Jets sign four on opening day of free agency

WINNIPEG -The last few days have been a whirlwind for Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff.

From the excitement of the NHL Draft in Nashville on Wednesday and Thursday, and the exciting addition of five new prospects to the organization, to the important task of Free Agency on Saturday, there has been no shortage of things to cross off the to-do list.

Cheveldayoff and his team got right to work, making four signings after free agency opened, inking forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Jeffrey Viel to new contracts, as well as goaltenders Laurent Brossoit, Collin Delia.

In Namestnikov's case, his two-year contract (with a $2 million AAV) was the culmination of ongoing conversations through the summer.

"Obviously we made the trade (with Los Angeles) that acquired some additional forwards within the line-up so we had to kind of take a step back and adjust as to how things would fit," said Cheveldayoff. "Ultimately we took a good hard look at it today and said 'let's get at this.' Vladdy was awesome and he's excited to be back."

Namestnikov had 10 points in 20 games with the Jets last season after being acquired at the trade deadline, and played both the wing and centre.

The two-year deal Namestnikov received was the longest contract Cheveldayoff gave out on Saturday. It was a common theme around the league (though there were some long-term deals handed out as well), and Cheveldayoff believes that's due to the salary cap increasing by only $1 million for next season.

"The industry is in a weird place right now," he said. "We're standing here on July 1, the first time we've done that in a while, getting back to that normal routine and cadence, and hopefully, the league, from an economic standpoint and CBA standpoint and a cap standpoint can get back to the normal cadence that we've all become used to when we're signing guys to longer-term deals."

Brossoit will return to Winnipeg in a Jets jersey next season on a one-year deal with an average annual value of $1.75 million. The 30-year-old played 11 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last season going 7-0-3, and then played another eight games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before an injury ended his postseason.

Cheveldayoff said Brossoit has been training in full, so his recovery from that injury in the playoffs shouldn't be an issue when training camp begins in September.

"Our trainers had some conversations with him today. He feels good," said Cheveldayoff. "(Connor) Hellebuyck is fully aware of us signing LB and he's pretty excited about it because there's been a good relationship between Helly and LB all the time."

Hellebuyck and Brossoit's bond was formed during off-season workouts, and was built on during the three seasons Brossoit played with the Jets from 2018 until 2021. During that time, Brossoit had a 25-19-3 record and a 0.913 save percentage.

"When we signed him several years ago, I think a lot of people didn't know much about him," said Cheveldayoff. " I thought Wade Flaherty did a great job in helping him grow. He went off to another situation for a period of time. But the opportunity to come back and work with Hellebuyck was something that appealed to LB as well. I think they'll be a good tandem."

Adding to the goaltending depth is Collin Delia, who joins the Jets organization from Vancouver.

The 29-year-old split his time between the NHL and AHL last season. The majority of his games came with the Canucks, where he went 10-6-2 with a 3.28 goals-against average.

Delia's one-year, one-way carries a $775,000 price tag, the exact same amount as Viel.

The 26-year-old Viel is someone that Cheveldayoff says the organization has been interested in for some time.

"It didn't work out when he was on waivers at different points in time," he said. "He brings an element of hard nosed grit and sandpaper, good size, and energy that you want on the bottom side of your line-up."

Of course, this is just the first day of free agency. There is still plenty of time over the course of the summer for the roster to evolve.

There is also more business for Cheveldayoff to attend to, as he needs to negotiate contracts with the seven restricted free agents that the organization offered qualifying offers to on Friday: Gabriel Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari, Morgan Barron, Declan Chisholm, Logan Stanley, Dylan Samberg, and Leon Gawanke (who will play with Adler Mannheim in Germany next season).

The majority of those players also have arbitration rights.

"You're hoping to get to those points and come to conclusions and agreements before it gets to that, and they should," said Cheveldayoff. "You have those things to take care of and once you go through all that, we're going to be pretty tight to the cap. But that's the reality. That's what we've always committed to."

So the whirlwind just keeps on spinning. It may be off-season, but the work preparing for next season never really stops.

After all, those exciting prospects the Jets just drafted four days ago? They're on the ice at development camp this week.

"I'm really excited to see the guys skate, to come together," he said. "Salomonsson's going to be coming in from Sweden. We haven't had the chance to see him -- last year, he broke his leg before going to the World Juniors. Wagner, DiVincentiis. All of those players are going to be here for the first time so we're really excited to see the future of the Winnipeg Jets on display."