Cole Perfetti Expected to File for Salary Arbitration

Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti is expected to file for salary arbitration before the 5:00 pm EST player elected deadline.

Should Perfetti and his agent change course, the Winnipeg Jets have 24 hours following the player-elected deadline to file for team-elected salary arbitration.

Player-elected salary arbitration also makes Perfetti ineligible from signing an offer sheet.

When the news drops on which players elect salary arbitration, the dates will be set at a TBD time. It is expected those dates to be announced later this month.

Perfetti, 24, is coming off a two-year bridge contract worth $3.25 million annually. At the time of Perfetti signing the contract, which was late into the 2024-25 NHL season training camp, many thought that two years was too short.

AFP Analytics projects Cole Perfetti’s contract to come in around $4.31 million for one year and just under $6.4 million for five years.

Drafted 10th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2020, Perfetti has been steadily in the Jets’ middle six since joining the organization. He posted a career-high 50 points (18G, 32A) and added six points (3G, 3A) in 13 2025 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Perfetti is coming off a 32-point (12G, 20A) season, which is right around his point totals from 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Across five NHL seasons, Perfetti has posted 157 points (59G, 98A) in 290 career games. He’ll look to leverage his secondary scoring in a new contract, while the Jets will look to add around Perfetti.

Earlier in the week, the Jets extended a qualifying offer to Perfetti, and it signals that the Jets still believe in the offensive upside that originally made him a top draft pick.

Perfetti hopes to have a better start to the 2026-27 NHL season. He suffered an injury in the final game of training camp that put him on the shelf for the first 14 games in 2025-26.