Winnipeg Jets
Jets Take Risk with Cole Perfetti, Locking Him Up on a 5-Year Deal
The Winnipeg Jets have signed Cole Perfetti to a six-year contract extension, locking him up after a tough 2025-26 season.
The Winnipeg Jets have re-signed forward Cole Perfetti to a five-year, $30 million contract with a $6 million cap hit, locking up the 24-year-old through the 2030-31 season and buying out his remaining restricted free-agent years. This would be a pretty fair agreement for both sides, but there is a risk. If Perfetti knocks it out of the park, he’ll be pricey in a few seasons. If he doesn’t, the Jets made a bet on a player with promise, but not much more (at least not yet).
The timing is notable given how his walk year went.
Perfetti suffered a high-ankle sprain in the final preseason game, didn’t make his season debut until November 9, and later admitted he likely came back before he was fully healthy. After breaking out with a 50-point season in 2024-25, he finished 2025-26 with just 32 points in an injury-shortened, inconsistent campaign. He missed 14 games total.
He’d filed for salary arbitration in early July with a hearing date set for July 20th. This deal means neither side needs to go through that process.
Jets Making a Big Bet on Perfetti
The contract reads as a bet on the player Perfetti was in 2024-25, not the one he was forced to play through in 2025-26. Locking in five years at $6M AAV gives Winnipeg cost certainty on a still-young forward with legitimate top-six upside, while giving Perfetti security after a year where durability, not talent, was the question mark.
It’s a swing on health and bounce-back more than a referendum on where his ceiling actually sits. PuckLedger writes, “Perfetti has a ton of promise despite his lackluster ranks in other subcategories. Look for him to continue to impact the game in a positive way, even if it doesn’t translate to the stat sheet immediately.”
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