In the hours leading up to Monday's NHL trade deadline, the Jets made one of the biggest moves of the day, acquiring veteran centre Paul Stastny from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a 2018 first-round pick, prospect Erik Foley and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020.

But now, more than ever, the message is clear:

WINNIPEG - From the very outset of the season, the Winnipeg Jets felt they were ready to make noise.

"I think we've been all in, all year," said captain Blake Wheeler, who is a friend of Stastny's and spoke with him on the phone late Sunday prior to the trade being finalized. "Even our comments in training camp, you could see the veteran guys were ready to take the step and our young guys were ready as well. Our team has been ready to take that step all year. You want to play for organizations that when the time is right, they care about winning. Even the year we made the playoffs we made some additions to get into the playoffs to help us get over the hump, but you want to just be given that opportunity.

"There's nothing set in stone. But you have an opportunity and that's what's exciting."

Video: PRACTICE | Blake Wheeler

Stastny and Wheeler have the same agent and were teammates in Munich of the German League during the 2012 NHL lockout. Stastny, 32 and a UFA at year's end, waived his no-trade clause to come to Winnipeg, but Wheeler wasn't taking credit for any convincing.

He just wants to win.

"Anything (General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff) or Paul (Maurice) say, it will be flattering," Wheeler said. "This all came from (Stastny). The opportunity to contend was more attractive than anything I was going to say."

Wheeler suggested a while back that that the media "pump the brakes" on the contender talk considering how tight things are in the West, but at 37-16-9 and with only 20 games left in the regular season, the Jets are proving they're a force to be reckoned with.

"He knows this league as well as most, so he'd have a real good understanding of what we have here," said Head Coach Paul Maurice. "It's an affirmation that winning's important and he thinks that our team is in a position to do that.

"We've put ourselves in a pretty good position through the three-quarter pole this year to be a pretty good team in this league."

Video: PRACTICE | Paul Maurice

The announcement of the trade had a ripple effect in the dressing room, with players young and old sharing in the excitement of adding a player of Stastny's caliber, and what this means for the team as we head down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Patrik Laine, in particular, pulled no punches when asked what a move like this means to the team.

"It looks like we really want to win the Stanley Cup and I think we have a good chance to do it," he said. "This gives us a better chance to get there. I think we were happy with this team that we had, but now we're even happier."

Video: PRACTICE | Patrik Laine

Nikolaj Ehlers, who is likely to flank Stastny, with Laine on the opposite wing in his first game, agreed with that assessment. The Jets, after all, are on a 104-point pace and should be excited about the group they have.

Channeling that and making the most of it is their task the rest of the way.

"I don't think it stays anything other than we want to win it this year," Ehlers said. "We've known that from the start of the year and getting (Stastny) says exactly the same. We want to make it far this year and getting a guy like him is only going to help.

"The way we've played this year, we've been going for it from the start."

Stastny has 12 goals, 40 points and is 55 per cent on the dot this season. He'll add considerable depth and scoring punch to an already lethal Winnipeg lineup that currently sits only two points back of the Nashville Predators for first in the Central Division.

And wouldn't you know it?

The Jets host those very same Preds on Tuesday with Stastny in the fold for the first time.

Buckle up.

- Ryan Dittrick, WinnipegJets.com