The Winnipeg Jets and defenceman Leon Gawanke do not appear to be on talking terms.

Having signed a four-year contract with Germany's Adler Mannheim just last week, the 23-year-old blueliner recently spoke with a German news outlet for a story that has been posted on Kicker via Google Translate. 

The piece is worrisome in nature, as Gawanke goes on to speak of his usage within the Winnipeg Jets organization in relation to other players, while dropping a possible trade bombshell in the process. 

"I'm definitely not going another year there. That's it now," Gawanke was quoted as saying from the World Championship from Finland and Latvia. "You never accept something like that if you perform year after year and sacrifice yourself and then aren't even rewarded."

In suiting up for the Germans, Gawanke has had time to process his past four seasons with the Moose, while representing his country at the annual IIHF tournament. Right now, Manitoba is not on his mind.

"I worked my ass off there for four years, to put it in German, and wasn't rewarded. That's obviously frustrating, especially when I see who gets a chance."

Whether his frustration is stemmed towards Jets management in its contractual offerings, or rather with coaching staff and their personnel decisions, being stuck in the American Hockey League clearly is not the answer for Gawanke.

"There is still hope that they will trade me."

This past season, nine different blueliners suited up for Winnipeg, including that of Ville Heinola (10 games), Kyle Capobianco (14 games), Logan Stanley (19 games) and Dylan Samberg (63 games) - all of whom entered the season as possibilities for the final spot on the six-man defence corps. 

With Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Brenden Dillon, Dylan DeMelo and Nate Schmidt all signed at least through next season and three through 2024-25, the logjam on the back-end will not be opening up any time soon, unless a sizeable trade is made. 

Now having opted to agree to a long-term contract in his homeland, the young offensive defenceman has effectively thrown both the Moose and Winnipeg Jets under the bus - something that typically does not go over well with management.

Coming off a stellar 68-game campaign in Manitoba that saw the Berlin product put up a team-record 20 goals from the back-end, Gawanke added another 25 assists for 45 total points on the year.

His previous career-best came the year before with 10 goals and 36 points in 65 games for the Moose. 

It appears as though the Moose will have a massive hole to fill on the back-end, while the path to the Jets' blueline may be paved a slightly nicer for fellow youngster Heinola following Gawanke's departure. 

Heinola is hoping to dodge the career trajectory of former stud AHL defenceman Sami Niku, who spent more time in the Jets' pressbox than on the ice for either Winnipeg or Manitoba. As for Gawanke? He chose flight over fight, to which he will look to carve out a different path in Germany's DEL next season.

Declan Chisholm, Tyrel Bauer, Simon Lundmark and Ashton Sautner are likely to lead the charge in Manitoba next year. 

As a restricted free agent, Gawanke will still likely be re-signed by the Jets this offseason, despite his intentions to go overseas. He will then be assigned to Germany where he can play out his new contract with Mannheim, as Jets management determines its next steps.