The Winnipeg Jets have avoided arbitration with Cole Perfetti, signing the forward to a five-year contract with a cap hit of $6 million. The contract keeps Perfetti with the Jets until 2031, buying three years of unrestricted free agency.“(A long-term deal) would obviously be great,” Perfetti said in April. “That would be a real honour to have the team show that and express that faith in you as a player and as a person.”Perfetti, 24, was drafted 10th by the Jets in 2020. He’s scored 157 points in 290 regular-season games, along with the latest Game 7-tying goal in NHL history against St. Louis in 2025, but a high ankle sprain limited him to 32 points in 68 games last season.
“Looking back, I probably came back just a hair too early,” Perfetti said. “It was eating away at me every night, not being out there with the guys … Around the Olympic break is when I started to feel full confidence and I felt like my game started to get that chippiness back, get the speed back, get the legs going, (and I) started making plays a lot more.”Perfetti’s second-half return to form helped mitigate the team’s lack of secondary scoring, but his end-of-season numbers were still disappointing. The Jets’ 2026-27 fortunes depend, in part, on Perfetti not just returning to form but taking another step forward in his development.“You want to be that guy that is able to step up for your team and help and contribute and drive lines,” Perfetti said. “It’s not easy to do that. So it’s going to be a long summer of work and making sure that when I come back in September, I can take that next step and really drive a line.”Perfetti’s contract leaves the Jets with approximately $4.6 million in projected cap space, according to PuckPedia. That figure will change, pending Winnipeg’s next roster moves, late free agent signings, or a Connor Hellebuyck trade.Jul 15, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
