Jets sign Cole Perfetti to five-year contract

Another talented player has managed to avoid arbitration.

The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Cole Perfetti to a five-year contract. The deal will carry an AAV of $6 million through the 2031-32 season.

Perfetti and the Jets were scheduled to head to arbitration next Monday. He was a restricted free agent following the 2025-26 season, having come to the end of his two-year bridge contract that he signed with the team in September 2024. That deal had a cap hit of $3.25 million.

Perfetti was one of the more notable names to have filed for arbitration, with Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson and Philadelphia Flyers forward Trevor Zegras potentially needing a third party to determine their next contracts. On a rather disappointing Jets team this past season, Perfetti failed to match the production he showed in 2024-25. In 68 games, missing time due to a preseason ankle injury, the 24-year-old posted 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points, as the Jets failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The year before, in helping Winnipeg clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in franchise history, Perfetti had the best performance of his NHL career. In appearing in all 82 games for the first, and so far only, time in his tenure in the league, he scored 18 goals, setting career highs in assists (32) and points (50). He added another six points in the postseason, helping the Jets reach the second round for the first time since 2021.

In 290 regular-season games in the NHL, the Whitby, Ont. native has posted 59 goals and 98 assists for 157 points, with another six points in 14 postseason affairs.

According to PuckPedia, the Jets have $4,681,668 in cap space after the signing. The club does not have any notable RFAs left to sign after the move.