montreal to shed some extra salary. Even though he was just entering RFA, the Jets thought they could get similar production on the cheap.

And they probably can! The kids are there and they’re impressive. The Jets have better prospects everywhere than Armia. But Armia proved he could be a useful NHL player, whereas some of the Jets have yet to do that.

And, coupled with the loss of Hendricks, I would assume their penalty kill would take a hit this coming season. Hopefully that doesn’t hit too hard. The Jets could still be better next season, but they’ll mourn the loss of these players, just a bit. Even if you don’t.