Offseason Checklist: Winnipeg Jets

After the first season of the contract, it looked like Perfetti was in good shape.  He was coming off a career-best 50 points and even repeating that would have put him in a good spot to at least double his current $3.25MM AAV.  However, things didn’t go quite as well this season, as he notched just 12 goals and 20 assists in 68 games despite a small uptick in playing time to 15:37 per night.  Ehlers’ absence clearly affected Winnipeg’s second line and Perfetti, in particular.  Now, it’s not so clear what’s coming on his next contract.

The max-term (or close-to-max-term) deal that seemed likely last summer seems a lot less likely now as there are still questions as to his overall upside.  Was the 50-point season an outlier or, with better linemates, does he have another level to get to?

Winnipeg has two years of team control left on the 24-year-old which takes another two-year bridge pact off the table as that would walk him to UFA eligibility in his prime.  That leaves Cheveldayoff with two viable options: Sign Perfetti to a one-year deal and kick the decision down the road 12 months or try to work out a medium-term pact that buys a year or two of extra control.  AFP Analytics projects that a one-year deal would cost around $4.26MM while a four-year agreement could run closer to $5.78MM per season.

How certain are the Jets when it comes to Perfetti’s ceiling and fit moving forward?  They’ll have to make a call on that in the early part of the offseason as he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this summer on top of his $3.5MM qualifying offer.  Something will surely get done but it’s not as clear-cut of a call as it seemed a year ago.

Add A Top-Six Piece (Or Two)

The loss of Ehlers to Carolina clearly impacted the Jets more than they were expecting.  They went from being one of the top-scoring teams in the NHL in 2024-25 (they tied for the lead in the West in that regard with Dallas, a pretty high-octane team) but saw their output drop by more than half a goal per game this season.  Their top line was productive but Perfetti was ultimately fourth in scoring among forwards with output closer to the level of a third-liner.

Winnipeg has had a long-standing issue down the middle in terms of finding someone to play behind Mark Scheifele.  The end result has been them moving high draft picks for short-term upgrades at that slot or taking a flyer on Jonathan Toews who proved to be overmatched in that role (though considerably more effective lower in the lineup).  They briefly tried Perfetti there but abandoned that pretty quickly.  At this point, it basically goes without saying that they need to fill the number two center spot.  The problem is that few are available and the list of suitors is quite long.

At this point, the more realistic option might be to try to augment their winger situation.  Yes, it would mean not solving the most important spot but they’re not in a position to be picky about how they upgrade their offense; it just needs to be upgraded.  It’s not as if there’s a surplus of options available there either but generally speaking, there are more of those available in free agency than centers and they’re also typically easier to get in a trade.  Adding one (or even two) of those to create a winger-driven second line could give them the secondary scoring they were clearly lacking this season.

Bring In A Top-Four Right-Shot Defender

When it comes to Winnipeg’s back end, there is a clearly defined top four – Josh Morrissey and Dylan Samberg on the left side with Neal Pionk and Dylan DeMelo on the right side.  However, DeMelo has typically been at his best in a third-pairing role in his career while getting him to that spot would certainly help their overall defensive balance.  Elias Salomonsson showed some promise this season but isn’t ready to jump into that spot on the depth chart just yet.

It’s not the deepest crop of free agents but there are a handful who could fit the bill, headlined by Rasmus Andersson, John Carlson, Darren Raddysh, and even former Jet Jacob Trouba.  Landing one of those could even potentially make DeMelo expendable to try to flip him for some offensive help up front.  This isn’t a must-get by any stretch but it would definitely get them a boost.

Failing that, adding a depth right-shot option would make sense.  Colin Miller is a pending unrestricted free agent and probably won’t be back.  Jacob Bryson (a lefty) is also set to hit the open market this summer.  With Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn now in Buffalo and Ville Heinola on his way out the door, what was once a deep back end has been thinned out.  Getting another righty in the mix (especially since their recall options for next season, as things stand, are primarily lefties) would be a prudent add.  But a top-four pickup would be even better.