The Winnipeg Jets enter free agency with very few open roster spots and a pile of money to spend. After signing Chris Thorburn last night, Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has 18 roster spots accounted for, including 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.
The Winnipeg Jets also have a handful of restricted free agents that are but assured roster spots next year in Michael Frolik, Eric O`Dell and Micheal Hutchinson. That trio is likely to land one way contracts, if they do that makes 21 of a possible 23 roster spots accounted for.
CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
2014 Winnipeg Jets
FORWARDS
Andrew Ladd ($4.400m) / Bryan Little ($4.700m) / Michael Frolik ($1.900m)
Evander Kane ($5.250m) / Mark Scheifele ($0.863m) / Blake Wheeler ($5.600m)
Dustin Byfuglien ($5.200m) / OPEN / Eric O’Dell ($0.660m)
Eric Tangradi ($0.675m) / Jim Slater ($1.600m) / Anthony Peluso ($0.563m)
Chris Thorburn ($1.200m)
DEFENSEMEN
Tobias Enstrom ($5.750m) / Zach Bogosian ($5.143m)
OPEN / Jacob Trouba ($0.894m)
Mark Stuart ($2.625m) / Grant Clitsome ($2.067m)
Adam Pardy ($0.700m) / Paul Postma ($0.713m)
GOALTENDERS
Ondrej Pavelec ($3.900m)
Michael Hutchinson ($0.660m)
BONUS OVERAGE
$0
——
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $55,062,024; BONUSES: $1,633,333
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $13,937,976
For a slightly prettier version of the above roster, click here.
Things we know:
- Carl Kingberg acquitted himself well last year and could make some noise come training camp.
- Josh Morrissey did the same.
- Adam Pardy started last season in St. John's. That could happen again.
- The Jets seem to prefer to carry two defenders and one forward in the press box.
- Paul Maurice really likes Jussi Jokinen
What will happen?
Hard to say. The Jets haven’t been busy on UFA day and they may be hard pressed to make a splash given how few roster spots they have remaining. We do know that the rumor mill has the Winnipeg Jets connected to many centres including Paul Statsny, Jussi Jokinen, Mikhail Grabovski, David Legwand, and Leo Komarov. For more potenitial UFA targets check out this post by Cole and Garret’s series on “Money Puck” forwards and defenders.
Video:
What other rumours have you heard? What are you expecting to see out of Chevy today? Let us know below.
| Option | Votes |
|---|---|
| Tanner Glass (3 years, $1.45M AAV) | 13 |
| Brooks Orpik (5 years, $5.5M AAV) | 49 |
| Shawn Thornton (2 years, $1.2M AAV) | 2 |
| Dave Bolland (5 years, $5.5M AAV) | 25 |
| Paul Stastny (4 years, $7M AAV) | 6 |
| Mike Cammallerri (5 years, $5M AAV) | 3 |
| Benoit Pouliot (5 years, $4M AAV) | 3 |
