Jenner's new pact carries a cap hit of $3.75 million per season, and it's worth $15 million in total, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.
The 25-year-old was a restricted free agent who just concluded the second season of the two-year, $5.8-million deal he signed with Columbus in February 2016.
Jenner has become more of a depth piece for the Blue Jackets in recent years, contributing only 13 goals and 32 points in 75 games in 2017-18. His goal-scoring declined in both seasons after he poured in 30 for the Blue Jackets in 2015-16.
He does provide value in other areas, though:
The Columbus Blue Jackets extend Boone Jenner, a gritty forward who was among the league leaders last season winning offensive zone battles and using his body to change possession. pic.twitter.com/yrqCkNQIEl
Pure hockey trades rarely happen in today's NHL, but if Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas and Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff sat down and talked shop, they just might be able to pull off a blockbuster deal that could help both teams next season.
Here's the proposal:
Jets receive
Leafs receive
D Jake Gardiner
D Tyler Myers
Myers and Gardiner were chosen five picks apart in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft, both are 28 years old, and both are heading into the final year of their contracts. Myers' cap hit is $5.5 million, while Gardiner's is $4.05 million.
Why it makes sense for Jets
The Jets have the luxury of having three stellar right-handed shooting defensemen, but they only have one legitimate left-handed blue-liner in Josh Morrissey. In their projected depth chart, either Ben Chiarot or Dmitry Kulikov would be forced to play in the top four and regularly see tough opposing matchups:
LD
RD
Josh Morrissey
Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot
Dustin Byfuglien
Dmitry Kulikov
Tyler Myers
Adding Gardiner, a left-handed rearguard, would allow head coach Paul Maurice to stack one of the league's most enviable top four:
LD
RD
Josh Morrissey
Jacob Trouba
Jake Gardiner
Dustin Byfuglien
Dmitry Kulikov
Ben Chiarot
This would force either Kulikov or Chiarot (both left-handed), to play on their off side on the third pairing, but that tandem would play sheltered minutes anyway.
While the current output gives the Jets nice balance and depth, the bottom four aren't exactly the quickest bunch. While those weren't the pairings the Jets deployed in the playoffs (Toby Enstrom left in free agency), their lack of quickness on the back end was exposed by the speed of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. Gardiner, one of the league's smoothest skaters, would help solve that problem.
Why it makes sense for Leafs
The Maple Leafs only have one right-handed defenseman on their roster primed to get in the lineup on a regular basis next season: Nikita Zaitsev. Connor Carrick is also right-handed, but is probably better suited for a seventh D role. Though left-handed, veteran Ron Hainsey can also play the right side.
As of now, the Leafs' blue line projects to go as follows:
LD
RD
Morgan Rielly
Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner
Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott
Connor Carrick
However, if they added Myers into the picture, it could look something like this:
LD
RD
Morgan Rielly
Tyler Myers
Travis Dermott
Ron Hainsey
???
Nikita Zaitsev
The Leafs still have plenty of cap space for this coming season, so they could go out and sign one of the many available veteran left-handed blue-liners on a one-year deal - such as Dan Hamhuis, Luca Sbisa, or Brooks Orpik - to shore up their bottom pairing.
Myers would bring some much-needed size and strength to Toronto's back end. Pushing Hainsey and Zaitsev down the lineup would serve each player well, while Dermott seems to be ready for an expanded role, which is currently tough to do with both Rielly and Gardiner in the fold.
Would a 1-for-1 swap be fair?
It's already been identified that each player would fit nicely in their new surroundings. However, since Myers and Gardiner are the same age and have virtually the same contractual situation, it needs to be determined which player is better in order to know if it would actually be a fair trade or not.
Offensively, Gardiner has the edge.
Stat
Gardiner
Myers
GP
82
82
G
5
6
A
47
30
P
52
36
There's obviously more than just standard points, though. Since Gardiner averaged over a full minute more of ice time per game, the following stats were calculated on a per 60-minute basis.
Stat
Gardiner
Myers
GF/60
2.88
2.75
CF/60
59.95
57.41
SCF/60
31.81
25.82
HDCF/60
12.24
9.83
The Leafs generated more goals (GF), shot attempts (CF), scoring chances (SCF), and high-danger scoring chances (HDCF) at even strength while Gardiner was on the ice, compared to the Jets while Myers was on the ice.
Offense is only half the game, though, and for a defenseman, protecting your own net is the No. 1 priority. The following graph shows the same stats, but reversed:
Stat
Gardiner
Myers
GA/60
2.44
2.49
CA/60
58.31
57.37
SCA/60
26.86
26.08
HDCA/60
12.24
11.32
As you can see, Myers has the edge in shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger scoring chances while they're being calculated against the player's team, rather than for the player's team like in the previous graph.
Considering both players graded equally in Corsica's quality of competition and quality of teammate statistics, it's fair to say the numbers suggest that Gardiner is the superior offensive defenseman, but Myers is better defensively, which was already quite obvious.
The question is, which player is better overall?
Corsica has established a player-rating system to quantify the quality of a player based on one single statistic - almost like Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for baseball. Gardiner and Myers rated very similar.
Stat
Gardiner
Myers
Player rating
76.21
76.01
Rank among D
37
42
Obviously, executives in NHL front offices have access to stats that we don't. They also have their own system for evaluating players, which obviously isn't made public. However, if their evaluations of Gardiner and Myers match up with those laid out in this article, a one-for-one swap could truly help both Stanley Cup-caliber teams.
(Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick, Corsica) (Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
Free-agent moves in the NHL are typically made with real-world success in mind. As front offices work to set teams up for postseason appearances and championship runs, fantasy owners may suffer from their decisions. A club bolstering its depth by adding a once prominent scorer to serve a third-line role with limited power-play time can drastically alter that player's production.
