If both the Winnipeg Jets and Kyle Connor were waiting for some kind of movement in the industry to perhaps gain a baseline in their negotiations toward a contract extension, Tuesday’s news out of Minnesota might have been that moment.
In the equivalent of what could be a hockey tsunami, the deal Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild struck – the richest contract in league history to date, by the way – will certainly send a financial tidal wave across the league, in particular, right here in Winnipeg with Connor, the team’s best winger and a free agent at the end of the season.
As we understand it, Connor is agreeable to signing an extension and the Jets to providing him with one, but after what the market bore for Kaprizov at $136 million over eight years for an average of $17 million per year, that thud you heard was a huge domino falling within the market – and undoubtedly numbers that others like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Connor will work off of for their next deals.
For Connor, that chain reaction will likely have his next starting point per season at somewhere between $12 and $14 million – which, like Kaprizov, would nearly double his current salary.
It’s an extremely lucrative increase, for sure, but a necessary one if the Jets want to remain competitive in the now-more-than-ever high-stakes card game that is the National Hockey League.
Of course, there are other factors to consider in addition to the money — for instance, length of contract and how the deal is actually structured, especially since front-end-loaded, signing bonus-laden deals are what the players are now demanding. But the total dollar amount is, of course, the most important part of the equation.
Now, it’s unsure how negotiations are progressing between the Jets and Connor at the moment. One can only presume they’re talking, but after what came out of Minnesota on Tuesday, it’s likely only a baseline for a player like Connor to cash in and more unprecedented movement to follow.