Contract negotiations will have to wait TheFourthPeriod.com
While the Jets have seven pending unrestricted free agents on their roster, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told the Winnipeg Free Press that management will get to contract talks in due time.
With the team sitting in ninth place in the East, just a single point below the Washington Capitals for the final playoff spot, the focus remains on a push to the post-season.
The players who are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents this summer, Jim Slater, Chris Mason, Tanner Glass, Kyle Wellwood, Tim Stapleton, Randy Jones and Mark Flood , agree with Cheveldayoff's decision.
"I like that... less distraction is better," said Slater. "Obviously we've got a job to do here and we've got to put our best foot forward day in and day out. That's what the summers are for, those negotiations, and right now it's about getting this team to a place where we want to be."
Backup netminder Mason has reminded his teammates that a lack of any contract negotiations at the moment shouldn't be perceived as a slight.
"You don't take that stuff personally," he said. "Every team has different ways of handling things. You have to respect that. I don't think they are slighting anybody by any means. That's the way they want to handle it and that's the way it is. We don't have a say in that. You gotta play hockey and that's our job."
