Jets welcome Trouba with open arms

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This article was published 08/11/2016 (3242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jacob Trouba insists it is a happy homecoming.

The 22-year-old defenceman says a desire to get back on the ice was behind his decision to end a contract stalemate and return to the Winnipeg Jets — less than two months after demanding a one-way ticket out of town.

Trouba was greeted with hugs and handshakes by teammates as he returned to the fold Tuesday morning after signing a two-year deal worth US$6 million.

He took part in the morning skate and could make his season debut as early as Thursday night in Arizona.

“I want to play hockey. I’m a hockey player,” Trouba said matter-of-factly when asked what changed in his dispute with the team.

“I’m extremely happy to be back in the locker room.”

Trouba made waves during training camp when he formally requested a trade through his agent, citing his usage by the team as the main factor. While some speculate the salary-cap-friendly deal he signed Monday still leaves him open to be dealt, Trouba said he’s no longer looking for a change of scenery.

“I’ve committed to sign here for two years. When I signed that piece of paper, everything changed in my mind,” he said.

“It was never about Winnipeg. I tried making that clear.”

Trouba said he will play wherever head coach Paul Maurice wants him to, saying his previously aired concerns “go out the window now.” But he expressed no regrets about how the matter was handled.

“In a way, I guess I took a stand. Stood up for how I felt. You can go with the flow, do what everybody else does and just be part of everything, or you can try to stand up for what you believe in, what I felt was best for my future. I did that, and things change over time,” he said.

“The statement I made at the time was how I felt. It’s something I wanted to see through, I think I owed it to myself to kinda see it through. Like I said, everything changes now that you sign a piece of paper.”

Trouba said he met a couple weeks ago with Jets general manager Kevin Chevelydayoff, which set in motion the chain of events that culminated in signing a contract.

“I told him how I felt, he told me how they felt and how they were gonna handle it. I made the best decision I could at that time. I kinda tried to take everything day by day, or week by week, and reassess and make the best decision for my future,” said Trouba.

He admitted there may be some fences to mend.

“I hope teammates welcome me back. They can make their decision. We don’t have to be best friends. I understand if there’s some hard feelings. If anybody wants to talk to me, I hope they feel welcome to do that,” he said.

There were no obvious signs of tensions in the locker room Tuesday.

Captain Blake Wheeler and alternate Mark Scheifele both spoke of greeting Trouba with “big hugs.”

“He’s a big part of what we’ve done in the past and where we’re going in the future. I know there aren’t any hard feelings. We’re excited to have Jacob back. He’s one of the more popular guys in our room,” said Wheeler.

“Throughout this whole process, the majority of guys were keeping in contact with him, seeing how he was doing.”

Wheeler said nobody took Trouba’s situation personally.

“When it comes to players, I think we all support each other in terms of the business side of things. We’re a part of a union, so we kind of embrace that aspect of it. There are going to be times when it doesn’t work out. That’s none of our business,” said Wheeler.

“Trouby’s a part of our family. I think what makes playing in Winnipeg and what makes our organization special is that it does have a family feel. It’s how we’re going to win here.”

Scheifele joked Trouba may “owe us a nice dinner on the road” now that he has re-signed

“I’m obviously pretty pumped up. He’s a good buddy of mine. Obviously, it was tough to see him go through what he was going through and tough for the team as well,” said Scheifele.

“Jacob’s a big part of this team, he’s been a big part of it for the last three years. That’s what were building here. We’re building a team that hopefully can win in the future and win right now, too.

“He’s a big part of that. Him signing is a big boost to our lineup.”

Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers have been logging huge minutes with Trouba out of the picture, and will likely benefit from his return.

“We’ve tried to just play as hard as we can as a group. Now that we have him back, I think it makes our group stronger. It makes our D-core a lot deeper,” said Myers. “I thought all the guys in the room handled it really well. I think Trouby handled it well. He’s always been a real good guy since he came in.”

Maurice said he was happy to have such a major part of his team’s youthful foundation back in the fold. He offered up no hints as to where he planned to play Trouba.

“He’s going to play defence for the Winnipeg Jets. Same place he finished off. He’ll play as part of a group. If he plays really well, like any of them, he will play more. If his play slips, he will play less,” said Maurice.

He chalked up the trade demand to “the filter of negotiations,” and isn’t expecting any blowback going forward.

“We got a really good room in there. This is an unusual group, being so young. I like the way they are around each other. I like the way they are on the bench. To add another young guy, you can’t sit in that room as a young player and not look around and get excited about the future of this team, in my mind,” he said.

“At the end of the day, he’s just a hockey player that wants to play hockey. He’s trying to find the best fit for him. We think it’s here. And that’s the way I’ll approach it.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca