WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Kyle Connor is staying in Winnipeg, with the Jets keeping a franchise cornerstone and their most reliable goal-scorer in the fold through his prime and beyond.
The reigning first-team NHL All-Star left winger signed an eight-year, $96 million contract extension, the team announced Wednesday. Connor will count $12 million against the salary cap from when the new deal kicks in next season through 2034.
“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. “Both sides wanted a long-term deal, and we knew the fit was great here.”
Connor, who turns 29 in December, was set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer. He's the latest high-profile player to re-up with his current team after Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov signed the richest deal in league history and Connor McDavid opted to stay in Edmonton without a raise.
Connor had 41 goals and 56 assists for a career-high 97 points with the Jets in 2024-25, when they won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team in the regular season. They reached the second round of the playoffs before losing to Dallas and have become a perennial contender in the Western Conference.
“Just looking at the window and the pieces that this organization has built over the years and just their willingness to win at all costs, you can see it top-down,” Connor said. “This team, these guys here and this organization has been nothing but top notch and just giving you every chance you can to succeed and all the tools.”
Connor, a Michigan native who played for the U.S. at the 4 Nations Face-Off and is expected to be part of the team at the Olympics in Milan, has spent his entire professional career with the Jets since they picked him 17th in the 2015 draft. He has 631 points in 671 games, counting the regular season and playoffs.
A winner of the Lady Byng Trophy in 2022 for sportsmanship, Connor is also the latest Winnipeg player to sign long term to remain in the Manitoba city of roughly 800,000. The Jets locked up center Mark Scheifele and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who won the Vezina Trophy and also the Hart as MVP, to lucrative contracts in October 2023.
Scheifele, Hellebuyck, forward Gabriel Vilardi and defenseman Neal Pionk are under contract through 2031. Connor goes beyond that after deciding not to test free agency.
“There was never any scenario where I could see myself going somewhere else,” Connor said. “I wouldn’t want to try to win a Stanley Cup with another group of players and an organization. ... Once you really start thinking about it, there was no other place.”
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