No new deals no big deal to Buff, Ladd

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This article was published 18/09/2015 (3699 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As 50 bodies barrelled onto the ice at the MTS Iceplex for Day 1 of Jets training camp Friday, contract extensions for Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien remained at a standstill.

Both are set to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the upcoming season, a topic that has become numero uno for fans and media since the Jets were swept by the Anaheim Ducks in four straight games in the first round of the playoffs last spring.

And it hasn’t been for a lack of effort — or interest — deals have yet to be done. Both Ladd and Byfuglien hinted Winnipeg would be a great place to continue their careers, each adding he likes the direction the team is headed. But what happens in the boardroom is out of their hands.

“The day-to-day stuff, I don’t get involved in,” Ladd said after Friday’s skate. “Obviously, my agent keeps me informed of what’s going on and how the process is going. But it’s easier to put it on the back burner now that we’re getting going. You can just focus on going to the rink every day and on what we need to do on the ice.

“I’m sure both sides were hoping to have something done by now, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. There’s been good dialogue the whole time and they’ll continue to talk.”

The fact Ladd hasn’t put pen to paper and doesn’t mind letting the process play out while hockey is in full swing offers little reassurance to a fan base eager to have their captain return for duty beyond the 2015-16 season. It’s even more troublesome when you consider much of the talk this summer suggested a new deal for Ladd was much further along than one for Byfuglien.

Byfuglien is fresh off a career year; a season in which he started at forward but was moved back to defence after a slew of injuries to the back end. He was so dominant there he earned a nod to the all-star game. But with an expected price tag higher than that of Ladd, the prospect of testing the free-agent market and the possibility of really cashing in must look intriguing.

“I just come to work. I have people to take care of that, and they’re talking,” said Byfuglien. “There’s beautiful lakes and stuff around here. Everything is great. (Becoming a free agent) would be a change. It would be different.

“I would love to stay here and be a Jet for (the rest) of my career, but business is business and I’ve got to come to the rink and do my job every day. There are a few guys (on the Jets) who are telling me to sign, but if it was that easy, it would be done.”

Ladd and Byfuglien will both be in their 30s at the start of their next deal, and will surely be looking for dollars and term. Both are also due for a raise. Ladd will earn US$4.5 million this season and Byfuglien is on the books for $5.75 million.

As hot a topic as it has, is and will remain until something is done, head coach Paul Maurice did offer up a ray of hope for Jets Nation, insisting workings off the ice won’t become a distraction to what they’re trying to achieve on it.

“Not in the room, not how they practise, not in our world,” said Maurice. “We love our players and we want them all signed and we want them all happy. The business part of that doesn’t come in our room.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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