Winnipeg Jets left winger Kyle Connor. Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Jets extend star left winger on eight-year deal

By Mike J. Asti | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 10:50 AM ET

The puck officially dropped on the 2025-26 NHL season on Tuesday, but the Winnipeg Jets still had some business to take care of before their first game on Thursday night.

With pressure to keep their core together, the Jets signed forward Kyle Connor, 28, to an eight-year, $96 million extension. This deal will keep the NHL veteran in Winnipeg well into his late 30s.

Kyle Connor is a key piece to Jets' rise

While Connor may not be a household name to some fans outside of Winnipeg, he's been essential to the rise of the Jets in recent years and has even established himself as one of the league's top scorers.

Connor, a two-time All-Star and former first-round pick, is coming off a 2024-25 season that saw him finish seventh in the NHL in total points with 97. He scored 41 goals and had 56 assists for a Jets team that won the Presidents' Trophy.

Kyle Connor, Jet for Life ✈️ pic.twitter.com/EySim2qM96
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 8, 2025

Thanks in large part to Connor's ascension, the Jets posted a league-best 56-22-4 record and accumulated 116 points as a team during the regular season. Despite Connor and the Jets' success through 82 games, they failed to embark on the deep playoff run that their fans are waiting patiently to experience. However, they did take a step as a group, making it even more necessary to keep Connor in the fold.

Winnipeg fell in the Western Conference semifinals to the Dallas Stars after winning their first-round series in seven games over the St. Louis Blues. The Jets lost in the first round in back-to-back years before the 2025 playoffs.

Connor was a huge driving force behind Winnipeg advancing — he scored five goals and assisted on 12 more for 17 points in 13 playoff games. As Connor now enters his 10th NHL season, he has 284 goals and 298 assists for 582 points in 613 career games.

Mike J. Asti

Mike Asti is an experienced media personality and journalist with a vast resume and skillset, most notably from time with TribLIVE Radio and WPXI-TV. Asti now serves as the Managing Editor of WV Sports Now, where he leads the coverage of WVU sports. He has also covered the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and other teams within the Pittsburgh market

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