Connor, Jets agree on 7-year $50-M deal - Winnipeg Free Press

ALL that talk, not to mention angst, this fall about the Winnipeg Jets limping out of the gate without two of their offensive weapons.

Wasted words and worries, indeed.

The Jets signed restricted free agent Kyle Connor to a seven-year, US$50-million dollar contract on Saturday night, the NHL club confirmed.

The 22-year-old Michigan product’s contract carries an average annual value of US$7.14 million. He’ll be paid US$7.5 million this season.

ALL that talk, not to mention angst, this fall about the Winnipeg Jets limping out of the gate without two of their offensive weapons.

Wasted words and worries, indeed.

The Jets signed restricted free agent Kyle Connor to a seven-year, US$50-million dollar contract on Saturday night, the NHL club confirmed.

The 22-year-old Michigan product’s contract carries an average annual value of US$7.14 million. He’ll be paid US$7.5 million this season.

The news comes a day after Patrik Laine inked a two-year bridge deal worth US$13.5 million.

Connor, Laine and Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff are expected to speak to the media on Monday.

Winnipeg has solidified its roster, at least up front, less than a week before the start of the 2019-20 NHL season. The Jets open in Manhattan on Thursday against the New York Rangers.

The additions of Laine and Connor increase Winnipeg’s training camp roster to 29 players. Still absent is defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, granted a personal leave of absence just before camp started.

The rest of Connor’s deal breaks down like this: 2020-21: $8.0m; 2021-22: $7.5m; 2022-23: $5.0m; 2023-24: $7.5m; 2024-25: $7.5m; and 2025-26: $7m.

Connor, who has 67 goals and 128 points in 178 NHL games, will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026.

Drafted in the first round (17th overall) by the Jets in the 2015 NHL Draft, Connor scored 31 goals in his NHL rookie season (2017-18) and followed up with 34 goals last season.

The Jets play the Minnesota Wild this afternoon in St. Paul, Minn., in their final pre-season game.

Connor was the NHL’s First Star of the Week in late March last season after he recorded eight points (5G, 3A) in four games, including his first career hat-trick against the Nashville Predators in March.

He scored three goals and added a pair of assists in the Jets’ six-game opening-round playoff series with the eventual Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell

Jason Bell
Assistant sports editor

Jason Bell wanted to be a lawyer when he was a kid. The movie The Paper Chase got him hooked on the idea of law school and, possibly, falling in love with someone exactly like Lindsay Wagner (before she went all bionic).

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September 29, 2019 at 09:30AM