LeBrun: GM was "licking his lips" to get Jets' Byfuglien

Pierre LeBrun was on TSN 1290 Friday afternoon.

On the Winnipeg Jets:

“To your point about Kevin Cheveldayoff’s patience, I mean, I think it’s bang-on. I remember when the Jets started 1-4, talking to a GM from another team who said he was licking his lips because he was waiting for maybe another week or two if the Jets kept losing to try and zone in and try and get Byfuglien out of Winnipeg. I mean, there were guys – vultures – circling and, of course, it didn’t get there. The Jets turned around their season after that.

“But look at the way Byfuglien has dialed in, accepting his role right now, and the emotion he showed last night. So certainly the old adage about the best trades you’ve ever made are the ones you didn’t make could be the case here with the Jets considering what I think some Jets fans and media wanted them to do after the season last year when it comes to Byfuglien or maybe Evander Kane.

“But it’s not like Cheveldayoff didn’t try to do bigger things. I mean, listen, we all reported this. I did. I was in Philly at the draft, like you were. I mean, they had an audience with Paul Stastny’s agent. They made an aggressive pitch for Paul Stastny. The Jets weren’t in the ballpark in terms of the shortlist for Paul. Paul wanted to go to either St. Louis, where he grew up, or stay in Colorado. So that was a no-go for Winnipeg.

“They wondered about Jason Spezza. Well, guess what? Spezza wanted to get out of Canada. So that takes care of Winnipeg.

“So it’s not as if the management team running the Jets are sitting there saying,  ‘We’re never going to try and get in on these things.’ They tried, but...”

You won’t say it, but I live here and I can say it: The top players in the game aren’t coming here now.

“Not right now, anyway. Success can change things, for sure, but it’s not a have-to market now and that makes it just even harder to try and improve you team. And by the way, they’re hardly alone. The Jets are in with a dozen other markets that way. But that’s just the reality of the situation.”

Source: TSN 1290/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey