Maurice, Cheveldayoff sign new multi-year contracts with Winnipeg Jets
Head coach, GM say they have faith in team's focus on developing young players
Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will continue trying to shape the NHL team into a playoff contender after both signed new multi-year contracts.
Maurice and Cheveldayoff had been expected to renew their contracts. Neither would say exactly how long their new contracts will last.
Cheveldayoff, who joined the Jets eight days after the team relocated to Winnipeg from Atlanta in June 2011, is the only GM the team has ever had. In a news release, the team credited Cheveldayoff with putting together a crop of young stars, including 2016 Calder Trophy finalist Patrik Laine.
Maurice has been with the team since January 2014 and has a 136-112-33 record in 281 games. Maurice, who replaced Claude Noel as head coach, was in the final year of his contract.
The head coach said he's excited to have a new contract with the team.
"But to be honest with you, I'm most excited for my family. [My] kids have moved an awful lot and they love it here. They've got friends here and of all the people that we told yesterday and got notes back from, I think my kids were probably the happiest people in Winnipeg," he said.
Last season marked the fifth time in six years that Winnipeg missed the playoffs.
While they acknowledged the Jets have a lot of work to do, Maurice and Cheveldayoff both said they have faith in the team's strategy of drafting and developing young players.
"Paul has been someone that has proved that he can work with very young players, as we have seen with the development of a Mark Scheifele and a Jacob Trouba, and now a Patrik Laine and a Nikolaj Ehlers and a Josh Morrissey," said Cheveldayoff.