Ladd: ‘Chicago was at the top of my list’

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This article was published 25/02/2016 (3507 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DALLAS — Winnipeg Jets captain Andrew Ladd was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday evening in exchange for Chicago’s first round draft pick in 2016, a conditional draft pick in 2018 and forward Marko Dano.

The Jets also sent forward Matt Fraser and defenceman Jay Harrison — who were both playing with the Manitoba Moose this season — to Chicago. Winnipeg will also reportedly pay 36 percent of Ladd’s salary through the end of this season.

Thanks to @NHLJets and the city of Winnipeg for 5 great years! Going to miss all my teammates, training staff and great people I met there!

— Andrew Ladd (@aladd16) February 26, 2016

Ladd told a conference call Thursday night that he suspected his days in Winnipeg were numbered when the club extended Dustin Byfuglien earlier this month.

“After Buff signed and we talked to Chevy, that’s kind of when I got the sense it probably wasn’t going to happen. Then you start thinking and hoping that if it is going to happen that you’re going to a place that has a chance to win.

“Chicago was at the top of my list, for sure. I’m excited to have the opportunity to go back there and have another chance to win a Stanley Cup.”

Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told reporters here Thursday evening that the conditional draft pick the Jets receive in the deal is a third-rounder if Chicago wins the Stanley Cup this year and nothing if Chicago doesn’t win.

Cheveldayoff said talks with Chicago heated up after Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman travelled to Winnipeg on Tuesday and watched the Jets host the Dallas Stars from the MTS Centre press box.

“Stan reached out and said if you ever get to the point where you’re looking at moving him — as did many general managers — that was something that he wanted to be a part of,” said Cheveldayoff.

News of the trade broke less than one hour before Ladd and the Jets were to take the ice here Thursday evening at American Airlines Center for a game against the Dallas Stars.

It had become clear something was brewing even before the trade was announced — word had leaked out Ladd was a late scratch from the Jets lineup about 90 minutes before game time.

The Jets captain was a full participant at practice here Thursday morning and from all indications was going to play Thursday evening.

Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters following the Jets morning skate that he had not been asked to keep Ladd out of the lineup as a precaution against injury while the team shopped him.

There had been reports all day Thursday that the Jets had been shopping Ladd around the league. Beat writers with the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders both reported that the Jets were demanding a first round pick and a top prospect in exchange for Ladd, a price those organizations balked at for a player whose contract expires at the end of this season.

Cheveldayoff refused to say how many teams inquired about Ladd’s services, but did say there were multiple potential suitors.

The news Ladd had been traded broke the same day as the Jets announced that centre Bryan Little is done for the season with a compression fracture to his T-6 vertebrae, sustained last week in Tampa in a high hit by the Lightning’s Anton Stralman.

The loss of both men on the same day removed the team’s two leading goal scorers — 17 goals apiece — and a total of 76 points from the Jets offence in one day.

Cheveldayoff was asked if the departure of both men on the same day sends a message to Jets fans that the team has now shifted its focus from making the playoffs this year to the club’s future.

“The message to the fans is we’re going to compete each and every night to continue to push this organization forward, both on the ice and off the ice,” said Cheveldayoff, adding he might not be done in the trade market yet.

“I think a deal like this one here might do some things for the market place as far as setting some other things in motion maybe…

“But at this point in time, we’ll regroup as a staff…We’ll take a look at anything we can to continue to push this organization forward.”

The NHL trading deadline is Monday.

The Jets play Chicago twice this season — on Mar. 18 and on Apr. 1. Both games are at MTS Centre.

Dano, 21, was a 27th overall draft pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013. He has nine goals, 14 assists and 16 penalty minutes in 48 career games in the NHL.

Dano was playing with the Blackhawks AHL affiliate in Rockford, Illinois when he was traded Thursday.

Dano is expected to join the Jets in Pittsburgh.

“From our standpoint, we’ve got a young prospect in Marko Dano that has skill and competes hard,” said Cheveldayoff. “He’s a young player that fits the direction that we want to go. He goes to the hard areas, he can play up and down the lineup.”

With Ladd traded, the consensus is assistant-captain Blake Wheeler is the most likely candidate to take over the Jets captaincy.

Wheeler is having a career season — 55 points in 59 games heading into Thursday night — and is a vocal leader on and off for the ice for the Jets.

Cheveldayoff said no firm decisions have yet been made on who will replace Ladd as Jets captain or when that will take place.

Interviewed by TSN during the first period intermission last night, Wheeler described a “void” created by the departure of Ladd. “It’s definitely hard not having him in the locker room, not having him out there. It’s definitely hard not having him around. It’s a big void in our dressing room,” said Wheeler.

Ladd had been the Jets only captain since the team was purchased by True North and moved to Winnipeg in 2011.

We are sure going to miss Winnipeg and all our good friends! pic.twitter.com/VG5ahuHwm1

— Brandy Ladd (@Brandyj8) February 26, 2016

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek