Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has 12 unrestricted free agents (UFAs) on his books — six from the NHL roster and six who spent their seasons in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose — who will be free on July 1 to sign with whatever team they wish. The Jets tied a 2.0 record with 52 wins this season to finish second in the Central Division, but were clobbered in the first round by a much-more-playoff-hardened Colorado Avalanche cub.
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Cheveldayoff has some tough decisions to make. He will have approximately $13 million at his disposal as the salary cap slated to rise to $87.5 million and he’ll have to figure out if that’s best spent on “running it back” — hoping that his current group has learned lessons from its early playoff exit and can make a deeper run next spring — or if he’ll let some players walk in favour of acquiring new talent.
Here, we’ll take a look at each pending UFA.
NHL Roster
Laurent Brossoit
Laurent Brossoit, by playing so well, has most likely played himself right off the Jets.
The now-31-year-old, by signing a one-year deal to return to the Jets for this season, bet on himself. He hoped — after being a part of the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup winning 2023 squad — to catch the attention of the rest of the NHL by showing the starter-level skills he showed down the stretch last season and early in the postseason for Vegas before being injured (or, conversely, set himself up to be the Jets’ next starter if Connor Hellebuyck left as a UFA.)
Consider attention captured. Brossoit was the NHL’s best backup and gave the Jets just a good a chance to win as when they started Hellebuyck. In 22 starts and 23 appearances, Brossoit posted a 15-5-1 record, 2.00 goals against average, .927 SV%, three shutouts, and 13.1 goals saved above expected.
With Hellebuyck signing a seven-year deal before the season started, Brossoit will have to go elsewhere to get the opportunity he deserves. He will certainly capture a lot of attention this offseason from teams looking for a starter or someone to use in a two-man tandem, and is set to get a big raise on a multi-year deal from someone. Teams who may be looking to upgrade in net include the Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and Ottawa Senators.
In a March article about Brossoit and Hellebuyck’s strong relationship, Brossoit spoke on his likely departure.
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“It is a bit bittersweet. If I could choose, and if it didn’t mean halting or stalling of my career, I’d prefer to stay here,” he said, adding he’s very comfortable in Winnipeg. “It will be sad to go, if I do, but it’s the nature of the beast.”
“He should be a starter somewhere,” Hellebuyck agreed. “I would be his front-runner saying that he belongs starting in goal. It will be sad to see him go, but I’ll send the reference letter.” (From ‘No masking this relationship, Winnipeg Free Press, March 18, 2024.)
Dylan DeMelo
DeMelo is coming off a four-year contract he signed with the Jets in 2020 that carried a $3 million average annual value (AAV) and would like to stay with the team.
“I can definitely see myself staying here, there’s no doubt about it,” the 31-year-old said at the Jets’ end-of-season media availability. “I know for sure I’m definitely comfortable here, I’ve played my best hockey here, I really think my best hockey is still ahead of me, and I’ve really loved my time here. The guys in this room are guys I want to play with and want to win with.”
DeMelo has played 295 games for Winnipeg since being acquired from the Ottawa Senators near the 2019 Trade Deadline. He has recorded 10 goals and 70 assists for 80 points — including a career-high 31 points (three goals, 28 assists) this season — but is more known as a stay-at-home guy who posts strong possession metrics. He has played primarily with Josh Morrissey over the past two seasons and complements Morrissey — who has really broken out over the past two campaigns — well.
When asked what the most important factors are in determining where to sign, he said “my fit, where I fit on the team, my role, where I feel like I can contribute the most, and obviously a huge factor is the ability to win.”
“Obviously, like I said, it’s not a guarantee to make playoffs every year, there’s no guarantee you win, but if you feel like you have a group that can make at least the playoffs and make some good runs… like I said, I’m 31, you only get so many kicks at the can,” he continued.
DeMelo reflected on the fact he has never been past the second round in his nine-year career. “I wanna get there (to the Stanley Cup Final). There’s no doubt about it that I feel that we can do that also here in this group.” He also revealed that he and his wife Jessica are expecting their second child in August, so stability is also a consideration for their young family.
“Going from a 2-1 zone to a man-on-man is going to be interesting,” he said, to big laughs. “That’s a factor as well. We’ve really enjoyed our time here, my wife and I and our son… it’s not just you in the fold, it’s going to be four instead of three.”’
Brenden Dillon
Dillon is coming off a four-year contract that carried a $3.9 million AAV. Cheveldayoff inherited the last three years of the deal from the Washington Capitals in a 2021 trade.
Dillon said he is “frustrated” he has not been tendered an offer yet and that he and DeMelo were able to vent to each other about their UFA statuses as Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, and Nino Niederreiter all signed lengthy new deals.
“Am I frustrated that I’m not signed sitting here and ready for next year? Absolutely. For this team, I feel like I’m a big part of it. I feel like coming in — I’ve said it numerous times — I love the group of guys we have. I love the d-group we have, we have a lot of fun together, we want to get better together,” he said at the Jets’ end-of-season media availability.
A hard and heavy defenseman, the 33-year-old has played 238 games with the Jets over three seasons and had eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 77 games this season while playing mainly on the second pairing with Neal Pionk.
“I feel like I’m a big part of this team. I feel like coming in, I’ve said it numerous times, I love the group of guys we have. In the D group we have, we have a lot of fun together, and we want to get better together,” Dillon said.
“It’s crazy to think it’s been three years now I’ve been here, and I feel like every year we’ve gotten better and better. There’s a lot of positives this year as unfortunate as the ending was,” he continued before adding how strong he feels the Jets’ team culture has become.
“We’ve got a good group in there that I’d like to be part of going forward, for sure,” he said. He added later that being a UFA isn’t always about going for the big money and his biggest desires are to win and be wanted.
A veteran of 892-career games over 13 seasons, Dillon has 37 goals and 159 assists for 196 points, a career plus-66 rating, 2169 hits, 1181 blocked shots, and has averaged 18:44 in ice time.
Colin Miller
When Cheveldayoff acquired defenseman Colin Miller from the New Jersey Devils at deadline, the thought was Miller would be a lineup regular and an upgrade over Neal Pionk on the second pairing, or at the very least, an upgrade over Nate Schmidt and Logan Stanley on the third pairing.
However, now-retired head coach Rick Bowness used the 31-year-old veteran of 500-plus NHL games sparingly. Miller only played five games and was frequently a healthy scratch with eight defenseman on the roster. Bowness preferred cycle in Schmidt and Stanley and Pionk, despite his continued struggles, did not seen the press box once.
Miller’s usage was also sparse in the playoffs. Despite the Jets’ total lack of ability in the playoffs to keep the high-octane Avalanche offense in check, Miller sat until Game 5.
Miller will likely be off to the seventh team of his career for next season unless negotiations with DeMelo and/or Dillon go nowhere or Cheveldayoff chooses to buy out Pionk or Schmidt, who both have one year left on their respective contracts.
Sean Monahan
Sean Monahan was brought in as a rental, but a big endorsement he gave the organization at his end-of-season media availability hints at potential for the relationship to continue.
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“The biggest thing for me is I want to give myself a chance to win and this is a spot that definitely wants to win and has the makings of doing that,” the veteran centre said. “I really enjoyed my time here. It goes by quick. I feel like I’ve been here for a long time but you look back and it’s just a couple months. Met some obviously great teammates. It’s a great organization.”
Cheveldayoff acquired Monahan from the Montreal Canadiens in early February as a preemptive strike in the Central Division arms race and he fit seamlessly up the middle on the Jets’ second line. The 29-year old put up 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points in 34 games and was also excellent in the dot for a team that’s struggled to post a faceoff percentage of above 50 per cent, winning 54.7 per cent of his draws.
Between the Jets and Canadiens this season, Monahan had 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points and actually played 83 games; he has 538 points (244 goals, 294 assists) in 764-career games over 11 seasons, three 30-plus goal seasons, and four 60-plus point seasons.
His one-year, $2 million “prove it” contract he signed with the Canadiens last summer is much less than what he will be looking for on a new contract with term. His previous contract was a six-year deal he signed with the Calgary Flames that carried a $6.375 AAV.
Tyler Toffoli
Toffoli is coming off a four-year contract he inked with the Canadiens in 2020 that carries a $4.25 million AAV, and when acquired from the Devils at the trade deadline (with 50 per cent salary retention) he was one of the league’s biggest pieces of trade bait.
The move to add the scoring winger with playoff experience was logical, but didn’t turn out as impactful as hoped: he had flashes of brilliance, to be sure, and put up seven goals and four assists for 11 points in 18 games, but his scoring mainly came in bunches. He added two goals in five playoff games, but by Game 5, had been demoted to the fourth line.
Toffoli was not forthcoming about his future plans at the Jets’ end-of-season media availability. He didn’t rule out re-signing in Winnipeg, but seems to want to test the open market.
“I feel like I’ve worked my way to an opportunity to see what’s next and whatever happens, happens,” he said. “It’s one of those things you take it day-by-day and things kind of happened much quicker than I would have liked. We’ll see kind of what happens, you know, in the future here.”
Toffoli was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings 47th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and played 515 games for the Kings over eight seasons. Between his time with the Kings and Devils, he had stints with the Vancouver Canucks, Canadiens, and Flames. He has 521 points (260 goals, 261 assists) in 852-career games over 12 seasons and after putting up 30-plus goals both this season and last, could be courted by a number of teams this summer.
AHL Roster
Kyle Capobianco (Group 6 UFA)
Kyle Capobianco had an outstanding season on the back end for the Moose, leading all AHL blue liners with 54 points (12 goals, 42 assists,) posting a plus-29 rating on a team that had a negative-18 goal differential, and winning the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s outstanding defenseman. He also made his fourth-career AHL All-Star Classic appearance and was named a First Team AHL All-Star for the first time.
The busy campaign for Capobianco stood in stark contrast to the first season of the two-year contract he signed in 2022 with a $762,500 AAV. In 2022-23, he spent most of the season as the Jets’ seventh or eighth defenseman, suiting up for just 14 games. The Jets gambled at the beginning of this season by placing the 26 year old on waivers instead of Stanley, but luckily for the team, he cleared and was able to lead the Moose d-corps with his dominant skating and awareness.
Capobianco, who has played 73-career NHL games, is obviously is good enough to be a big-league regular, but a role for him on the Jets’ blue line isn’t readily available. There are a lot of factors that will influence whether he re-signs or goes elsewhere that gives him a better chance to play in the NHL: how negotiations with DeMelo and Dillon go, if Jets move on from Stanley, and if the Jets buy out either Pionk or Schmidt.
Collin Delia
The Jets signed journeyman goalie Collin Delia on July 1, 2023 to a one-year contract. A few hours later, the Jets signed Brossoit, relegating Delia — who had appeared in 52-career NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks and Canucks — to AHL duties unless someone got injured.
Delia struggled mightily for the Moose all season and was unable to come up with timely saves or string together consistent performances. He posted an 11-19-0-1 record, 3.55 GAA, .872 SV%, and zero shutouts in 32 appearances.
At first, he played in a tandem with Oskari Salminen, but both goaltenders’ roles waned in the back half. Thomas Milic, a 20-year-old rookie, stole the Moose crease and was instrumental in turning the tide and helping the team reach the Calder Cup Playoffs after a historically bad first half, which included an 11-game losing streak with Delia and Salminen. Salminen was sent down to the ECHL and Delia made just a handful of starts.
Jeff Malott
Left-wing power forward Jeff Malott set a new career-high in points with 52 (22 goals, 30 assists) with the Moose this season, playing an instrumental role on their top six and power play.
Malott, 27, was playing on the final year of a two-year deal he signed in July, 2022 that carried a $762,500 AAV. He suited up for one NHL game in 2021-22 but has not received an NHL call-up since; he has 82 goals and 157 points in 237-career games with the Moose over four seasons.
Kristian Reichel (Group 6 RFA)
Kristian Reichel, playing on the final year of a two-year contract with a $775,000 AAV, had the best season of his six-season Moose career, scoring 23 goals and adding 19 assists for 42 points in 70 games en route to being named Moose MVP. The 23 goals were even more impressive considering he started the season ice cold and did not score for his first 18 games. He did not receive an NHL call-up after playing 13 games for the Jets in 2021-22 and two for the Jets in 2022-23.
The 25-year-old Czechian — who centred the Moose’s “identity line” of he, Jeffrey Viel, and Parker Ford that head coach Mark Morison often turned to to turn momentum or to start a period on the right foot — has already parlayed his strong production into an overseas contract. In early May, he signed a three-year contract with Adler Mannheim of the German DEL.
Ashton Sautner
The Flin Flon, Manitoba-born defenceman, in his second full season with the Moose, recorded five goals and 11 points with a minus-11 rating in 65 games and served as an alternate captain.
The undrafted 29 year old, who has played 23-career NHL games (all with the Canucks) was playing on a one-year contract worth $775,000.
Jeffrey Viel
Viel proved he was more than an enforcer, setting new career highs in goals with 17 and points with 40 with the Moose (while also racking up 142 penalty minutes and engaging in a number of ferocious tilts.)
Viel, who was playing on a one-year deal worth $775,000, was part of the Moose’s “identity line” alongside Reichel and Ford. He did not receive an NHL call up after playing 49 games with the San Jose Sharks between 2020-21 and 2022-23.