Getting players to sign extensions in Winnipeg has been a hit-or-miss proposition for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. In recent months, clearly, Pierre-Luc Dubois wanted no part of that but he got Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck to sign on the dotted line. When those two did so, it took care of their two more prominent pending unrestricted free agents.
One notable among the list still needing a new deal is Nino Niederreiter. Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun reports that the winger’s camp has made it known to Cheveldayoff that he’d like to stick around and that his agent Andre Rufener will be in town this week to discuss a possible new contract for his client.
The 31-year-old didn’t have a particularly strong market in his last trip through unrestricted free agency in the 2022 offseason. It took more than a week for him to land a two-year, $8M contract with Nashville, a move that represented a $1.25M cut in pay despite putting up a 24-goal showing with Carolina the year before.
Niederreiter’s stay with the Predators was fairly short-lived as he was moved to Winnipeg in the days leading up to the trade deadline back in February for a second-round pick. He finished up the season relatively well with 13 points in 22 games while adding four more in their five-game first-round exit at the hands of Vegas.
Now, with a full training camp with the Jets under his belt, Niederreiter is off to a strong start to his 2023-24 season, notching five goals and four assists in his first 11 games, good for a share of the team lead in points. With that in mind, it’s not surprising to see him want to extend his stay as the fit with Winnipeg appears to be a good one.
Speculatively, for Niederreiter to justify signing an extension this early in the season, it might take a bit more than his current price tag to get him to put pen to paper on a new deal. On top of that, it stands to reason that a contract longer than two years will likely be required. But if Winnipeg likes the way that he’s fitting in, an early extension would make a lot of sense on their end as well. If one happens, it’ll be a pretty good longer-term outcome for a trade deadline pickup that largely went under the radar last season.
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