Jets swing for fences, get seeing-eye single in Benn

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This article was published 12/04/2021 (1609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets got themselves a big Benn. Not the best Benn but a Benn, nonetheless.

Blue-liner Jordie Benn, a veteran of more than 500 NHL games, has changed addresses in the North Division, moving east to the Manitoba capital for the remainder of the regular season and what the organization hopes is a protracted postseason.

The Jets acquired the 6-foot-2, 200-pound left-shooting defenceman from the Vancouver Canucks at the 11th hour of Monday’s trade deadline, giving up a sixth-round pick in this summer’s NHL Draft.

Benn, a 33-year-old Victoria product and the older brother of four-time 30-goal scorer Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, has suited up in 31 games for the Canucks this season and has a goal and eight assists.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the deal to add crucial depth to the team’s back end was finalized as the clock ticked down.

“It came down right at the last minute. To the point where I wanted to make sure — before it even started (getting confirmed by) the leaks out there, somehow it got out there — that it was something that made it under the wire,” he said, late Monday afternoon. “Adding Jordie gives us a player that can play right side, can play left side, competes real hard and is someone that can add some physicality to the lineup.”

Benn, a 10-year NHL veteran, will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2021 season. He’s nearing the end of a two-year contact that carries an average annual value of US$2 million.

“He’s a player that competes hard. He’s a pro. He’s got as lot of games under his belt and a lot of experience that I think will be helpful as the games get a little more intense and a little more rugged. Again, he’s a big body that is not afraid to play that way as well,” added Cheveldayoff.

Benn was one of a handful of Vancouver players not on the club’s COVID-19 protocol list, however, he was absent for the first 10 days of the season after testing positive for virus in January.

He’s still subject to a seven-day quarantine in Winnipeg upon his arrival. The Jets have said he’ll be available to the media on a Zoom chat Tuesday.

Benn has demonstrated some versatility with the Canucks, playing the right side with Quinn Hughes and also the left side with former Jets rear-guard Tyler Myers.

He’s a plus-five on a below-average squad, averaging 14:40 of ice time nightly.

Benn has played 548 games — split between the Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens and Canucks — scoring 24 career goals and 126 points while accumulating 222 penalty minutes. He’s registered three assists in 20 playoff games.

The Jets have inexperienced Ville Heinola and Dylan Samberg, along with Sami Niku and Nelson Nogier, waiting in the wings in case of an injury, and that made at least one addition a necessity.

“We have basically a rookie in our lineup (Logan Stanley) at No. 6 (on the defensive depth chart) and, for the most part, almost two more sitting on the outside. We just felt that depth was going to be something that we needed to add,” said head coach Paul Maurice, following his club’s uninspired 4-2 defeat to the Ottawa Senators.

“Just reputation-wise, (Benn is) a spectacular human being (and) that was important to us too because we like what our room has done this year. We like how close they are together. He’s a hard, competitive man and that’s the kind of guy we wanted to make sure we would bring in, that would compete along with the rest of the fellows we have back there.”

Undrafted, Benn was signed as a free agent by Dallas in 2011 and joined his brother in the organization, earning a regular turn on the blue line during the 2012-13 season, his first of five full seasons with the Stars.

He was dealt to the Habs a day before the February 2017 trade deadline and played parts of three seasons in Montreal before signing as a free agent with Vancouver on July 1, 2019.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell