Kyle Connor has joined the “Jet for life” club after inking an eight-year contract extension with a $12 million average annual value (AAV) and a full no-movement clause.
The star left winger put pen to paper Wednesday, one season ahead of becoming an unrestricted free agent (UFA) for the first time in his career and one day ahead of the Jets season-opening game.
“KFC” to Become Highest-Paid Jet in Franchise History
Connor’s contract will kick in next season and represent 11.5 per cent of the 2026-27 salary cap of $104 million. His new salary is a $4.9 million raise from the $7.14 million AAV his current contract, signed in 2019, carries.
The Michigan product will receive $55 million of his new contract in salary and the other $41 million in signing bonuses over the term, as per Darren Dreger.
Connor’s new deal is the most lucrative in franchise history and the first to carry an AAV north of $10 million. The salary landscape is clearly changing with the cap rising steadily again; the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov recently signing an eight-year deal with an NHL-record $17 million AAV seems to have swung the market even further in the players’ favour.
Related: NHL’s Rising Salary Cap Makes “Getting Paid” More Acceptable
The new deal will keep Connor in Winnipeg through 2033-34 and certainly through the rest of the Jets’ competitive window. They won a franchise-high 56 games and the first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history last season but a Stanley Cup has eluded the current core to this point.
“Both sides were working hard to get this done before the season and I couldn’t be more thrilled and excited to be part of this organization for the next eight, nine years, including this year,” Connor said Wednesday afternoon. “The culture and identity of this city, of this organization fits well with my values and that’s something that was a big priority for me,” he continued, going on to praise the organization’s desire to win.
Connor Key to Jets’ Offensive Attack
Connor is not someone the Jets would have been able to replace if he had left as a UFA. has been a key member of their first line, top power play, and overall offensive attack for nearly a decade and is coming off a 2024-25 where he lead the team in goals (41) and assists (56) for a career-high 97 points.
Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets celebrate a third period goal against the St. Louis Blues in Game Two of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
The talented sniper and underrated playmaker, chosen 17th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, has 582-career points in 613 regular-season games (284 goals, 298 assists) and 49 points (20 goals, 29 assists) in 59-career playoff games. He has scored 30-plus goals in seven separate seasons and is 12th in goals league wide since 2016-17, his first full NHL season.
Cheveldayoff & Connor Avoid Contract Conjecture Distracting Season
Connor and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff have prevented the “will-he, won’t-he” question from hanging over a second-straight season.
“I think it’s good for everybody, for a team, just kind of the direction of the vibe in the room,” Connor said of signing before games started counting for real. “We realized the urgency that needed to be done here and I’m super happy we were able to get it before the season.”
Last season, whether Nikolaj Ehlers would re-sign was a persistent distraction and cloud. While Cheveldayoff made a strong pitch to the Dane to become a Jet for life like Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele did when they signed identical seven-year extensions in 2023, Ehlers couldn’t be convinced.
Kyle Connor, signed to an 8x$12M extension by WPG, is a star scoring winger with an elite shot, great speed, and slick hands. Very dangerous with the puck in transition but also one of the best in the league at getting lost in coverage and getting open at the back door. pic.twitter.com/0R426IkBbK
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 8, 2025
Connor, on the other hand, could be convinced and will be 37 by the time the deal expires. While players like Ehlers and Jacob Trouba refused to re-sign, Cheveldayoff has done a good job overall getting his drafted-and-developed players to commit to the market long term. Connor will most likely join Hellebuyck and Scheifele — and potentially Adam Lowry and Josh Morrissey as well — as players to be drafted by and spend their whole careers with the Jets.
Connor said there was “never any scenario” in which he could see himself going elsewhere.
“I wouldn’t want to try and win a Stanley Cup with another group of players and organization… there’s no other place,” he said.
Connor is set to play on the top line with Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi again this season and on the top power-play unit. The Jets begin their 2025-26 season Thursday when they host the Dallas Stars at Canada Life Centre.
