It’s been a year since the blockbuster Kane deal — what will the Jets GM do for an encore?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2016 (3558 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was big enough to legitimately warrant the “blockbuster” tag. And it had all the necessary name power to rattle windows across the NHL, even if the news came from two of the loop’s smallest outposts.

A eight-player deal that involved four NHLers, former and future first-round picks and juicy prospects, after all, tends to make everyone in the hockey world snap their spines to attention.

But it’s also safe to say that when Kevin Cheveldayoff signed off on that mammoth trade with the Buffalo Sabres a year ago Thursday, the Winnipeg Jets GM likely had no idea — nor would he give a rat’s patooie — about one other particularly compelling byproduct of the transaction.

The deal, it turns out, dramatically changed the perception of the Winnipeg Jets GM, both in Manitoba and across the NHL map.

Called conservative and methodical by some — and stuck sitting on his thumbs by his critics — the Jets boss authored a deal that gave his club short-term help in its push for a playoff spot all the while staying true to his draft-and-develop blueprint. And, coupled with a couple other deals before last year’s trade deadline — landing veteran wingers Lee Stempniak and Jiri Tlusty — the Jets had been transformed from a bubble team to one many thought could make some noise in the post-season.

OK, so we all know how that turned out, but the fact that the deal was completed under some considerable duress made his handiwork that much more impressive. With Evander Kane not only hurt but tossing a hissy fit after the infamous track-suit affair, the consensus was Cheveldayoff wasn’t just handcuffed in an attempt to make a deal, he was handcuffed, shackled and stuffed into a barrel. Try escaping this one, Houdini.

And his prior trade history, it’s worth remembering, was limited to dealing players for picks all in an effort to stockpile the system. Shipping out two of the Jets’ young core such as Kane and Zach Bogosian took some stones, especially when the two NHLers coming this way — Drew Stafford and Tyler Myers — were older and seen as stagnating in upstate New York. Those two have more than contributed in the short term, Stafford tied with Bryan Little for the team goal-scoring lead and Myers a top-four defenceman averaging over 20 minutes per game and providing some offensive punch.

The key to the trade, however, are the pieces still ripening on the Jets roster or in the junior/NCAA ranks in Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and Jack Roslovic. Armia is now with the big club, Lemieux — who got a long look at Jets camp last fall — is chewing up the Ontario Hockey League while Roslovic is leading the University of Miami-Ohio in scoring as a freshman.

But anyone who has been following the fortunes and misfortunes of this team over the last year knows most, if not all of that.

Fast-forward now to the present day and Cheveldayoff is having another good week, especially painted against what had been the again-growing criticism of his inactivity on the Dustin Byfuglien/Andrew Ladd front and with his team having faded from the playoff discussion. This is still a team with some serious flaws, most notably a gap between the depth at the NHL level and what is available from the prospect pool with the Manitoba Moose.

But the Byfuglien deal soothed the masses as a popular component was locked up to a slightly high cap hit, but term-friendly extension. It also means while Cheveldayoff is still under the gun to make a decision on the team’s captain — deal him, sign him, just don’t lose him in free agency — the pistol isn’t pressed up against his forehead. It’s bought him some time with the Feb. 29 trade deadline approaching.

All of this is to point out how much the perception of the man generally managing the Jets has shifted over the last calendar year. He played a massive hand a year ago and a decent one earlier this week. What he does next with Ladd could define his tenure as the Jets’ GM because fans might feel comfy about what looks to be a deep prospect pool, they also want to enjoy something in the present.

That’s how this GM game seems to work. As former Winnipeg Blue Bomber GM Brendan Taman once cracked about his gig: “One year you are a guru, the next you are ragu.” Yes, ask Peter Chiarelli, who won a Stanley Cup in Boston and was then punted after a 96-point season. Ditto for Dale Tallon, whose fingerprints are still all over the Chicago Blackhawks and now with the Florida Panthers.

