There’s nothing the Winnipeg Jets enjoy more than winning.

Privacy? I’m guessing that’s a very close second.

Jets management is known to play their cards close to their chest, so you can imagine how general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff felt after Jacob Trouba’s trade request on Saturday.

We’ll have to leave it to imagination because Cheveldayoff didn’t speak the day after.

But what’s changed?

Trouba’s agent Kurt Overhardt has made a very public showing of this spat, so the public pressure from the fans and media will start to pile up.

So what.

When was the last time Cheveldayoff bowed to public pressure? When has he rushed a decision to keep the fans happy? When has he shown anything but patience?

Cheveldayoff has been in draft and develop mode since 2011 and hasn’t made a risky move once to speed up the process. The guy could win a staring contest with a statue.

Trouba’s trade request was made months ago so Cheveldayoff hasn’t made a move for one of two reasons: he doesn’t want to let Trouba go, or he hasn’t got the return he expects. Cheveldayoff has a sky-high opinion of Trouba’s talents and values him a lot.

Either way, he’s holding out for what he wants.

That’s why the one line statement Cheveldayoff wrote in response to the trade request would worry me if I was in Trouba’s camp. “Any decision made regarding Jacob Trouba will be made in the best interest of the the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club,” it says.

Translation: we will either have Trouba back in our lineup or we will move him for proper compensation. No less.

Want proof? How about Evander Kane, who asked for a trade out of Winnipeg. Cheveldayoff took a toxic scenario, the likes of which we rarely see in the NHL, and sat on it. He waited until it blew up in a spectacular display for the entire sports world to see. It should have been impossible to pick up the pieces but Cheveldayoff instead pulled the trigger on a trade he had no right making. A trade with a return that looks better each time you see it.

But forget how that trade looks. Forget that Drew Stafford, Tyler Myers and Joel Armia have offset the loss of Kane and Zach Bogosian. Forget that prospects Brendan Lemieux and Jack Roslovic look to have bright futures, even star-potential in the NHL.

Forget Kane’s arrest, his team suspension, the publicly-voiced disappointment by Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma and GM Tim Murray. Forget it all.

The most important part of that trade is the message Cheveldayoff sent. He doesn’t blink. He’ll lie on a grenade until it explodes, then dust himself off and sit back down at the negotiating table. If that’s not abundantly clear to the other 29 GMs in the league, it should be.