The 32-year-old enjoyed a wildly successful postseason run with the Jets, posting 15 points over 17 games while playing 17:24 per game. Stastny chose to join a Vegas Golden Knights team for which three returning forwards enjoyed that much usage in last year's playoffs, and only center William Karlsson saw anything close to Stastny's 18:41 regular-season average ice time.
A deeper and more balanced attack in Vegas will likely limit Stastny's production, as he's expected to serve as the second-line center.
Tomas Plekanec
Plekanec isn't necessarily losing fantasy value, as he didn't have much, to begin with. It's more about losing the opportunity to produce, as he'll return to the team with which he spent his first 13-and-a-half seasons, and it now lacks a strong supporting cast.
The Montreal Canadiens are thin on scoring depth beyond the first line. Now reliant on assists for production, Plekanec is unlikely to have enough help to be fantasy relevant while buried in the bottom six.
He notched 60 points for the Canadiens back in 2014-15, but he's long removed from that type of production. The 35-year-old center hasn't attempted 200 shots on goal in a single season since that campaign, and he failed to tally either a power-play or shorthanded point last year.
Petr Mrazek
Mrazek was once viewed as one of the best young goalies in the NHL, making him a top-end asset in any type of keeper league. He posted a combined save percentage of .920 over 75 starts (83 games) from 2014-16.
As the Detroit Red Wings roster deteriorated, so did Mrazek's fantasy contributions. He was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers this past season, where the hope was he could fix their everlasting goaltending woes. He wasn't offered a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent after he stopped just 89.1 percent of shots he faced.
As a result, Mrazek signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he's expected to back up starter Scott Darling. A limited role erases Mrazek's fantasy value and managers will need to wait at least one season for him to warrant consideration.
Robby Fabbri, 22, will also be returning from the knee injury that cost him last season. The 21st overall pick of the 2014 draft had shown promise in his first two NHL campaigns, totaling 66 points in 123 games.
Bozak, who notched at least 10 power-play points in each of the past four seasons while averaging roughly 45 total points, will see limited time on the man advantage and could quickly be forced into a third-line role at even strength depending on Fabbri's recovery.
Matthews and Marner will be restricted free agents next offseason, while Nylander is an RFA right now in need of a new deal. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that the trio could make roughly $25 million to $30 million combined annually. Factoring in Tavares' contract, that could be close to half the salary cap for four players.
Despite the difficulties that lay ahead, Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is confident he'll be able to keep all three of Matthews, Marner, and Nylander.
If Dubas can lock all three up to long-term contracts, the Leafs will have four of the most skilled forwards in the NHL for years to come.
However, to remain a successful team despite four potentially massive contracts, the Leafs will need to continue to draft players who can be competent NHLers on affordable salaries in order to fill out their roster.
Survivors of the Capital Gazette shooting got to spend some time with the Stanley Cup on Tuesday.
Washington Capitals assistant equipment manager Craig "Woody" Leydig brought the Cup to the temporary office where staff of the Annapolis, Md. newspaper have been working since a gunman opened fire on the Capital Gazette newsroom on June 28. Leydig completed a phone interview with The Capital just prior to the shooting, which left five people dead and two injured.
"I turned to my co-workers and told them I just got done doing an interview with a reporter who might be in that building,” Leydig told The Capital's Bill Wagner. "I was absolutely stunned and extremely upset."
The newspaper's staff spent about 45 minutes with the Cup.
"We want to thank Craig for coming in with the Stanley Cup. It was clearly a big morale boost for everyone, particularly the hockey fans in the newsroom," Capital Gazette editor Rick Hutzell said. "The number of selfies that came out of this was huge and will be treasured forever."
Leydig, who has worked for the Capitals for the past 29 seasons, also brought the Cup to the U.S. Naval Academy and the City of Annapolis Office of Emergency Management.
Had a special visit today from the Stanley Cup! Thank you to Capitals trainer and Annapolis resident Woody Leydig for sharing your day with us! pic.twitter.com/cjeB6lpAK4
League sources told Portzline that the Blue Jackets are unlikely to do a deal unless the Senators lower their asking price.
With reports claiming that forward Artemi Panarin has declined to speak about a potential contract extension with the Blue Jackets, he would make sense as a piece in a potential trade for Karlsson. The Senators, however, reportedly aren't interested in Panarin because he'll be a free agent at the end of next season.
If the Blue Jackets land Karlsson, they would add a star to an already deep blue line that already includes Zach Werenski and Seth Jones.
Columbus currently has over $14 million in cap space and will have over $36 million next season, enough to ink a potential contract extension with Karlsson.
Hockey Canada has invited 40 prospects to take part in the World Junior Showcase, where they'll compete for a spot on Team Canada's final roster at the 2019 World Junior Championship.
The camp begins July 28 in Kamloops, British Columbia. This year's world junior tournament will also be hosted in B.C., with Vancouver and Victoria serving as host cities. The tournament begins Dec. 26.
The announcement of the camp invites comes one day after Hockey Canada named Tim Hunter as its world junior head coach.
Boll, who spent nine seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets and two with the Ducks, appeared in 579 career games, racking up 1,298 penalty minutes. His 171 fighting majors lead the league since his first season in 2007-08. Despite spending so much time in the penalty box, he still mustered 28 goals and 66 points in his career.
Boll told Portzline he made the decision to retire months ago, after having back surgery late in the season and learning that he and his wife are expecting their first child.
"I'm proud of how I played and I'm proud of my career," he said. "I think I gave it everything I could."
Boll finishes his career ranked first in Blue Jackets history in penalty minutes and fourth in games played.
"I had so much fun playing for the Blue Jackets. So much fun playing for the fans here," he added. "The way the city took me in and welcomed me when I was a young player ... I'll never forget that."
