Jets Sign RFA’s Poolman and Dano to New Deals

The Jets had a busy afternoon signing two of their remaining RFA’s to new contracts.

The Winnipeg Jets have signed Tucker Poolman to a three year deal with an AAV of $775,000 per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun.

Tucker Poolman is coming fresh off his first season of professional hockey where he impressed with his steady performance and solid decision making. After getting drafted back in 2013 as a 127th pick Poolman went on to play another season in the USHL followed by three full seasons at the University of North Dakota. After this seasoning through college, Poolman made the jump to professional hockey and bounced around between the Manitoba Moose and the Winnipeg Jets this past season.

Poolman ended up playing 24 games for the Jets and recorded one goal and one assist while averaging 12:34 TOI. Although his offensive game was non-existent at the NHL level, he did manage to score one goal and add nine assists in only 17 games with the Moose last season. This would appear to point towards Poolman being able to score points down the road, but not quite reaching that at the NHL level so far.

The most interesting part of this deal is the one-way status. This would mean Poolman would have to clear waivers if he was going to be sent down to the Moose. The one way status was probably a sticking point in the negotiations as it gives Poolman greater assurance of staying in the NHL going forward.

Overall, this is a great deal for both Poolman and the Jets as he gets his chance to stay in the NHL and the Jets get an extremely cheap insurance option moving forward. This could turn into an extremely valuable deal for the Jets if Poolman keeps progressing and impresses at the NHL level.

 

Kevin Cheveldayoff wasn’t done for the day as he also signed forward Marko Dano to a one year contract worth $800,000.

The Jets have avoided another arbitration case as Dano was set for a hearing next week but chose to sign earlier and the get the deal done.

Dano has had a tough career so far and only played in 23 games last season tallying two goals and 1 assist in only 7:11 TOI.

With the current plethora of talented wingers in Winnipeg, it has been hard for Dano to crack the lineup. Over the past two seasons he has only played in 67 games, 61 for the Jets and 6 for the Moose. This would seem to mean the Dano is good enough to make the NHL roster, but not consistent enough to actually play on a regular basis.

Going forward, expect much of the same from Dano. Although Armia was dealt this off-season, there are plenty of other players looking to fill that spot in the lineup. Look for Dano to continue competing for a roster spot and to get a few games when injuries occur.

While Dano might have the talent to play at the NHL level, he has suffered a similar fate to Petan where they are able to be on the roster but do not see enough games to really make an impression. Furthermore, they are usually playing in a fourth line role which makes it tough to showcase the offensive upside. Regardless, Dano will try his best once again to force Maurice’s hand and finally be a consistent performer at the NHL level.