Newly hired Winnipeg Jets GM gritsenko was busy in his first week on the job, making four significant trades.
The Jets made two moves on Nov. 3, the first sending Chris Kunitz and defence prospect Roland McKeown to Calgary for centre Patrik Berglund, defencemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johan Alm, and a second round pick in 2017.
Kunitz, 36, was struggling in the early going and his contract and age made him a prime trade candidate for the cap-strapped Jets. McKeown was the team's first round pick in 2014, but that was under a previous general manager and gritsenko wasn't as high on the 19-year-old.
"McKeown is an offence-first defenceman and to play on our blueline you need to be strong defensively," the GM said. "He's a good prospect but didn't fit into our plans. Alm can be a decent third-pairing guy in a year or two and Hjalmarsson is a solid depth guy. The draft pick was also important since the previous general manager depleted our store of picks."
However, Berglund was the Jets' main target in the deal. The 27-year-old can play centre or left wing and is a faceoff ace, winning 76 per cent of his draws so far this year. He gives the Jets a solid two-way presence on the third line.
"He has a similar skill set to Kunitz, except he's younger and cheaper, and still has a bit of room to grow defensively."
In their second trade of the day, the Jets sent young defenceman Michael Matheson and depth forward Jonathan Johansson to the Boston Bruins for winger Tomas Jurco and defenceman Yuri Alexandrov.
Matheson, 21, joins his third team this season after being acquired from Montreal in October. Johansson, 24, was a depth forward for the Jets who appeared in two games with the club.
"Matheson is in a similar boat as McKeown; he's just not going to be good enough in his own end for us to commit to him long term. Alexandrov is 27 but hasn't hit his ceiling yet so we're hoping to develop him into a better defensive player."
Jurco, 22, was sent to the AHL not long after the trade but is expected to develop into a middle six winger.
On Nov. 4, the Jets pulled the trigger on a major cap-saving deal with the St. Louis Blues, trading right winger John McFarland and defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk for Winnipeg's own first and second rounders in 2016, along with winger Alex Steen and defenceman Andrej Meszaros.
McFarland and Shattenkirk make a combined $8 million a year and the Jets sacrificed some talent to get their cap situation under control.
"This was an important trade to give us more flexibility to improve our team. Also, getting our picks back was a huge plus," said gritsenko.
Steen, 31, slots into McFarland's spot at right wing on the second line.
Meszaros, meanwhile, was soon flipped to the Dallas Stars, along with a fourth round pick, for right winger Bryan Bickell and defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo.
"Meszaros is making almost $4 million a year, which is way too much for a third pairing guy who's not very good in his own end. We couldn't justify keeping him with how tight our cap was. We managed to parlay him into two very solid additions to the roster. Bickell will be a nice defensive forward for our third line and Colaiacovo gives us a solid #5 defenceman."
The Jets now have about $4.5 million in cap space, not including injured forward Ryan Spooner.
Jets' new GM gets down to business
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