Cheveldayoff doesn’t have that kind of cred — he’s got five years under his belt with the Jets and just one playoff appearance to show for it. He’s got some work to do with this bunch, absolutely. And he’ll likely continue to do it with his cards pinned to his chest.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait

Trade in review

It’s one year since the Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo Sabres dropped the trade season’s biggest bomb, a swap of seven players and one pick. A year on, here’s what everyone has done since the move:

Winnipeg Jets

Last season: 15-8-3

This season: 24-26-3

TOTAL 39-34-6

Buffalo Sabres

Last season: 7-15-5

This season: 21-27-6

TOTAL: 28-42-11

 

TO THE SABRES

Evander Kane, LW

Since the move: much of the same for the 24-year-old winger: some flash — on and off the ice — but not the kind of numbers so many expected. He was shut down for the remainder of last season with a bum shoulder after the trade and worked his tail off to be in shape for his start with the Sabres, but has just 13 goals and eight assists in 44 games this year (he also fought three times in Tuesday’s loss to Florida). He has lined up on the left side with both Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Eichel, but most recently has been on Buffalo’s third line. The sideshow/distraction part of his off-ice persona includes a recent sex-offence investigation in which he is claiming his innocence.

 

Zach Bogosian, D

Since the move: and much of the same for the 25-year-old defenceman. He has missed 17 games this year due to injury and has one goal and seven assists. He’s on the Sabres’ second defence pairing with Jake McCabe averaging just over 22 minutes, and when he’s healthy and on his game, provides a physical presence with the occasional offensive punch. Still, the Sabres like the fact at 25 he’s already got a ton of games under his belt and will be a fixture on their blue-line for years to come.

 

Jason Kasdorf, G

Since the move: the Winnipegger, a former Portage Terrier, is now in his fourth season with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the ECAC and has a 8-8-4 record this season with two shutouts, a 2.15 goals-against average and .934 save percentage as the Engineers’ No. 1 goalie. He’s big at 6-4, 200 and has overcome a shoulder injury to re-establish himself as a decent prospect.

 

TO THE JETS

Drew Stafford, RW

Since the move: Stafford, 30, arrived in Winnipeg and scored nine goals and 19 points in the final 26 games of the regular season, no small contribution in getting the Jets into the playoffs. He could have been a UFA but decided to re-sign in Winnipeg in late June. Stafford’s hands are better than many fans suspected, and while he’s no banger, he has shown clear ability to play with the grit Paul Maurice demands. As of Tuesday, he held the team lead in goals this season with 16 so far.

 

Tyler Myers, D

Since the move: Myers, who just turned 26, has used the trade as a new lease on life. He has had impact on the Jets’ lineup, proving versatile and not without puck-moving and offensive skills. His reach has almost become taken for granted. Has scored 34 points in 76 games since the trade.

 

Joel Armia, RW

Since the move: the former Sabres first-rounder (16th overall in 2011) was a bit of a mystery, but the Jets are seeing enough more positive flashes in his work to believe there’s enough there that he could morph into a regular top 9 winger. He began the season with the Manitoba Moose and has two goals and three points in 22 games with the Jets since his pre-Christmas recall. His defensive awareness was probably underrated upon his arrival, and the offensive skill seems to be bubbling just below the surface.

 

Brendan Lemieux, LW

Since the move: the Sabres’ second-round pick of 2014, 31st overall, completed last season in the OHL with 41 goals and a chippy 145 penalty minutes. This season after a month-long suspension for a head hit, the 19-year-old was traded from Barrie to Windsor and simply continued his wicked scoring rampage, now with 28 goals in 32 OHL games this season. He has cut back his penalty minutes this season, and his touch and tenacity will be a major part of whatever upside this trade has for the Jets.

 

2015 first-round pick, 25th, Jack Roslovic

Since the move: The pick was the lowest of Buffalo’s two in last June’s first round, and the Jets opted for Roslovic. Now at Miami (Ohio), the freshman has just turned 19 and is his team’s leading scorer with 21 points in 27 games. The 6-1 centre has hockey vision and is instrumental on the RedHawks power play.

— Tait, Campbell