WINNIPEG — Initially, it was impossible to know exactly what was said to trigger a rousing round of stick taps at the start of Winnipeg Jets practice. Still, it was easy to assume the subject matter had something to do with the news left winger Kyle Connor had just put pen to paper on a massive contract extension with the club.
Once the equipment had been peeled off, Jets coach Scott Arniel confirmed he kicked off practice by congratulating Connor, with just a little bit of cheekiness thrown into the celebration.
“I said, ‘We have some very big news; [rookie Nikita Chibrikov] just signed a two-year extension,â€â€ Arniel relayed with a smile. “That got a good giggle, and I said he took less so we could get Kyle signed.â€
With respect to Chibrikov and the deal he made a couple days ago, not much can lighten the mood around a squad like a star player doubling down on his commitment to the only franchise heâ€s ever competed for.
“Yeah, itâ€s awesome,†Connor said of the eight-year, $96-million contract extension the Jets announced he signed on Wednesday morning. “Both sides were working hard to get this done before the season and I couldnâ€t be more thrilled and excited to be part of this organization for the next eight, nine years, including this year.â€
Of course, the feeling is mutual. Arniel said he was thrilled to get the Tuesday-night call from Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff informing him that the two sides had hammered something out.
“Just in my short time here with [Connor], from him getting married, having a child, to having the last two years, especially, the breakout years he had and the recognition heâ€s starting to get around the league that maybe he wasnâ€t getting [before], people know who he is now and they know how good of a talent he is and how important he is for us,†Arniel said.
The coach noted it was especially great to learn this big bit of business had been knocked out before the Jets start their regular season Thursday night at home versus the Dallas Stars. Last year, Nikolaj Ehlerâ€s pending free agency was a season-long subplot before he ultimately signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. Despite best intentions, Arniel acknowledged itâ€s tough for a player to be laser-focussed while twisting in the wind.
“We went through that last year with [Ehlers],†he said. “Itâ€s just hard for the player. Youâ€re thinking about what you have to do to help [the team] win and go out on the ice and be the best player you can be, and then youâ€ve got that sitting in the back of your mind and certainly as the season goes on, youâ€re thinking about it. For [Connor], thatâ€s all off his mind now, he can just go be the best player he can be.â€
“To hear [from Cheveldayoff] it was completed and completed before the season, so itâ€s not kind of a distraction, itâ€s awesome. [Connor is a] fantastic individual, an elite player, one of the elite goal-scorers in the league and to have him here for a long time, thatâ€s great for us.â€
That was a view shared by Mark Scheifele, who knows a thing or two about what Connor just went through. It was two years ago that Scheifele, along with Connor Hellebuyck, inked twin seven-year, $59.5-million contract extensions to forgo free agency right on the eve of the 2023-24 campaign. Given both players†performance since then — Scheifele is a point-per-game centre playing beside Connor on the top line and Hellebuyck is the reigning league MVP, for goodness†sake — those cap hits are extremely team friendly, especially with the salary ceiling projected to make appreciable gains in coming years.
Scheifele said there was no tension around Connor re-setting the bar in the Jets dressing room with the richest contract in franchise history, outstripping the deals he and Hellebuyck inked a relatively short time ago.
“Just happy for him,†Scheifele said. “Thatâ€s tremendous and just very, very happy for him and happy for myself, too. I get him for the rest of my career, so thatâ€s pretty exciting news.”
Even from a league-wide perspective, you can certainly argue the Jets did well to get Connor signed for a $12-million hit. The number is right in line with what Mikko Rantanen and Mitch Marner signed for in 2025, and those elite wingers are playing for teams with no state tax in Texas (Rantanen) and Nevada (Marner). Now consider that Kirill Kaprizov — who, like Connor, was taken in the 2015 draft — just inked an eight-year extension that carries a $17 AAV. Since Kaprizov entered the league at 23 years old in 2020-21, heâ€s posted 1.21 points-per-game mark. While thatâ€s superior to Connorâ€s 1.05 mark during the same span, itâ€s still jarring to think Kaprizov — whoâ€s only one year younger than the 28-year-old Connor — accounts for $5 million more per year on the Wildâ€s ledger than Connor does in Winnipeg.Â
Any way you slice it, everyone from Jets fans to members of the organization to, of course, No. 81 himself must be happy with how things played out. And while Ehlers did choose to depart as a UFA, Cheveldayoff and his staff have done great work since the end of last season to lock up core pieces like defenceman Neal Pionk, Connorâ€s linemate Gabe Vilardi and, now, Connor himself on long-term pacts. Throw the deals Scheifele and Hellebuyck signed a couple years ago in the mix and that stereotype nobody wants to play in Winnipeg evaporates fast.
“Weâ€ve said before itâ€s hard to get guys, free agents, to come here,†Arniel said. “But once we get [players] here and get a grasp on them, get a hold on them, we dig in on them, they recognize how special it is to play here.â€
For his part, Connor contemplated what life outside Winnipeg might be like, but the idea of leaving — even if it meant he could sell his services to the highest bidder — never took.
“I reflected on it at the end of [last season] and gave it some thought, but there was never any scenario where I could see myself going somewhere else,†he said. “This team, these guys here and this organization has been nothing but top-notch. And like I said earlier, just giving you every chance you can to succeed and all the tools [you need]. I wouldnâ€t want to try to win a Stanley Cup with another group of players in [a different] organization. So once you really start thinking about it, thereâ€s no other place.â€
Now he wonâ€t have to think about it ever again.
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