The Winnipeg Jets have cleared some cap space by trading goaltender Steve Mason and forward Joel Armia to the Montreal Canadiens
Heading into free agency, the Winnipeg Jets are hoping to re-sign center Paul Stastny. They’re also looking to give raises to certain restricted free agents, such as defenseman Jacob Trouba. However, the Jets didn’t have much cap space. They’ve cleared some by trading goaltender Steve Mason and forward Joel Armia, along with two future draft picks, to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Simon Bourque.
By doing this, the Jets save at least $4.1 million, the cost of Mason. Armia is a restricted free agent and is projected to get at least $1 million. This should clear up enough money for the Jets to be able to keep their guys. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear Winnipeg announce they’ve re-signed Stastny before the July 1 deadline.
The Montreal Canadiens get an extra goaltender in Mason. Considering they already have Carey Price and Antti Niemi, it wouldn’t be surprising if they decided to buy out his contract. The Colorado Avalanche did the same thing to defenseman Brooks Orpik after acquiring him with goaltender Philipp Grubauer.
In addition, the Habs get Armia, who has developed into a quality NHL forward. Last season with the Jets, he scored a career-high 12 goals and put up a career-high 29 points in 79 games. Armia should help the Canadiens get better production from their bottom six forwards. At 25 years old, he has the potential to improve a little bit as well.
Picking up two additional draft picks, even though they are late round picks, is an added bonus for the Canadiens. Those are two more lottery tickets that Montreal can add to their crop of future draft picks.
Bourque is a defenseman who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Canadiens. In his first season in the AHL last year, he had three points in 46 games while posting 28 penalty minutes.
This is purely a salary dump for the Jets. They now have enough room to either extend Stastny and Trouba or potentially pull off something else.