He's Baaaack! Wellwood Signs One Year Deal with Jets July 14, 2012, 12:03 AM ET [10 Comments] Peter Tessier

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It's a slow news day when Kyle Wellwood signing for double his salary last year sets the local Twitter scene afire on a hot Friday night in July. The news came out about 4 hours ago and it seems most reaction is generally positive if not jubilant from some.



This is Kyle Wellwood, a man of infamy, and one not known for his play on the ice. However, it's his 47 points from last year that seem to have given him a raise and made him, according to some, a 'moneypuck' favourite.



The Jets lines, at least on paper in mid-July appear to be as follows



Ladd, Little, Wheeler

Kane, Jokinen, Burmistrov

Ponikarovsky, Wellwood, Antropov

Thorburn, Slater, Miettinen

Cormier, Machacek



Obviously Kane still needs to sign and I would expect that to happen.



The initial consensus is this is a deeper team than last year but most are staking that claim now that the roster appears to be nearly set. Would that same claim have been made before Wellwood signed?



It should have been because the addition of Jokinen and Ponikarovsky has much more upside than Glass and Stapleton. However, the Jets will live and die by the production and play of the bottom six forwards and that's where some initial analysis will come.



A third line of Ponikarosky, Wellwood and Antropov should give coach Claude Noel his third scoring line as he has stated as a desirable situation. Will it be a line that can be depended on in all areas of the ice? Wellwood can handle the puck almost anywhere and Ponikarovsky has shown consistency in his two-way play... but what about Antropov?



He's the enigma on this line and if he can find some desire and jump in a contract year the Jets could get some production from this trio. More importantly if Noel takes a look at some faceoff sats it could that the PAW line (you heard it here first) sees some favourable offensive zone starts.



While it Wellwood may not be everyone's cup of tea night in and night out, it's easy to forget he did far more good than he did harm in his 77 games last year. Can he produce with new linemates and perhaps a solid and consistent role, probably but there are doubters about whether he can eclipse last year's totals and I fall into that group.



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Paul Postma also signed a deal today for 550,000 on a one year, one way deal. Many were surprised by the one-way term for the restricted free agent but with 44 points in 56 games with the AHL St. John's Ice Caps, Postma has shown he is ready to take the next step to full time NHL work.



With Jones gone and negotiations continuing with Mark Flood it appears Postma has a chance to become either the 7 or 8 defense player after Byfuglien, Enstrom, Bogosian, Hainsey, Stuart and Clitsome. At 23 years of age the Jets have shown some significant faith in Postma for the upcoming season as if he had to be sent down it's doubtful he would clear waivers.





In review there's little not to like about having a 47 point player return for under 2 million on a one year deal. There won't be as big a bargain in terms of points per salary as last year but Wellwood is a known quantity. Unfortunately it should also be noted that as a known quantity it is unlikely much more can be crafted from Wellwood so those expecting him to do more than the sum of his parts will be disappointed.



However when you pay 4th line money to retain your 5th best scorer from the previous season it's not about what you do with him it's what you do around him that may improve your team's fortunes. Has Chevy done enough to to improve the team around Wellwood? We'll find out come October but there's still plenty of summer left.



Thanks for reading.