Blake Wheeler leaves Winnipeg Jets

WINNIPEG –

Blake Wheeler’s tenure with the Winnipeg Jets has come to an end.

The Jets placed Wheeler on unconditional waivers on Friday with the aim of buying out the final year of the former captain’s contract.

Wheeler’s average annual value for the 2023-24 season was $8.25 million.

“We would like to thank Blake for his dedication and service to the Jets, the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba,” said Winnipeg General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff. “We are incredibly grateful for the contributions he has made during his 12 seasons with the franchise.”

The 36-year-old forward joined the franchise in 2011 – via a trade with Boston – while the team was still in Atlanta. He leaves as the franchise leader in regular season games played (897), points (812), assists (550) and shots (2,462).

His 262 goals are the third highest in franchise history.

“I want to thank everyone in Winnipeg for all the love and support over the past 12 years,” Wheeler said in a statement. “It was my absolute honor and privilege to be a Winnipeg Jet and represent this city and organization. My family and I cannot thank everyone in the city and county enough for all you have done for us.”

Wheeler served as Winnipeg captain for seven years before the title was stripped from him at the start of training camp by new head coach Rick Bowness, who then installed a three-deputy leadership group of Adam Lowry, Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele.

The player and coach publicly clashed after Winnipeg’s first round loss of the playoffs to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Wheeler told reporters that he did not like the harsh assessment Bowness gave to the media after the Jets were eliminated with a 4-1 loss in Game 5 to the Knights.

“I’m so disappointed and outraged right now, that’s my thinking,” Bowness told reporters. “No pushback. But it’s the same (things) we saw in February. That was it. As soon as we challenged for first place and teams came after us, we had no pushback. This series we had no pushback. Their better players were so much better than ours, it’s not even close.”

Wheeler felt that the coach’s criticism should have stayed in the locker room.

“I think (Bowness) could have been honest with us,” said Wheeler. “We could have had those discussions behind closed doors, so I did not agree with how he behaved after that game.”

The move comes as Winnipeg looks to revamp its team, with Cheveldayoff saying the team is open to swap players like Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck if the right deal presents itself.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 30, 2023.