The Winnipeg Jets made a resurgent run to the playoffs in 2017-18, and now they've secured one of the players most responsible for getting them there.
As TSN's Darren Dreger reported Tuesday, the Jets have signed veteran right winger Blake Wheeler to a five-year contract extension worth $41.25 million. The deal, which has since been announced by the team, will pay out an average of $8.25 million per season.
It also comes with some lockout protection, as noted by TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
Blake Wheeler extension breakdown: $10 M, $6.5 M, $10 M, $6.5 M, $8.25 M; SB in Year 1 only ($4 M). So the lockout protection comes in the form of having his two lowest salaried years in 2020-21 and 2022-23 (potential lockout years).
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 4, 2018
It's a hefty sum for a 32-year-old player, making Wheeler one of the top 20 highest-paid starters in the NHL -- just ahead of big names like Phil Kessel, Brent Burns and Ryan Johansen. But it comes after Wheeler's finest season in the pros -- a season that saw him score at least 20 goals for the fifth straight year and rank atop the NHL with 68 assists en route to another 17 assists on the road to the Western Conference Final. A 2018 All-Star, he totaled 21 points in 17 games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A staple of the franchise, Wheeler was drafted by the then-Phoenix Coyotes in 2004 and made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins four years later. But he made his name in Winnipeg, landing with the Atlanta Thrashers via trade and then emerging as a face of the Jets through the team's relocation. The leading scorer for the inaugural Jets season, Wheeler inked a six-year, $33-million extension in 2013, the year he scored a career-high 28 goals. Since then, he's never had fewer than 23 goals in a year.
