It was just a little over 10 months ago that Neil Pionk’s life was turned upside down. On June 18, 2019, Pionk was traded by the New York Rangers, along with the twentieth overall pick in the 2019 entry draft, to the Winnipeg Jets for pending restricted free agent Jacob Trouba.
Time will tell how that trade will pan out for both teams, because just one month and a day after the trade, Trouba was signed to a seven-year, USD$56-million contract, while the Jets used the first round pick to select defenceman Ville Heinola.
But based on the first year, it’s safe to say the transaction could not have worked out any better for the Jets, or for Pionk, who quickly quieted the naysayers by stepping right into a top-four role on the Winnipeg blue