Jets sign Kyle Connor to eight-year, $96M extension, franchise record

The Winnipeg Jets signed star left winger Kyle Connor to an eight-year, US$96 million contract extension Wednesday, the team announced, keeping the 28-year-old in Winnipeg through the 2033-34 season with an average annual value of $12 million. The agreement was finalized a day before the Jets open the 2025-26 season at Canada Life Centre against the Dallas Stars.

The contract is the largest in franchise history by both total value and average annual salary. Team officials said the deal includes signing bonuses spread over multiple seasons and a full no-trade clause, provisions the organization described as franchise firsts. Under the terms, Connor will become the highest-paid Jet in 2026-27. The decision preserves the club’s top goal scorer as it fields a roster that finished the previous season with 116 points, the most in the NHL.

Connor comes to the contract off a career-best campaign in which he played all 82 regular-season games and produced 41 goals and 56 assists for 97 points, the highest single-season total in the Jets’ post-relocation history. He also added five goals and 17 points in 13 playoff games. A 2015 first-round pick who has spent his entire nine-season NHL...