{"id":449203,"date":"2024-08-24T16:48:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T20:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=449203"},"modified":"2024-08-24T16:48:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T20:48:50","slug":"nhl-rumours-winnipeg-jets-rfa-forward-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/08\/24\/nhl-rumours-winnipeg-jets-rfa-forward-update\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Winnipeg Jets RFA Forward Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another edition of NHL rumours. We&#8217;re nearing the month of September and that start of training camp. However, general managers need to take care of things before the start of the season. There are still a number of restricted free agents that need to be signed before camp starts in the middle of next month. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/08\/22\/winnipeg-jets-trade-one-their-better-prospects\/\" target=\"_self\">Winnipeg Jets<\/a> have one of those talented RFAs that needs a new deal. This edition of NHL rumours deals with the status of contract talks with that young forward.<\/p>\n<p>All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n<h3>Winnipeg Jets Await Signing of RFA Forward<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun gave an update on talks between the Jets and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/perfeco01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-24_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cole Perfetti<\/a>. The RFA centre still remains unsigned as of publication.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/ScottBilleck\/status\/1826718605213606264<\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Perfetti is coming off a career-best 19-goal season and is looking for a bigger role with Winnipeg this season. The 22-year-old is figuring to be a big part of the lineup and the two sides are hoping to make a deal happen.<\/p>\n<p>Billeck said that nothing substantial has happened between both parties as of yet. Perfetti is looking for a pay raise from his entry-level deal that saw him make nearly $900,000 per campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Some may worry that nothing has been signed as of yet. The<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/08\/13\/st-louis-blues-tender-offer-sheets\/\" target=\"_self\"> recent offer sheets<\/a> by the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/08\/24\/best-st-louis-blue-by-sweater-number-51-60\/\" target=\"_self\">St Louis Blues<\/a> might make fans a bit nervous. However, there are some positives to take from Billeck&#8217;s post on social media.<\/p>\n<h4>A Long-Term Landing Spot<\/h4>\n<p>The Jets beat reporter did say that Perfetti wants a long-term deal. Billeck mentions that Perfetti sees his peers getting long-term contracts and wants to go the same route.<\/p>\n<p>This is good news for a franchise that is often chided for not being a hot destination for free agents. Seeing a player like Perfetti that wants to stay for a while is a good thing. The Whitby, Ontario native wants to be part of the long-term solution in Manitoba.<\/p>\n<p>A lengthy deal for Perfetti means that Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff would have to do some maneuvering with the salary cap in order to make something happen. However, a player with the potential of Perfetti might be worth that bit of short-term pain.<\/p>\n<h4>Clearing the Runway<\/h4>\n<p>The Jets do have just over $5.7 million in salary cap space according to Puckpedia. Some think a bridge deal could be in order, but Perfetti wants the security of a longer term.<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5614834\/2024\/07\/04\/cole-perfetti-contract-winnipeg-jets-mcgroarty\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Athletic&#8217;s Murat Ates<\/a> looked into a possible deal for Perfetti earlier in the summer. He thought a bridge deal<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/01\/19\/ottawa-senators-centre-shane-pinto-signs\/\" target=\"_self\"> in the same vain<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/pintosh01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-24_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shane Pinto<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/08\/24\/ottawa-senators-all-time-combined-czechia-and-slovakia-team-starting-lineup\/\" target=\"_self\">Ottawa Senators<\/a> got would be the way the two sides would go. Pinto got a two-year, $3.75 million bridge from Ottawa.<\/p>\n<p>However, Ates argues a longer-term deal of seven years with a $6 million cap hit could allow the Jets to get two years of his unrestricted free agent status. Some Jets fans may get nervous about that long of a commitment to a player that&#8217;s battled injuries. However, it could save Winnipeg money in the long run.<\/p>\n<p>If Perfetti continues his upward trajectory, he could cash in for a much-bigger cap hit. A long-term deal may suit Winnipeg much better now.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main photo by: Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another edition of NHL rumours. We&#8217;re nearing the month of September and that start of training camp. However, general managers need to take care of things before the start of the season. There are still a number of restricted free agents that need to be signed before camp starts in the middle [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":447604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,4547,4548,4321],"tags":[3728,612,6145],"class_list":["post-449203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jets","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-rumours","tag-cole-perfetti","tag-kevin-cheveldayoff","tag-winnipeg-jets-rumours"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}