It’s time for another edition of NHL rumours. We’re in the midst of wedding season in the summer and some think this is a quiet time for NHL front office personnel. Conversely, there’s still plenty to discuss on the hot stove front. Most of the mid-summer time in the hockey world is talking about restricted free agents. The Winnipeg Jets have an interesting forward who fits this category. Here we will dig into just where this forward sits in terms of the plan for the team going forward.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Understanding the Dynamics With Talented Winnipeg Jets RFA
Rumour: Sportsnet’s Luke Fox and Rory Boylen and the Winnipeg Sun’s Scott Billeck look at where Cole Perfetti fits into the Winnipeg Jets plans going forward.
Analysis: The talented forward Perfetti had seemed to fallen out of favour with previous head coach Rick Bowness. In contrast, Perfetti still put up decent offensive numbers when he was in the lineup. Perhaps the new coaching staff, led by Scott Arniel, will see him given more opportunity including more power play time.
It’s not overly unexpected that a young, offensively gifted forward would be held back the way Perfetti seemed to be in 2023-24. We all know about the stingy defensive system that Bowness had his club adhere to and they have the results to show for it. The results being that the Jets won the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed during the regular season. Therefore, if an experienced coach, like Bowness, felt that a player wasn’t committed to the defensive structure and gameplan, or was making too many costly turnovers, it is possible he would lose ice time. However, it did seem to be a bit excessive as Perfetti was healthy-scratched 11 times in 2023-24. Still, he was healthy otherwise, and laced them up for all the remaining 71 games.
Looking Where Cole Perfetti Stands From a Statistical Standpoint
In terms of Perfetti’s abilities offensively, here’s some of what we know, statistically speaking, from his 2023-24 campaign. He put up career-highs in goals with 19 and points with 38. This was all-the-while skating just 13:35 a game. Furthermore, he posted a strong CF% Rel of 10.0. This means he was generating offence consistently. It also helps he posted a respectable shooting percentage of 13.4%. Moreover, he did get a fair bit of power play time. But it was no where near the time the top guys like Mark Scheifele or Kyle Connor were receiving.
However, it does seem that going forward Perfetti will be given additional opportunity to succeed. After all, the Jets power play is known to need work, and he would be an ideal candidate to boost it. For example, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said that
“I think Cole’s a guy that really stands to gain a lot.”
Now, what that actually equates to could vary, but it is a sign of optimism between the Jets organization and Perfetti.
What’s the Big Picture for Club and Player Based on NHL Rumours
Winnipeg Sun reporter Scott Billeck seems optimistic as well based on his take of the situation. He was reporting that, even though Arniel was a part of Bowness’ staff previously, Arniel looks at Perfetti favourably. Billeck was suggesting that
“the player heard some positive things.”
And went on to add the club would like to sign Perfetti to a similar type of extension like Scheifele, Connor, or even Nikolaj Ehlers received. He phrased it as such that it is actually in the player’s court in some sense.
“I’m led to believe it could sway Perfetti to sign longer term.”
In mentioning Ehlers, that brings up another layer of complexity to this situation. Perhaps the inability of the Jets to move Ehlers, after it has been documented that there’s motivation from both sides to do so, maybe this impacts Perfetti’s situation. Ehlers would be someone who eats into Perfetti’s potential top six and power play ice time. Maybe there would be more motivation and comfort from the team’s position if a clearer vision of Ehlers’ future was in place before making a decision, especially regarding term, on Perfetti’s extension.
Main photo: Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports
