Big trade means Buff headed back to blueline for Jets: Maurice

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This article was published 11/02/2015 (3865 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Dustin Byfuglien is going back to the blueline.

Jets coach Paul Maurice said today that Byfuglien, who had Tuesday’s overtime winner against the Minnesota Wild, will return to his defensive position after four games at forward since a week ago Tuesday.

It’s the biggest on-ice domino of today’s blockbuster trade between the Jets and Buffalo Sabres that sends Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and prospect goalie Jason Kasdorf to the Sabres in exchange for Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux and a late first-round pick in the 2015 draft.

“Have you seen the players yet?” Maurice said after the trade was announced today. “The smile? He (Byfuglien) might even put his tooth in for that one.

“Dustin will be on the blueline tomorrow night and he’ll be happy to do so.”

The Jets, 2-0-2 since Kane went out of the lineup with last week’s dressing-room incident and his healthy scratch in Vancouver, are in Nashville Thursday night to meet the league-leading Predators.

 Maurice said today that because he has not discussed where Myers and Stafford fit into the lineup, he wouldn’t be sharing that today.

“It’s top secret,” the coach said.

The morning routine, Maurice said today, was simple. He met with GM Kevin Cheveldayoff regarding the trade and then met with the players.

“Took them through it, the specifics of it, then we started watching video,” Maurice said.

The deal revealed the business side of things, and Jets players said pretty much unanimously that feelings are mixed, they were sorry to see teammates leaving for Buffalo while looking forward to some new blood coming to the team.

“I think anytime something like this happens, it’s always sad to see guys who’ve been a part of the organization leave,” Jets captain Andrew Ladd said before the team departed for Nashville. “But you’re also excited about the prospect of bringing two guys in who can help our team win right now.

“I think as a player, all (feelings) go out the window. For guys who have been here a long time, it’s shock in terms of not knowing the other side of it and what the future holds for you, but on the other side of that there’s probably some excitement in terms of the opportunity that you might get there and what can become of that.

“Hopefully the two guys coming here are excited to be a part of a playoff run and help us try to get some wins.”

Jets right-winger Blake Wheeler echoed the sentiments.

“It’s never easy,” he said. “I’ve been a part of it, leaving a team that you’ve been a part of for a while that is kind of fighting for the playoffs. We lost two members of our family and that always hurts. That’s part of the business.

“Look at the two guys who are going to be joining our team, guys who have had a tremendous amount of success in the league.

“They’ll definitely help us for the stretch run.”

Wheeler said that Myers and Stafford won’t have any trouble fitting with the Jets.

“It’s going to be really easy,” Wheeler said. “We’re such a tight-knit group. We take care of our own. I think you’ve heard the word family at times. We’ve got two new members of our family. We’ll try to get them fit in as fast as possible.”

Jets defenceman Mark Stuart — like Ladd and Wheeler, he’s been through a trade — knows the kind of day Bogosian and Kane may be having.

“It’s tough,” he said. “Having been through it, it’s not an easy day for those guys. It’s part of it, we realize that. There’s been a lot of talk over the last week or two about maybe something in the works.

“We’re losing two guys that were a big part of our team but we’re going to welcome some new guys in.”

Stuart said Myers may well like the fit he’ll find on the Jets blueline.

“He has a ton of talent,” Stuart said. “Sometimes a young player just needs a change of scenery. We’re looking forward to having him.

“I think for him, he’ll enjoy our system. He’s a really good skater, a big body. As defencemen we like to be up on the play, be aggressive, to have good gaps and I think he’ll fit right in.”

The question arose today as to whether the Jets think they’re better for the deal.

“We think so but we’ve got to prove it,” Maurice said.

And another hot topic continued to be what, if any, resolution this was for the dressing room in the wake of the Kane incident and shoulder surgery of last week, one that led to widespread speculation that he would be dealt by the Jets.

“I don’t know if it would have been an issue,” Wheeler said. “I think we’ve been dealing with adversity all year for different reasons. We’ve always relied on our team as a whole, never on one or two players. It’s always been that we’ve won based on the fact we rely on every player.

“We didn’t really have time to think about it. I doubt it would have been a distraction.”

Added Ladd: “Like I said, we’re a tight-knit group and we don’t have any issues. We’re just focused on winning hockey games.”

Maurice said the speculation can now go away.

“(It’s a) resolution insofar as the speculation that he was on the move, or you had to wait for him at training camp next year to come back and play,” the coach said. “That’s a big piece that wasn’t going to be a Winnipeg Jet for the remainder of the year, so now we don’t have to wonder what our team looks like in August or how Evander would have fit.

“So yeah, there is some.”

The coach was effusive with his praise of Kane, and Bogosian, today.

“Just some of the exceptional things he can do,” Maurice said. “He’s a big, strong, fast guy that can get in on the forecheck as well as anybody I’ve ever seen. He never missed a check. And he’s a competitive man and he wants to win, wants to play. He wants to be a No. 1 guy and he’s going to get that chance in Buffalo so it’s great for him. I think he’ll excel there, I think he’ll do well there.”

“And Zach the same. We were getting to a depth level on our blueline that it was difficult to get the minutes pared out for everybody. He wanted that opportunity to be that guy and he’ll get that chance in Buffalo.”

Dealing early, with three-plus weeks still left before the deadline, is a big help, Maurice said.

“The earlier the better for sure,” he said. “Some of them can’t get done. It’s not a matter of your GM getting the calendar out and saying, ‘We’re doing these deals.’ There are always things happening at the trade deadline because people selling those assets, they’re driving the price up.

“For us to be able to get this done with 20-plus games on the horizon, there’s enough time to get them into the room and into the systems.”

Jets players seemed today to endorse Cheveldayoff’s move as the team pushes to nail down its first Stanley Cup playoff berth since the 2011 relocation.

“Anytime we can add to our drive right now, he sends the message he believes in our group,” Wheeler said. “I know he’s pretty happy with how things have played out this year and the work we’ve put in. As a player, it’s exciting to have a couple of guys come here to try to help us win some games.”

 

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca