The Winnipeg Jets have signed Joe Morrow to a one year extension worth $1 million.

This news comes fresh off the heels of yesterday when the Jets noticeably did not tender a qualifying offer to Morrow. The Jets did make offers on 12 different players, but Morrow was not one of them. Some people reasoned that the Jets didn’t tender an offer because he had no interest in signing, while other people assumed the Jets were happy with their other defensemen and no longer required the services of a player brought over at the trade deadline.

While both of these arguments had some merit, the actual scenario was revealed by Kevin Cheveldayoff during an interview. The Jets were trying to negotiate with Morrow regardless of the qualifying offer or not, but had the Jets tendered an offer, Morrow could have gone to arbitration. This may have not been in the Jets favour as an independent arbitrator could have valued Morrow more highly than the offer he took.

With the cap crunch closing in on Cheveldayoff, it was important to get Morrow signed to the lowest possible deal. The other important aspect of this contract is the one year term. The Jets might have cap issues heading into next season, but it will only get worse from there. Both Patrik Laine and Blake Wheeler are needing new contracts in 2019-2020 which is why it’s important that Morrow’s deal will come off the books by then.

The last aspect of this deal is what it means for the rest of organization. It has yet to be revealed whether or not the deal is a one way or two way contract so the implications of the contract might yet change. Assuming Morrow stays with the Jets, it will definitely have an effect moving forward.

With Enstrom testing the waters in free agency, it left the Jets without one of their left handed defensemen. Kulikov hasn’t fared much better as he has battled injury issues for his whole career which could be cause for concern going forward. Morrow was originally brought in as insurance for the playoff run with Enstrom and Kulikov being hurt. It worked out well as Morrow played 18 regular season games and 6 in the playoffs, including game one against Minnesota where he scored the game winning goal of the first ever Jets playoff victory.

Going forward, Morrow should be battling for a spot in the lineup with fellow left handed defensemen Ben Chiarot. Chiarot has often occupied the pressbox slot as the 7th defensemen, but Morrow might take that role going into next season.