Chevy making a name for himself with NHL draft

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2015 (3726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kevin Cheveldayoff looked tired. His suit was a touch rumpled from sitting at the draft table all Saturday afternoon and his hair was mussed. But more than anything else, he seemed beat. He rubbed his eyes a few times and held them closed while forming answers to questions on the future of his franchise.

The man building a reputation as one of the top young GMs in the game had just concluded two days of adding to his prospect pool with a draft many around the NHL considered the best of the weekend.

Selecting in the lower half of the league, Cheveldayoff’s selections had scouts from around the league marvelling at how he was able to pull Kyle Connor, Jack Roslovic, Jansen Harkins, Michael Spacek and Erik Foley in the first four rounds.

The evaluation of the Jets draft is they got high skill and a blue chipper in Connor and a late bloomer with major upside in Roslovic.

Harkins thinks the game like a pro and sees the ice well, but there are questions about his skating and whether he’s hard enough for a pro. At 18, those things can come along and if they do, Harkins will be a Top Six success.

Spacek has elite skill but is inconsistent at this stage. If he matures and figures out how to be an everyday pro — he’ll be a top-line player.

Foley is a banger and if he can skate well enough to play in the NHL, he will give the Jets roster balance and the type of player they don’t have a lot of in the organization.

It’s ironic when GMs get angry with the media for speculating because that’s exactly what the entire draft process is about. Gathering intel and then making an educated guess. The proof will be in the pudding in the next five years, but the Jets covered all the bases and if two or three of the eight players selected grow into NHL players, this will have been a good weekend for the Jets.

Sunday was likely a day to re-charge for Cheveldayoff but he’ll now switch from having director of amateur scouting Marcel Comeau and head amateur scout Mark Hillier at his side to the professional flank of his organization.

Assistant GMs Larry Simmons and Craig Heisinger as well as pro scouting director Mark Dobson and his staff are now tasked with taking care of the here and now.

The Jets have some holes in the roster with eight pending unrestricted free agents. They also have two of their best players, captain Andrew Ladd and No. 1 defenceman Dustin Byfuglien heading into the last year of their contracts and officially open to signing extensions as of Wednesday.

The Jets won’t make a splash on Day 1 of free agency and in fact the biggest news could potentially be the departure of forward Michael Frolik. Announcing an extension for Ladd would be a nice public relations offset for the Jets.

Talks between the Jets and Ladd’s agents, J.P. Barry and Mark McKay, have started and both sides are motivated to quickly close a deal. Expect a six or seven-year extension with an average annual value in the $6-million range.

What’s up with Buff?

Byfuglien is a little older than Ladd and is a huge man, listed at 6’5″ and 265 pounds. Recently he’s begun to pick up injuries and there has to be a concern about paying him big dollars in his mid-30s.

Everywhere one turned at the draft there was someone with a question about what the Jets would do with Byfuglien. He’s going to make at least $7 million per season. The question will be what terms are the Jets comfortable with, and what will the player demand?

Four years is likely too short to get the player to bite and pass up the chance to go to unrestricted free agency. Five years is likely the minimum but going beyond that is, at best, a nervous proposition.

Byfuglien’s agent Ben Hankinson said Sunday he met with the Jets at the draft and they discussed his player’s situation heading into the final year of his contract.

“But I wouldn’t say we have started negotiations,” Hankinson wrote in a text.

Byfuglien isn’t your average duck. Sure, every player in the league wants money and security but Byfuglien has always done what he wants. Trying to predict where he’ll be coming from in these negotiations is a waste of time. Stay tuned. At the risk of appearing like I’m covering all my bases, this is a deal that could come together quickly, may take a good chunk of the summer or if traction can’t be achieved, it might result in the Jets having to trade this valuable asset.

Hankinson, who is also Adam Pardy’s agent, said he has begun talks with the Jets on Pardy.

“You can report that we talked and hope to figure something out,” Hankinson said. He added Pardy is “a great fit” in Winnipeg and is positive a deal can be done.

Michael Frolik’s agent Allan Walsh had no comment on discussions with the Jets regarding his client. Word on the street is there is lots of interest in Frolik and he’ll go to market unless the Jets meet his salary and term demands, which to this point the team has viewed as too steep.

Drew Stafford’s agent Steve Bartlett told me on the weekend, “both sides were working hard,” on getting a deal done and on Sunday he said talks would continue Monday.

The Jets have eight pending UFAs, seven forwards and one defenceman and Cheveldayoff will likely fill some of those roster holes with his own prospects.

Rest up, Chevy. The good times never stop for an NHL boss.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless