The Winnipeg Jets have bought some time –
The Jacob Trouba problem is out of Winnipeg Jets General Manger Kevin Cheveldayoff’s head, at least for now.
The 22-year-old defenseman’s holdout came to an end on Monday, when he agreed to terms with the Winnipeg Jets on a new contract that pays him $2.5 million for the remainder of this season, and $3.5 million next season.
Trouba’s signing comes six weeks after the Jets opened training camp on September 23 and 13 games into the team’s regular season. Trouba has missed every game this season, including the Heritage Classic, held October 23 at Investors Group Field.
The Jets will hope that Trouba’s return will spark the struggling team, who enter this week with a record of 5-7-1. Trouba will immediately stabilize a defensive core suffering with the injury to Tyler Myers. When Myers returns to the line-up, the Jets will have a solid top six likely consisting of Toby Enstrom, Dustin Byfuglien, Josh Morrissey, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot and Jacob Trouba.
Trouba and his agent, Kurt Overhardt (who has a history of playing hardball with contract negotiators) requested a trade from Winnipeg in September. The terms of his new contract have just made Trouba a hotter trade commodity. For starters, the fact that he is now under contract allows him to play and further develop his skills, rather than miss an entire year of development. Add in the fact that his contract is cap friendly and allows an additional two years of team control upon its expiration and the door is open for virtually all 29 (well 30, Las Vegas) of the other teams to make a trade offer. Even cap-crunched teams should be able to afford his current contract, and they’ll have two years to make space for his extension.
Essentially, this contract buys time for the Jets. They have two more years to extend Trouba to a longer contract or trade him to the highest bidder. As previously mentioned, the AAV of the contract makes him easier to trade, and also allows more teams to pursue him. The additional two years of team control at the end of the contract rather than UFA is an added bonus that ensures that the Jets or Trouba’s new team won’t lose if he refuses to re-sign.
The 6 foot 2, 187-pound product of Rochester, Michigan has played 211 NHL games for the Winnipeg Jets since being drafted 9th overall by the club in 2012. He has scored 23 goals while assisting on 49 others and racking up 151 penalty minutes.
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[Sarcasm] So much for 16 years at $9M per, eh Kurt? (hereafter named Hurt Overkardt)
according to Kevin Cheveldayoff, Overhardt and Chevy never spoke money … he requested a trade in March and money or contract talks never happen once … I saw Kurt Overhardt on “Hockey Central” one day in the summer and he said that he never mentioned those outrageous money figures … at the time I wasn’t sure I believed him but after hearing his interview on “H & L” a couple of weeks ago.