Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff Upbeat and Realistic in the Middle of Training Camp – Winnipeg | The Canadian News

Winnipeg Jets General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff received a lot of “attackers” from outside sources making it a very productive offseason for the franchise.

The boxes Cheveldayoff ticked included the business acquisitions of veteran defenders Brenden Dillon and Nate Schmidt from Washington and Vancouver for draft picks; re-signing unrestricted free agent forward Paul Stastny; and avoiding arbitration for the second time in three years with restricted free agent forward Andrew Copp.

“We were able to do all the work we needed to do in the summer,” Cheveldayoff said. “But you never know how things will unfold. You never want to overestimate anything or see how it goes. A couple of injuries here and there and obviously you might have to turn on some things. “

And when Cheveldayoff met with members of the Winnipeg media on Friday after the second day of training camp at Bell MTS IcePlex, ironically, one of the first orders of the day was to share an update on the second-year defender’s injury. Dylan Samberg, who was injured on the day. earlier when he got caught in a drill and fell awkwardly.

“Dylan has a high ankle sprain. He’s one of the talkers, whether it’s six to eight weeks, ”Cheveldayoff said. “But it is one of those, we are going to give it all the time it needs so that it is not something that lasts.”

What probably makes the mishap even more painful for the 190-pound 22-year-old Hermantown, Minnesota blueliner is that he was one of the players that head coach Paul Maurice had planned to take a long look at. in during the preseason.

“This was his first training camp, he hasn’t had a chance to play an exhibition game yet, and sadly, he gets injured on the first day,” said the Jets’ hockey chief. “You have to deal with the blows, and because of him, he will come back stronger and keep fighting.”

Cheveldayoff hopes the other promising young men at the camp are certainly “engaged” in the competition for the few jobs that are available.

“You have guys on the defensive like Ville (Heinola). You have guys like Ves (Kristian Vesalainen) learning a new position, ”was Cheveldayoff’s response when asked about the training ground battles he was anticipating. “There are fourth-line battles that are obviously going to be there. (It’s) essentially the first training ground for Cole Perfetti to see where he’s at for him. “

One of the more interesting names vying for a job on the fourth line is former Red Wing prospect Evgeny Svechnikov, who attends the camp on a professional tryout after Manitoba Moose signed a contract with AHL upon his release by Detroit during the summer. And Cheveldayoff says Winnipeg’s interest in the six-foot-three, 208-pound forward dates back to when Svechnikov was selected 19th in the 2015 NHL entry draft.

“He was a player in his draft year that we had a lot of interest in. We actually flew him to Winnipeg,” Cheveldayoff recalled. “He had ankle surgery back then and we wanted to make sure our doctors saw what the injury looked like. For whatever reason, it was available in the summer. For us, he was a guy who can play on the right side. “

Svechnikov is also one of those players who will have the opportunity to show his talent during the preseason, according to the coach and general manager. Pierre-Luc Dubois’s former junior linemate has skated with highly likely fourth-row players Riley Nash and Jansen Harkins for the first two days of camp. And Cheveldayoff says there’s room for another $ 750,000 NHL minimum contract if Svechnikov is up to the task.

“You’ve built your organization here with some guys who are into it,” Cheveldayoff said. “So you’ve made room in your budget for those types of players.”

Some of that available cap space was created by the mutual termination of defender Sami Niku’s one-year, $ 725,000 contract earlier this week. And on Friday Niku signed a one-year two-way contract for roughly the same amount with Montreal. Cheveldayoff didn’t go into too much detail in his explanation of how the slim but highly skilled Finn went from being an AHL Frist Team All Star and League Defender of the Year to a player no longer interested in the Jets.

“There are a couple of different things along the way that obviously hurt Sami. The only training camp (2019) where we expected great things from him, and he was in a car accident on the way to the track. Preparing to return, he tugged at his groin. Sometimes the time in this game starts to work against you ”, offered Cheveldayoff with a certain philosophy. “You, as a player, have to do certain things that you have to do to get ahead of others. This game here, you have to earn your job. You have to earn that right to play ahead of other talented players. And every year a new generation of players arrives. There is a Ville Heinola, there is a Samberg. “

Not to mention, Brendon Dillon and Nate Schmidt were added, at or near the top of the depth org chart. And it’s the presence of those two players in particular that has elevated the Jets from a mid-level to being considered a legitimate Top Ten contender. But Cheveldayoff says expectations are always high this time of year.

“It’s a good group, I think there is a level of enthusiasm from the players,” said Cheveldayoff. “You want to have a chance to win. As a gamer, that’s what you expect. Hopefully we gave our group a little boost. “