Little signed, defencemen healthy and Cheveldayoff relieved

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This article was published 14/09/2017 (2916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The return of a healthy Tyler Myers and Toby Enstrom, both veteran blue-liners, and the recovery from major shoulder surgery by rookie defenceman Tucker Poolman is the best sort of news for Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.

“You want to take care of business as much as you can and in responsible fashion and there should be no distractions going into this year in any regard to contracts,” said Cheveldayoff after the club announced a six-year contract extension for veteran centre Bryan Little Thursday morning. “I go to bed every night and cross my fingers… that for us we can stay healthy. Because, that’s the big X factor for us moving forward here and everything looks to be going that way in medicals (Thursday) morning.”

LAINE RECHARGED: Jets forward Patrik Laine was grateful for the summer break after a hectic rookie season in the NHL.

“I would say so,” said Laine. “It was a long year for me so it was nice to get a break like that, get a good long summer. Now, I’m feeling pretty good so let’s see what happens on the ice.”

Laine scored 36 times as an 18-year-old and expectations are likely to be sky high for his sophomore season.

“I think everybody is expecting me to score three goals every night but that’s not reality,” said Laine. “For me, if I’m going be a better player… that’s enough for me. My job is to help my team to win as well as I can, that’s going to be enough for me. If I’m not scoring in the first 10 games, I’m not disappointed. I just have to do those right things on the ice and the goals will come at some point.”

LOOKING AHEAD: Winnipeg could have as many as nine pending restricted free agents and four unrestricted free agents after 2017-18, but the possibilities aren’t something Cheveldayoff is going to fret about.

“Every UFA is unique, every RFA is unique,” said Cheveldayoff. “There’s different circumstances. All you can really deal with is what’s in front of you at the moment. The CBA allows for different things at different points in time, but again the uniqueness of the CBA is you don’t know where the salary cap goes on any given year until just before July 1 (when free agency signing begins).

“Essentially, given the amount of performance bonuses we believe we’re going to have to pay, as history has shown (US$4 million last season)… we’re essentially a cap team. You have to be mindful of making sure you don’t spend over the cap.”

ON TAP: After Thursday’s medicals, training camp gets underway in earnest Friday with on-ice testing slated for 10 a.m. and noon at the Iceplex.

On Saturday, the club hosts its fourth annual Fan Fest with events starting at 8 a.m. Players will be on the ice at 9 a.m. and noon.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14