Jets Ink Bogosian

The Winnipeg Jets inherited a very good blueline when they moved from Atlanta this Summer and they found themselves with a little bit of work to do to make sure they started the season with that blueline intact.  On Wednesday, the Jets announced that they came to terms with restricted free agent defender Zach Bogosian, signing him to a 2-year, $5 million deal.

Bogosian was considered one of the more higher-profile RFAs left as we neared training camp around the NHL, as the 21-year old defenseman finished the 2011 season with 5 goals and 12 assists in 71 games for the Thrashers.  It was a bit of a down year after a good 2010 season, but I think we can all look forward to better things in the 2012 season.

With that being said, I think we'll see a bit more of a break-out season for Bogosian, who will have some experience under his belt as a second-pairing defenseman in the league, which should bring some more minutes.  I would look for Bogosian to reach the 30-point plateau this year, which puts him in pretty good shape for being pool worthy.

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Andrew Ladd	60	Dustin Byfuglien	55	Ondrej Pavelec	40
Evander Kane	50	Tobias Enstrom	55	Chris Mason	30
Bryan Little	45	Zach Bogosian	30
Blake Wheeler	40	Ron Hainsey	15
Nikolai Antropov	35	Johnny Oduya	15
Alex Burmistrov	35	Randy Jones	10
Eric Fehr	30	Mark Stuart	5
Kyle Wellwood	30
Chris Thorburn	15
Tim Stapleton	15
Jim Slater	10
Tanner Glass	10
Carl Klingberg	25	Derek Meech	15
Patrice Cormier	20	Paul Postma	10
Kendal McArdle	10

With Bogosian and Kyle Wellwood now on the roster, the Winnipeg Jets now have 21 players on the books for a projected annual cap hit of $49.3 million, just over the salary cap floor.  The Jets are likely going to be a cap floor team for another season or two, but with some up-and-coming stars and some new ownership, I would imagine that we'll see the Jets spending money sooner, rather than later.