The Jets are adding some grit to their back end. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that Winnipeg is signing defenseman Mario Ferraro to a three-year, $12MM contract, carrying a $4MM AAV.
The 27-year-old is leaving the only pro organization he has known, having been with San Jose since they drafted him in the second round back in 2017. Since then, Ferraro has emerged as a capable defensive defender, albeit one who has had to play in a role he hasn’t necessarily been best suited for. More of a second-pairing option, a lack of depth for the Sharks forced the veteran to play top-pairing minutes against top competition with his results in those situations being a bit spottier.
Last season, after a bit of a shopping spree from Sharks GM Mike Grier, Ferraro was moved into a more optimal spot on the depth chart. He responded with a strong showing, one that saw him pick up 23 points along with 150 blocks and 137 hits in 82 games while logging a little over 21 minutes per night. Widely speculated to be a trade candidate for a couple of years, a swap never materialized and while Ferraro had expressed an openness to re-signing, he was believed to be looking for a longer-term contract this summer.
That makes this deal a little puzzling as three years isn’t exactly a long-term pact. It’s actually one year less than the contract he just finished. Meanwhile, the $4MM price tag is only an increase of $750K per season on what he was making before, making this one of the more reasonable contracts of the day, a shrewd piece of business from GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.
As things stand, Ferraro will likely go into training camp battling Dylan Samberg to play on the left side of the second pairing with Josh Morrissey entrenched on the first pair. One of those two dropping to the third pairing will give the Jets the type of reliable defensive depth they’ve been craving for a few years now as they look to get back to the playoffs following a rough 2025-26 season.