Photo Credit: Rodney Braun
Initial Report
Per a tweet from Drew Stafford’s agent Scott Bartlett, the pending UFA forward is “closing in on a deal to remain a Winnipeg Jet” (sic).
The forward, initially acquired from Buffalo as part of the Evander Kane trade, is set to become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow, on July 1st.
In 26 regular season games with the Jets, Stafford tallied 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists). In the 4 playoff games the Jets played, Stafford scored 1 goal and 1 assist.
For his career, Stafford has 341 points (154 goals, 187 assists) in 589 regular season games.
Stafford is coming off of a 4 year, $16.0 million dollar contract, and will turn 30 during the 2015-16 NHL season.
More to come, as developments warrant
Update 1
Per Craig Custance of ESPN.com, it’s a 2 year contract between Drew Stafford and the Winnipeg Jets.
Update 2
Per Elliotte Friedman, it’s a 2 year, $8.7 million dollar contract for Drew Stafford with the Jets. Salary cap hit of $4.35 million per season.
Update 3
The Winnipeg Jets have officially confirmed that Drew Stafford has been re-signed to a 2 year, $8.7 million dollar contract extension.
Here is the official release from the Jets:
JETS AGREE TO TERMS WITH DREW STAFFORD
The Winnipeg Jets are pleased to announce they have re-signed unrestricted forward Drew Stafford on two-year contract with an average annual value of $4.35 million.
Stafford, 29, was acquired by the Jets in a trade on Feb. 11, 2015 that also brought Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a 2015 first-round pick (Jack Roslovic) from Buffalo in exchange for Zach Bogosian, Evander Kane and Jason Kasdorf.
Stafford had 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points in 76 games last season including nine goals and 19 points in 26 games after being acquired by Winnipeg. Stafford led all Jets with a season-high nine game point streak from Mar. 12-29, 2015. The native of Faribault, MN spent the previous eight seasons in Buffalo after being drafted by the Sabres in the first round, 13th over-all in 2004. He had a career-high 31 goals with Buffalo in 2010-11. In 589 career NHL games, Stafford has 154 goals and 341 points.
Prior to playing professional hockey, Stafford attended the University of North Dakota and won a gold medal with the United States at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
#12-Drew Stafford
Right Wing
Born: Oct. 30 1985 — Milwaukee, WI
Height 6.02 — Weight 214 — Shoots R
— Regular Season — —- Playoffs —-
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
————————————————————————————–
2003-04 U. of North Dakota WCHA 36 11 21 32 30
2004-05 U. of North Dakota WCHA 40 13 22 35 34
2005-06 U. of North Dakota WCHA 42 24 24 48 63
2006-07 Rochester Americans AHL 34 22 22 44 30 — — — — —
2006-07 Buffalo Sabres NHL 41 13 14 27 33 10 2 2 4 4
2007-08 Buffalo Sabres NHL 64 16 22 38 51 — — — — —
2008-09 Buffalo Sabres NHL 79 20 25 45 29 — — — — —
2009-10 Buffalo Sabres NHL 71 14 20 34 35 3 0 0 0 0
2010-11 Buffalo Sabres NHL 62 31 21 52 34 7 1 2 3 2
2011-12 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 20 30 50 46 — — — — —
2012-13 Buffalo Sabres NHL 46 6 12 18 21 — — — — —
2013-14 Buffalo Sabres NHL 70 16 18 34 39 — — — — —
2014-15 Buffalo Sabres NHL 50 9 15 24 39 — — — — —
2014-15 Winnipeg Jets NHL 26 9 10 19 8 4 1 1 2 0
————————————————————————————–
NHL Totals 589 154 187 341 335 24 4 5 9 6
