Neal Pionk has signed a new contract with the Winnipeg Jets.

I think the AAV is a little high, but his sample size in the NHL is quite small and it appears his perceived value is high. Clearly the Jets believe he can become a Top 4 DMan. My hope is that being only 24 there is still room to improve and that the Jets have a good enough team around him that his flaws won't be exposed too often.

Edit: My hope as well is that this is similar to Nathan Beaulieu. The general consensus from BUF fans was that Beaulieu was awful, he played pretty good for the Jets. Hoping our system fits Pionk better too.

Not really sure why someone said bad deal. Yes it's only 2 years but he's still an RFA when it's up and the cap is manageable. Trouba just got 8M per. In comparison, Pionk got a good number that helps WPG with the cap right away. Good signing.

Agreed for the first part. Don't compare him to Trouba tho

Only comparing the cap hit, they're quite different players and Trouba is clearly the better defenseman of the two.

Pionk isn't good as Trouba

I’m not sure if I like this for the Jets...they need every dollar of cap for Laine and Connor

2.8 million a year would have been more accurate but I’m just nitpicking

To the tune of hallelujah chorus: Overpayment! Overpayment!

Pionk should be compared more to Morrissey. And they signed similar contracts. But, I think Morrissey was more established when he signed his bridge deal last summer and I'd prefer him over Pionk in every facet of the game. I think $3M AAV is a bit too high for a 3rd pair D on a bridge deal, but it's not terrible. $2.25 would've been perfect, in my opinion.

Who is this guy? I have never heard of him and I have played the EA NHL series franchise game since 1993.

he's a placeholder for two years. jets are praying he can be good enough for two years. losing myers and trouba stings but it's a cap league, not much the jets could've done.

Right between these guys, I had Pionk coming in for 2y at 2.6M. $3.0M would be appropriate for a 3y bridge, but for a 2y this is a moderate, but not egregious, overpayment. Ultimately for any Top-4 D you’re going to be paying them at least $2.5M even if there’s a limited body of work to judge it on. Also, I imagine that management has perhaps learned a thing or two from the Trouba situation and decided to acquiesce to the player’s demands this time around with the hopes of being more likely to sign a long-term deal in 2y time. Assuming of course he can adjust to a 2nd pairing role on a competitive team in Winnipeg.

He has been playing Top-4 minutes since arriving in the NHL, and has put up decent offensive numbers as well (tho his underlying stats leave a bit to be desired). There’s some raw talent there to harness, but it may turn out that he’s a price 3rd Pair guy on a contending team, which would be a disappointment given that he was a 1:1 trade for Trouba, but there wasn’t much else that Chevy and co could really do. Both with the trade (given the Jets cap situation) and with this contract (given the base salary expectations for a Top-4 D-Man.

Hot take lmao

Trouba is great comparison but not the 8 mill. He was signed for 2 and 3 a few years back with less points per game.

Winnipeg needs players so signing anyone is good for them.

Given Pionk's terrible fancy stats, I would've given him a little less money on a show-me deal. The term is right, but $2,000,000 would've been more appropriate.

Maybe he just had bad chemistry with Staal, but WPG should not have banked on that right away.

Good analysis, but I'm not convinced WPG will be a contending team next season. I could see them as low as 6th in the Central and 10th in the West. They lost a ton this summer and haven't added anyone of consequence besides Pionk. Most of the teams around them in the standings last season have improved substantially. CHI, COL, ARI, DAL, and NSH have all made big changes and big steps forward, at least on paper. The big underlying problem seems to be that nobody really wants to play in WPG. It's supposedly very cold there and very isolated.

I don’t disagree fundamentally. But I’d expect them to at least be contesting for a playoff until the last handful of games - and certainly longer than the Rangers did the past 2 seasons (which was, basically, never). They still have 2 excellent scoring lines with an avg bottom-6 and perhaps one of the best 5 goalie tandems in the NHL, particularly if Hellebucyk bounces back. There is a big hole at LD but that’s nothing new really as it’s been there for the past 4y. For Winnipeg, finishing anywhere from 6th to 11th is reasonable but I think it’ll be close (for the playoffs).

Fair enough. They're also excellent at home, which will help a lot. I just think it's less about the Jets and more about how much better CHI might be. MIN is the only team in the division that I'd say is a long shot to make the playoffs.

When you watch Pionk play in his own zone, you'll know he isn't worth a $3M price tag, even on a bridge deal

3M is almost too much for the Jets in their Cap situation but if he proves his worth in playing well defensively and getting 30 or so points, then what the heck...its a steal. Lets talk in April if this was a bad signing.

Pionk is an AHL player at best.... He's atrocious in his own end to the point that made Brendan Smith and Marc Staal look like top 4 defenders.

EW had him at 2*$2.93M so the numbers look right.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15E1qqh3OfHvvhbv_pICfKT7VR1jJEVhWQOyKviWLN54/edit#gid=707766415

He played a lot of minutes for a 2nd year player and put up 13 points on the PP, his advanced stats are a bit skewed by his heavy defensive zone starts, 57% career so far. He's definitely an NHLer the test is if he can produce in the top 4 in which case $3M is cheap and if not they've only committed for 2 years..

$$$ seems high, term is okay

I have heard his offensive numbers make him look better than he is so thumbs down on this one.