Winnipeg Jets: Recapping the First Day of Free Agency

What a crazy day it has been around the NHL and for the Winnipeg Jets. Today was the first day of free agency and all pending unrestricted free agents hit the open market and were free to sign with any franchise.

There were some major contracts signed throughout the day, but the Jets front office stayed pretty quiet as the day passed.

Winnipeg had seven players of their own from this past season become unrestricted free agents and more than half of those players have already signed with other teams.

Four players from the Winnipeg Jets 2021 roster have signed elsewhere, while the Jets have brought in two new faces

As we wrote about earlier in the day, Laurent Brossoit and Tucker Poolman were the first ones to go in free agency. Brossoit signed a two-year contract with the Vegas Golden Knights and Tucker Poolman put pen to paper on a four-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks. You can read more about their new contracts by clicking the “NEXT” link at the bottom of this article!

A few hours later it was announced that both Derek Forbort and Nate Thompson had signed contracts with other franchises. Both of those players joined the Jets prior to the 2021 season on one-year contracts.

Forbort has moved to the Boston Bruins on a three-year contract with an average annual value (“AAV”) of $3,000,000. While, Thompson has returned to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he was a member of the team during the 2019-2020 season, on a one-year deal with an AAV of $800,000.

The Jets Bring in Two Players

Even though four players from last year’s Jets team may have departed, the Jets have added two players to their ranks this afternoon.

The Jets’ first free agent signing of this offseason is Mikey Eyssimont. Eyssimont signed a two-year, two-way contract with Winnipeg that carries an AAV of $750,000 at the NHL level. The twenty-four-year-old has played the past three seasons with the Ontario Reign, who are the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings.

During the most recent season, Eyssimont scored nine goals, had eight assists, and 49 penalty minutes in 40 games in the AHL. He also finished the season with a minus-seven plus/minus. The Colorado native is primarily a centerman, but can also play on the wing.

Shortly after the Jets announced Eyssimont, they then announced that they have signed Luke Johnson on a one-year, two-way contract with an NHL AAV of $750,000. Johnson comes to Winnipeg with some NHL experience in 2021 with the Minnesota Wild.

Johnson skated in 14 games with the Wild during the last season and registered one goal and had one fight against Jefffrey Viel of the San Jose Sharks. Johnson spent most of the season on the taxi-squad but did appear in two games in the AHL with the Iowa Wild, where he registered one assist and had a fighting major.

Johnson is a centerman and the twenty-six-year-old will definitely provide the Jets with some much-needed depth. His style of play is comparable to Casey Cizikas. Johnson is a player who plays tough and physical and he is also not scared to drop the gloves as he averages a couple of fights per season.

Check back to our site throughout the offseason as the Winnipeg Jets make more moves as they assemble their roster for the upcoming 2021-2022 season.

Winnipeg Jets Fans: Are you happy with how the Winnipeg Jets faired on day one of free agency? Leave your comments below!

*All Stats Provided by the Elite Prospects*