Ken Wiebe<\/a> of the Winnipeg Free Press.<\/p>\nProcess of choosing the Jets:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a good question. Thank you. You know, I\u2019m excited. It\u2019s nice to meet everybody here. I did not. The whole free agency day \u2013 it was my first time going through free agency and it went pretty fast. A lot was going on and I didn\u2019t really know what to expect leading up to the day. So there weren\u2019t many conversations [with ex-Jets like Brenden Dillon and Tyler Toffoli]. I didn\u2019t have time to kind of reach out and ask, but you know, I just trust this organization. They\u2019ve had a good reputation over many years and I know the players that are on this team. I have played with a couple of them at World Championships. It was just an exciting place to have the opportunity to come to. So I\u2019m super, super grateful. I\u2019m excited and that\u2019s kind of how the decision went down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Improvements in 2025-26:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I improved in a lot of areas from last season. Consistency at doing the little things in the defensive zone that I bring to my game was really important for me last year and I thought I did a better job defensively overall. I want to be a little bit more active when I can, whether it\u2019s joining the rush or getting pucks through from the blueline. I think I had more opportunity last year to do that, and I think I succeeded a bit more in that. It\u2019s something I want to continue working on, but I think I definitely took a jump forward. But again, it\u2019s just doing it more consistently day in and day out to help my game produce a little bit more offense and get involved a little bit more there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saying good-bye to the San Jose Sharks:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely grateful for the Sharks and the opportunities they\u2019ve given me over the years. Obviously, I\u2019ve been there for the whole seven years of my career so far. It starts with Doug Wilson and his team trusting me and drafting me. Obviously, Mike Grier giving me an extension and some opportunity there and trusting me there as well. So, there\u2019s a lot of people that I can thank in the Sharks organization, to many of the staff for, you know, allowing my dream to come true playing in the NHL. It\u2019s tough saying goodbye. But I\u2019m excited for the next chapter. I think it was my time, but I\u2019m ready to start the year as a Jet and I\u2019m pumped up to win here. That\u2019s part of the game. Again, I\u2019m extremely grateful. But I\u2019m also extremely honored and grateful to get started here in Winnipeg.\u201d<\/p>\n
On who he knows in Winnipeg:<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. I went to Worlds with Vilardi and Perfetti. We were there during the COVID year. We had a tight group, a fun group. We ended up winning gold that year. So that was an awesome experience for me, representing Canada alongside those guys, two really good teammates on the team. I mean, we\u2019re all really tight, so it\u2019ll be fun to kind of reunite with them. We share a championship together at Worlds, so that\u2019s pretty cool. And then, yeah, those are the two guys, but playing in the Western Conference for seven years, and playing against the Jets, and kind of have an on ice relationship with some of those guys as well, competing against them and stuff like that. So, yeah, I\u2019m pumped up to join their squad and play alongside rather than against, and have some success.\u201d<\/p>\n
On what he prioritized as a free agent:<\/p>\n
I think that the No. 1 priority is I want to win, I want to be on a team that\u2019s in a position to do so, and I see that here in Winnipeg, it was only a couple years ago, President\u2019s Trophy winners, and they\u2019ve had so much success, and like I said, playing against them for the seven years of my career starting on the West Coast here. I know the talent that they have and the players that they have and what they\u2019re capable of, so I\u2019m excited to hopefully add to that. So that was definitely the No. 1 thing and obviously being in a place that I\u2019ve heard they treat their players well. I have a family now and stuff like that, so I\u2019ve heard great things about how they treat their players, and that\u2019s important to me. So, there\u2019s some other things in there, but those are two big things, and I\u2019m happy to be where I am, and I\u2019m excited to get going. It\u2019s going to be an exciting year.\u201d<\/p>\n
On what\u2019s exciting about playing in this market:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely pumped up about that. That\u2019s another added benefit. When you\u2019ve been to free agency, especially it being my first time, I try not to expect too many things to happen. But after the fact, when you end up signing somewhere you realize the opportunities or what a special thing it is, the benefits of being where you are \u2014 and that is one of them. Such a great fanbase in Winnipeg. Going into that building and feeling the passion that those fans bring to the game is super special. And obviously, being Canadian, it\u2019s good to feel good to be in the genuine hockey town that Winnipeg is. Yeah, it\u2019s cool. I can\u2019t wait to experience a Canadian fanbase. Obviously, the Sharks had an amazing fanbase and I\u2019m extremely grateful for all of the loyalty and the respect that they showed for me there, so shout out to them. But I\u2019m excited to be a part of Winnipeg and to get to know their fanbase a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
On likely playing his 500th NHL game (Ferraro has played 490) for Winnipeg:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pumped up. It goes by so fast. I can remember, it feels like it was yesterday when I played my first game. And now here I am heading into 500. I always said from the beginning that it would be cool if I could ever play 1,000 games in this league. And to be approaching halfway there is something that I\u2019m obviously very grateful for. I\u2019ve got a long ways to go to that 1,000 mark goal, but I\u2019m happy I\u2019ve been healthy and I\u2019ve stayed healthy and been able to perform, to stay in this league for that long, and yeah, I\u2019m excited to reach that milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n
On playing 82 games last year:<\/p>\n
\u201cI take a lot of pride in making myself available. I think one of my better abilities is my availability. And being able to be out there and compete and work and put my body on the line for the team. It\u2019s not a good feeling when you\u2019re sitting in the stands and things happen that are out of your control, but the things I can control are keeping myself healthy and ready for games. And just being proactive on injuries. It\u2019s something I take a lot of pride in and hopefully can continue that going [forward] and compete and put myself out there and block some more shots in a Jets jersey. That\u2019s something I take a lot of pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n
On staying healthy through lots of shot blocking and penalty killing:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it really comes down to being proactive. When something happens or you feel something, just acting on it quick and taking the initiative to make yourself better. I\u2019ve learned a lot about my body over the years as well. I think if I look back at the years I\u2019ve played, I\u2019ve played more games every year that I\u2019ve played in the league from year one. And last year, playing all 82 games, that was the first time I\u2019ve done that, which I hope to do more. I\u2019m just learning more about my body. Things are going to happen that are out of your control. I don\u2019t think about those things when the game is going on. It is what it is. Yeah, maybe a good point is put some more protective gear on so when I block a shot it doesn\u2019t do so much damage. Just being proactive.\u201d<\/p>\n
On playing with Macklin Celebrini:<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s arguably one of the best players in the league right now. If he isn\u2019t already, he\u2019s going to be the face of the NHL. Just his preparation, his work ethic, the way he competes, the way he plays. He\u2019s a leader and leads by example out there. It was pretty cool to be part of his accomplishments last year. What he was able to do. Obviously Sharks fans are going to enjoy having Macklin around for hopefully a really long time. He\u2019s a special player and it was cool to learn from him. These young guys coming in, you think as the older guy you\u2019re always going to be the leader and show them the ropes. I think he really just took it himself and was a leader for other guys, including guys like me that have been in the league for five years. Just the way he works and the way he communicates with his teammates and is close with guys. There\u2019s things he\u2019s taught me that I\u2019m going to bring to Winnipeg. Maybe not the on-ice performance or the goals he puts up. But his personality and the way he prepares on and off the ice. I wish him luck in his career. I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll need it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Jose Sharks never circled back on Mario Ferraro. The UFA defenseman signed a three-year, $12 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[531,11200,1035,4217,4401,88,90,89,98,1707],"class_list":["post-385932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-doug-wilson","tag-free-agent","tag-macklin-celebrini","tag-mario-ferraro","tag-mike-grier","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-winnipeg-jets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}