Winnipeg re-signs Drew Stafford to two-year, $8.7 million deal

Drew Stafford is staying in Winnipeg.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Stafford has agreed to a two-year $8.7 million contract with the Jets. Winnipeg acquired Stafford and Tyler Myers as part of a package for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian last February.

In 26 games with the Jets, Stafford had 19 points and nine goals. He was an all-situation player for the Jets. Most importantly for Winnipeg, he was not Kane.

Via the Winnipeg Sun in late May:

Used on both wings and with a variety of different linemates before finding chemistry with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, Stafford was a staple on the top-six and his production speaks for itself.

With nine goals and 19 points in 26 games with the Jets, along with putting together a team-best nine-game point streak, Stafford made a habit of scoring important goals, a fact that head coach Paul Maurice pointed out on several occasions.

He was No. 5 on our UFA forward power rankings for this summer. The fact that Stafford ranked that high shows the sheer ‘awesomeness’ of this summer’s class. 

So the salary cap hit raise is modest for Stafford, who just completed a four-year $16 million contract. And for two years, it’s a nice deal for the Jets who didn’t have to dole out a long-term contract on the 29-year-old who scored 18 goals and had 43 points in 76 games played. 

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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