Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff faced a choice this season. He could have re-signed one of two major pending unrestricted free agents on his roster, but not both.
In the end, Cheveldayoff chose defenseman Dustin Byfuglien over captain Andrew Ladd, This decision culminated in Ladd getting traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday for a package that included forward Marko Dano and a 2016 first-round draft pick.*
On Feb. 8, the last place Jets and Byfuglien agreed to a five-year $38 million contract extension.
“When we made the Byfuglien signing there were many questions as to whether we were going to be able to sign both players and unfortunately there are some economic realities in a cap world of trying to figure out how to fit in a different contract,” Cheveldayoff told TSN’s Rick Ralph on Thursday. *“Once you give one it affects everything else moving forward.”*
Ladd also felt this cooling of negotiations when Winnipeg re-signed Byfuglien.
“I think after (Dustin Byfuglien) signed, and we talked to Chevy, that’s kind of when I got the sense that it probably wasn’t going to happen,” Ladd said on a Thursday conference call. “You obviously start thinking and hoping if it is going to happen that you’re going to go to a place that has a chance to win. Chicago was at the top of my list for sure.*
The small-market Jets are going to have to give several restricted free agents raises this offseason, including defenseman Jacob Trouba, and forwards Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry. All players are coming off entry-level deals. Earlier in the year, it was reported Trouba was looking for $56 million over eight years. But that same report also said Byfuglien was seeking $55 million over eight years.*
Since he’s come to the Jets organization, Byfuglien has averaged 23:36 of ice-time and averaged 0.69 goals per-game. Ladd was one of the top forwards on the team, averaging 0.71 points per-game with the organization and scoring 24 goals last season. This year, Byfuglien ranked higher than Ladd as far as puck possession, according to War on Ice with a 54.99 CF% to Ladd’s 51.49 CF%, which may have been the ultimate factor.
But really, a lot also had to do with the Jets' structure, their salary constraints and whether Ladd was worth the price he sought.
“I think for us was trying to determine some of the uncertainties, obviously RFA contracts that are going to be coming up and the different interpretations of where the cap may ultimately fall certainly come into play,” Cheveldayoff said. “So we made the decision that, at this point in time, the trade option was the option to take.”
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY




- - - - - - -
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
*