The Winnipeg Jets made one move yesterday: re-sign Nathan Beaulieu to a one-year, $1 million contract. They made an offer to Ben Chiarot, one which was a step down from the reportedly two-year, $6 million offer they made prior to July 1. By doing so, the Jets had an excellent day of free agency.
The Jets do have some needs especially on the back end, but the player most likely to fill that need, Jake Gardiner, would eat up most of their remaining cap space instead if it going towards the Jets own players like Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, and Andrew Copp who are all RFAs. The Jets are in a good spot by not addressing the need on defence through a signing.
Speaking of the RFAs, the Jets got lucky there as well. The Montreal Canadiens decided to offer sheet Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes) and managed to reset the market with one fell swoop. By offering him just a shade under $8.5 million, they set the market at a lower rate then someone like Mitch Marner had been reportedly asking.
By not doing anything, Kevin Cheveldayoff did a lot. He did not overpay for someone that would block a young player from the NHL. He did not put the Jets into perpetual cap jeopardy by signing a player on the downside of their career to a long, expensive contract. Chevy has a lot of work to do this off-season, but by not doing much of anything yesteday he made his off-season slightly easier.
