Unlike what transpired between the Winnipeg Jets and his former teammate, Nikolaj Ehlers, there’s more optimism in Manitoba that winger Kyle Connor will eventually sign a long-term extension to remain with the Jets. Unfortunately, extension negotiations between Connor and Winnipeg have been quiet this summer, as Frank Seravalli reported a few weeks ago.
Still, that’s expected to change, as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported today that extension talks could begin as early as this week, and a baseline salary has already been set. Pagnotta believes that Connor will earn at least $10MM a year on his next contract, and it will likely be on a longer-term deal.
That salary would quickly become the highest on the Jets, beating out the $8.5MM AAVs for Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck. Regardless, it should be a more than palatable price for Winnipeg, given that Connor has been a higher-than-a-point-per-game player for the last five years, while crossing the 90-point plateau twice. Meanwhile, even at a record-setting salary for the team, Connor would only be the fifth-highest-paid winger in the league.
Other extension notes:
- Although some noise was made at Team Canada’s Olympic orientation camp regarding Connor McDavid’s extension talks with the Edmonton Oilers, not much was made about the potential length of a new contract. McDavid signed a max-term eight-year contract with the Oilers back in 2017, but Pagnotta doesn’t believe that’ll be the case this time around. He asserts that the industry belief is that McDavid will prioritize a three-to-five-year deal, with the idea that a five-year deal would cost the Oilers approximately $17MM a year. Should McDavid’s camp push the term lower, his salary could reach the $20MM per season mark.
- Playing out the final year of one of the team-friendliest contracts in the league, Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings is eligible for an extension. Given that the Kings could be in the final year with franchise legend Anže Kopitar, Los Angeles should be prioritizing Kempe’s extension. In a minor update on the negotiations, Pagnotta notes that Kempe is seeking an eight-year, $80MM extension, while the Kings have countered with an eight-year, $72MM offer. Given that the two sides are only $1MM apart on AAV, it should be a bridgeable gap, meaning an agreement shouldn’t be too far away.
If mcdavid takes 17 mil he doesn’t care about winning
Why? That’s ridiculous. He’s worth more, that would be a discount.
Cause they will be the new core 4 and won’t be able to add that’s why
Great point. The big contracts for him, Draisaitl, and Nurse must be the reason that they haven’t been doing any winning the past few seasons.
We will swap you Kempe for McDavid, straight up. Kempe only wants $10m/year. You’ll have a bunch more money to spend!
His salary won’t reach 20mil because the max he could take right now is 19.1m on any length of deal.
@Joe Carters walkoff – That’s not correct because he’s not a current free agent. His extension wouldn’t start until 2026-27, so the 20% maximum salary rule would be bound by the upper limit for that season, not 2025-26. Since that’s projected to be $104MM, the maximum salary on any deal he signs would be $20.8MM, not $19.1MM.
They don’t go based off of projections. If he signs this summer it’s based off of this year’s cap. Which is 19.1m. This is what ALL the experts are saying. Not me
That’s been true in the past… I’m under the impression that because the league has already released an official projection for next season (which is NOT the norm), that provides for a workaround. It’s not clearly stated, though.
I’m just regurgitating what I’ve read on x on a few occasions from different sources. I keep seeing 19.1 is the max he can get
Kempe 8 years = $76 Mil. Done!
If McSatan comes to the Kings as a FA next year, then I will call start calling him McJesus!