Winnipeg Jets: A quiet but deadly off-season

The Winnipeg Jets have one of the most dominant teams in hockey and are coming off a season in which they made it to the Conference Finals. How can they build on that success?

The Winnipeg Jets are so good that they don’t have to get big names in the offseason to improve their star-studded roster. They had a quiet offseason in terms of unrestricted free agent signings, but they were not passive this summer. The Jets quietly re-signed five key players to a variety of contracts.

Let’s take a look at their quiet, but efficient, offseason.

1. Blake Wheeler signed a six-year deal worth $41.25 million

Blake Wheeler is one of the best point producers in the league. He recorded the most points on the team (91), 21 more points than the next guy, some dude named Patrik Laine. Since the start of 2015-16, Wheeler is fifth in points (243) on a list with players like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. This guy is an offensive machine as well as a strong leader in the locker room.

2. Jacob Trouba signed a one-year deal worth $5.5 million

Jacob Trouba had a concussion and an ankle injury that prevented him from playing a full season. He ended up playing 55 regular season games as well as 17 playoff games with the Jets in which he was dominant. At 24 years old, his defensive numbers are astounding and even though his offensive numbers are not great, he still drives the play and is a good skater.

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3. Adam Lowry signed a three-year deal worth $8.75 million

Adam Lowry missed a huge chunk of the season with an upper-body injury but still managed to play 45 games. He recorded 8 goals and 13 assists and was a key penalty killer for the Jets. He’s a third-fourth line center that the Jets need as a depth piece. When he was out with his injury, the Jets stumbled and really felt his loss. His ability to play strong defensively as well as his 56% on the faceoff dot are the little details that the Jets’ need to go all the way.

4. Connor Hellebuyck signed a six-year deal worth $37 million

This is a great signing for many obvious reasons. A Vezina finalist and a .924 save percentage in 67 regular season games deserves every penny. We saw in the beginning of the season how bad the Jets were without a solid goaltender behind them.

In the season opener, they dominated the Maple Leafs in the first period yet they came out of it down 3-0. Connor Hellebuyck is the biggest reason why the Jets are so good and they need him to maintain that dominance if they want to make a deeper run.

5. Brandon Tanev signed a one-year deal worth 1.15 million dollars

The left winger played 61 games last season and is trying to play himself into a long-term deal. Last season, he had 8 goals and 10 assists, three of those goals contributed to his first ever hat trick against the Boston Bruins.

More impressively, that was the night Paul Maurice decided to counter the Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pasternak line with a scrappy line centered by Brandon Tanev himself. Not only did he shut them down, he scored a hat-trick.  In the playoffs, he seemed to find another groove and in 16 games, he had four goals and two assists.

The Winnipeg Jets may not have made a splash in free agency, but they locked up key players and will continue to be a huge Stanley Cup threat for the years to come.