The Winnipeg Jets’ signing of Gustav Nyquist to a one-year deal could be a smart stop-gap solution for the team’s middle six.
Short-Term Deal Makes Sense Given Ehlers’ Likely Departure
With the door seemingly closed to Nikolaj Ehlers returning (he has still not signed anywhere as of the morning of July 3 but reportedly wants to sign in a market with “less intensity”), general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff needed to add a player capable of making up for a chunk of the offensive output lost.
None of the seven free agents he had signed prior to July 2 afternoon were capable of doing that as Cole Koepke and Tanner Pearson are bottom-six options and the other five are depth signings. By adding Nyquist for one season at a modest $3.25 million, Cheveldayoff has added someone who can help his team now without sacrificing cap flexibility or putting a long-term block in front of a couple of promising prospects.
Nyquist, a 35 year old Swedish left-hander capable of playing both wings, has been a reliable offensive threat throughout his career. He has nine 40-plus point seasons, four 50-plus point seasons, and five 20-plus goal seasons under his belt in his 13-season NHL career, and 531 points (209 goals, 322 assists) in 863-career games between the Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, and Nashville Predators.
Gustav Nyquist, Minnesota Wild (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)
Known to have a great hockey IQ and puck-handling skills, Nyquist should also be able to play on the second or third line, contribute on both the power play and penalty kill, and provide head coach Scott Arniel’s group with another veteran presence.
The fourth-round 2008 pick has been well traveled recently as Winnipeg will be his fifth team since the start of 2022-23. He started his career by playing six seasons with the Red Wings and was traded in the middle of his seventh season to the Sharks. He finished 2018-19 with the Sharks before signing a four-year contract with the Blue Jackets. In his third season with the Blue Jackets, he was traded to the Wild, where he completed the remainder of his deal.
In 2023-24, he signed a two-year deal with the Predators and was traded back to the Wild near the 2025 Trade Deadline.
Jets Hoping Nyquist Can Turn Back the Clock to Career 2023-24
Nyquist is coming off a down season offensively where he produced just 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 79 games. However, the Predators and Wld were the two lowest-scoring clubs in the NHL at five-on-five, and with Nyquist primarily being a playmaker, it makes sense his numbers dropped when having linemates not consistently putting the puck in the net.
Gustav Nyquist, signed 1x$3.3M by WPG, is a veteran playmaking winger who had a very unpleasant year where basically everything went wrong – despite his usual decent passing metrics he had 3 goals and 5 primary assists at 5v5 all year, including 0 with MIN. #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/tH9MEFBsyQ
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 2, 2025
Considering he is just a season removed from putting up a career-high 75 points (23 goals, 52 assists) in 81 games for the Predators, the Jets should expect better production from him for the upcoming season. He will have high-quality linemates whether playing on the second or third line.
The signing is definitely a pivot for Cheveldayoff, who missed out on his Plan A in Brock Boeser. Boeser was one of the top unrestricted free agents (UFAs) when the frenzy opened July 1, but he quickly opted to re-sign long term with the Vancouver Canucks.
These Types of Deals Have Worked Out for Winnipeg Before
As Winnipeg is not a highly-desired market for UFAs, Cheveldayoff has had to get creative at times to work out short deals for veterans with proven track records whose presence can buy his drafted players more time to develop.
Cheveldayoff did something similar ahead of the shortened 2020-21 when he acquired Paul Stastny and the final year of his contract from the Vegas Golden Knights and tapped him to take on the second-line centre role Bryan Little suffered what turned out to be a career-ending head/ear injury the previous November.
The then 34-year-old’s Stastny’s return to the team he first played for in 2018 allowed the Jets to send Cole Perfetti — who Cheveldayoff just drafted 10th overall that June — to the Manitoba Moose instead of rushing him to the NHL. Stastny recorded 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 56 games that season, then re-signed a one-year deal for 2021-22 put up 45 more points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 71 games. Perfetti made his NHL debut that season.
Related: Red Wings Sign Appleton to 2-Year Contract with $2.9 Million AAV
Cheveldayoff will hope the situation with Nyquist plays out similarly and that he can chip in at least 40 points while mentoring Nikita Chibrikov and Brad Lambert, two wingers the organization has high hopes for. If Nyquist plays well, Cheveldayoff can considering offering him another one-year deal. If he doesn’t, Cheveldayoff can move on from him in favour of a prospect or another solution next summer.
