|
The Trouba era in Winnipeg is over |
|
|
|
|
|
It was not how anyone thought this would play out but we all knew that Trouba's tenure was coming to an end in Winnipeg. The spin, if thats what you can call a rather flustered Kevin Cheveldayoff on his conference call after the trade was announced, was this was about the salary cap and that 'no long term deal could be agreed upon' but why then was it possible for other Kurt Overhardt clients to sign deals and be traded?
At the very best, the deal the Jets landed for Trouba is underwhelming. At the worst, well Jets fans are still stringing together their emotions and thoughts to describe it and they are not pretty. The fact is the Jets relationship with Jacob Trouba was never pretty. With it culminating in the return of the Jets first round pick, one they traded with Brendan Lemieux for Kevin Hayes, and 23 year old LD Neal Pionk leaves many feeling let down, to outrageously duped.
The Trouba tree looks like this:
Trouba (an 8th overall pick) to NYR and Lemieux for a 1st round pick (20th) and Pionk for a Kevin Hayes 50 day rental and a 5th round pick. This is some crazy asset management. One that begs many questions but it's not pretty and the relationship between Trouba and the Jets never was.
Drafted in the 2012 draft the Jets brought Trouba and his family to Winnipeg to see the city and learn about the team that drafted him. In the summer of 2013 after Trouba had turned pro in the lockout shortened season Mark Chipman had his own daughter take Trouba to the Taylor Swift concert at Investors Group Field on Jun 22nd. The Jets were doing everything to woo the nervous Trouba, and his family.
This was a family not prepared for their son to be in a city and place they did not know or understand. The Jets tried to use players as mentors and tried with Bogosian as a room mate. The Jets hired Trouba's brother in a role and they tried to convince the young player that he had a future in Winnipeg. Trouba, his family, and his agent never saw a future or never saw the one the Jets believed would happen or envisioned.
The entry level contract finished and the Jets found themselves facing a player who, through his agent, expressed that he was not afforded a chance to exhibit his true game and thus earn his true value and was holding out until a trade request could be accommodated. All this after the last World Cup of Hockey. Within a few weeks Jets GM had met with Trouba at his family home in Michigan while the Jets played a game in Detroit. Soon after Trouba had signed a two-year bridge deal and said all the right things, "that when he signed that contract he committed to the team".
When that deal had expired the Jets and Trouba went to arbitration last summer with the Jets seeking a 4 million/year award and Trouba asking for 6 million. The arbitrator went right down the middle at 5 million. All the while polite sound bites were said and it was business at usual but this should have been the first clear sign to everyone that this relationship was over.
It was over back in the fall of 2016 and the letter that Trouba's agent Kurt Overhardt released to the media demanding a trade should have been the point that the Jets realized they needed to move Trouba. When they didn't move him, nor acquiesce to his agent the game likely became all too real for them. Trouba wanted out, his parents wanted him out, and they didn't want to wait.
Perhaps the Jets felt they could convince Trouba to stay if the team did well and after last season and the playoff success this was a team that was going to be on the rise. Whatever the case, it was not to happen and if Kevin Cheveldayoff knew the end was coming he certainly did his best to make it all seem that business as usual. He needed to take that stance, less a rival GM put him over a barrel in trade but that's exactly what happened in the end. The longer the saga drew out the better the hand Trouba and Overhardt had and they played Chevy and the Jets along. Oh did the ever.
They never had any intention of signing and once it became clear to them back in 2016 and up to then that the Jets would not take Trouba's requests seriously I suspect the formulated their plan. That plan was to make sure the Jets lost their leverage. Oh it had risk, and even after this trade it is still very risky. Trouba may never see his value higher than it is right now. Perhaps he can come to a deal with the Rangers but if not he is set to have a huge offer come next July first.
Overhardt and Trouba could have found a deal that would have made his client a lot of money- the Jets likely would have paid something reasonable but if the ask was always unreasonable but not ridiculous it would keep the Jets engaged and hopeful.
The return speaks volumes. Was it a chance to get anything as hopes faded? Even now as the news still has aftershocks Elliotte Friedman is reporting other teams offered the Jets better deals according to their own assessments, whatever that's worth. However make no mistake, the seeds of discontent were sewn nearly three years ago and at that point the player and his representation were never going to make this easy and they didn't.
Perhaps the Jets can turn the 20th overall pick into something better by choosing an eventual overachieving player at that spot or perhaps it can be parlayed into a bigger deal that addresses an obvious shortfall on the right side of the defence.
What's clear is that the Jets did not get a fair value of return for Trouba, but they were never going too and that's what makes this situation troubling and disappointing. This is not about Trouba not liking Winnipeg and/or wanting to play somewhere else it's about seeing a key piece of the draft and develop model not yield anything in return because the situation was handled poorly. No GM is perfect but this is one of those situations that when the stakes became obvious it had to be handled perfectly and it wasn't unless you believe in a perfectly good mess, which is what the Trouba saga became in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
Join the Discussion:
»