5 random players you forgot were on the Winnipeg Jets, Atlanta Thrashers

4. Chris Kunitz

Before he won any Cups with the Ducks or Penguins, Kunitz briefly represented another breed of bird. Soon after that abrupt alliance ended, each party’s fortunes went in polar directions for nearly a decade and a half.

On the eve of his first full NHL season in 2005, Kunitz went to the Thrashers via waivers. But after two weeks and two games played for Atlanta, he returned to the waiver wire and then to Anaheim.

In all, Kunitz scored zero points and brooked a minus-3 rating in a cumulative 11 minutes and 25 seconds for the Thrashers. It was hardly indicative of his eventual 15-year, 1,022-game, four-Cup career.

Starting with his first full season as a Duck, Kunitz received Selke Trophy votes three times. As a Penguin, he was a 2013 first-team All-Star and placed 16th on the Hart Trophy ballot.

And apart from his final year, when he went minus-7 with the Blackhawks in 2018-19, he never sustained a negative rating with any other team after the Thrashers.

Team-wise, besides his the three championships with Pittsburgh and one with Anaheim, Kunitz went to seven conference finals. Between 2005-06 and 2017-18, he took part in 26 postseason series victories with the Ducks, Penguins, or Lightning.

Conversely, the Jets/Thrashers franchise did not win a playoff game, let alone a series, until it reached the 2018 Western Conference Final. Only the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals prevented Kunitz from making a bid for a fifth ring that year, let alone doing so against his briefest employer.

In all, Winnipeg/Atlanta has played 31 postseason tilts in its 21-year history. Kunitz logged 178 in his 16-year career.