On Monday, the Winnipeg Jets traded forward David Gustafsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Jack St. Ivany in a swap of depth players that addresses a positional need for Winnipeg heading into the offseason.

Gustafsson, a 26-year-old Swedish center, spent the bulk of his Jets tenure as a fringe roster player carving out a bottom-six role when healthy and in the lineup. In his last NHL season in 2024-25, he made 36 regular-season appearances for Winnipeg, recording two goals and four assists for six points. He spent this past season entirely in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose, recording ten goals and 22 assists for 32 points in 48 games. 

Coming back to Winnipeg is St. Ivany, a 26-year-old right-shooting defenseman who brings size and physicality to the Jets backend. The six-foot-three, 201-pound blueliner appeared in 20 games for Pittsburgh this past season, recording seven assists and a plus-4 rating before a preseason lower-body injury cost him significant time and limited his overall impact with the Penguins. 

When given the opportunity to play in the AHL during his recovery, St. Ivany was a near point-per-game player, putting up a goal and five assists for six points in eight games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, a showing that suggests there may be more offensive upside than his NHL numbers indicate.

St. Ivany is entering a contract year with a cap hit of $850,000, meaning he will have every incentive to put his best foot forward with a new organization and play his way into a meaningful deal.

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