Cheveldayoff and Jets stay on the sideline on final trade deadline day

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/02/2020 (2022 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets were reduced to curious spectators Monday as the NHL’s trade deadline quietly passed around these parts.

With a flurry of activity happening in other markets, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff didn’t pull the trigger on any moves. He got his work done early, swinging a pair of separate deals last week which brought defenceman Dylan DeMelo and forward Cody Eakin to town.

“We had some conversations with some teams. Generally, they were more around the potential of a hockey trade of some sort involving player for player, different situations like that. So we’ve done some due diligence. Maybe some conversations that could pick up at a different point in time,” Cheveldayoff said as he met the media at Bell MTS Place.

DeMelo was acquired from Ottawa for a third-round pick in this summer’s draft, while Eakin came from Vegas in exchange for a conditional fourth-rounder in 2021 that becomes a third-rounder if the Jets make the playoffs this season. They are currently 32-27-5, one point out of the final Western Conference wildcard spot with 18 regular-season games remaining.

Cheveldayoff said he considered the Jets to be “buyers” but not in the same aggressive way as the past two seasons, when they moved their first-round picks for Paul Stastny (2018) and Kevin Hayes (2019).

“The last two, we took big swings. We obviously had the appetite to go after something that we thought was going to fit. You have to find the thing the fits and you have to have the currency and you have to have the appetite. All those three things have to align. For two years in a row we felt that,” said Cheveldayoff.

“This year the appetite was to try and do the two moves that we did and going into today, knowing that we made those moves and understanding what the other fits might be, we were comfortable if nothing else came to fruition, we were comfortable with where we were at.”

The Jets have gone through plenty of adversity this season, including the unexpected absence of Dustin Byfuglien, a serious injury to centre Bryan Little that limited him to just seven games, and other hurts that currently have Adam Lowry, Mathieu Perreault and Josh Morrissey sidelined. There was also the loss of blue-liners Jacob Trouba (in exchange for Neal Pionk), Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot (both to free agency) last summer.

Still, Cheveldayoff said he was open to finding immediate help for his club if the cost was right.

“You don’t want to make a trade just for the sake of making a trade. If you’re going to bring someone in you’ve got to make sure that, one, they’re going to get played and going to fit, as opposed to tapping into other assets. Sometimes it’s just best to go with what you have,” said Cheveldayoff.

“You are a little bit hamstrung when you have the injuries that we do, with respect to potentially maybe doing some hockey deals. You’ve got a couple players that could maybe be a week to two weeks away. Those you look to get into your lineup sooner rather than later, that’s the acquisitions you’re hoping for in some respects. But I certainly wasn’t looking to take away from this group just for the sake of maybe picking up a late pick.”

The Jets just lost two straight games this past weekend in Philadelphia and Buffalo to fall below the playoff line. Cheveldayoff said those recent outcomes didn’t have an impact on his approach to the trade deadline.

“I’m real proud of this group and the fight they’ve put up and the fight that they’ve stayed in,” said Cheveldayoff.

“The players that I think moved today, we knew they were out there, that wasn’t necessarily shocking in the sense of who was out there or different players that were going to be on the market. Some of the prices obviously were very high in the sense of did we have that type of currency to put into play in the marketplace. That’s a different story. But as far as changing my thought process or changing the direction, we went into this understanding that there’s no quick fixes, there’s no immediate cure here. We’ve got to continue to fight, and we believe the players we’ve added will help us in that fight.”

As for DeMelo and Eakin, who are both pending unrestricted free agents. Cheveldayoff said both of those acquisitions could ultimately be more than just rentals.

“We looked at these deals even more than reward. I think both of these deals that we did make could have some potential long-term implications as well. So it’s not just a simple rental for the sake of a rental type of thing,” he said.

The Jets wrap up their four-game road trip Tuesday night in Washington.

On a final note, Cheveldayoff said the Byfuglien situation remains fluid. He recently told the Jets he will not return to play hockey at any point this season, which limited any potential trade option.

The Jets and Byfuglien’s camp are still working towards a contract termination which would void the remaining two years on his deal (at US $14 million total) and make him an unrestricted free agent who could sign with any other club, should he decide to put off retirement down the road.

“There’s obviously some different things behind the scenes. There’s still a work in progress there,” said Cheveldayoff.

“There’s still some moving parts here that, again, at some point in time I’ll probably be able to stand in front of you guys and be able to answer a full Dustin Byfuglien press conference. But it’s a little bit still some grey areas here to work with.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

 

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg