Cole Koepke easing into his role with the Winnipeg Jets

Since 2024, Cole Koepke has moved on from college and AHL standout to NHL depth forward.

Koepke’s hard work resulted in a goal and an assist in the Jets’ 4–1 win over the Buffalo Sabres last night and served as an introduction to how he can impact the scoresheet.

“It’s pretty awesome, I was hoping it was coming soon, glad it was at home,” Koepke said in a postgame interview to the crowd after being named the first star of the game.

Koepke assisted on fellow Jet newcomer Tanner Pearson’s first goal when his heads-up defence forced a turnover at the blue line and cleared the runway for a breakaway goal. His own marker came when the Jets found space through a clean zone exit, stretching a pass up to Morgan Barron, who found Koepke driving to the net. He made a quick backhand deke to beat Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

“Both our goals started in our own zone, and I think that’s what we need to continue to build on,” Koepke said.

Koepke also joked he didn’t plan a goal song but searched one up when the Jets media team called and settled on Everybody by Backstreet Boys.

Hockey beginnings

Born in Two Harbors, Minnesota, Koepke has been skating since he was three years old. Several of his family members played hockey, which motivated him when he’d watch them. He began to find his game in high school, playing for Hermantown alongside fellow Jet Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk‘s brother, Nate.

After three strong seasons and a brief stint in the NAHL, he moved on to the USHL. Koepke spent two seasons there and, while he struggled to find the scoresheet in his first year, in 2017–18 he recorded 39 points in 60 games as top scorer on the Sioux City Musketeers and committed to the University of Minnesota–Duluth.

“My house was 20 minutes from [AMSOIL Arena], so as a kid playing hockey, all I ever knew was UMD and I thought it was so cool as a young kid to watch the games here with my family. When I got the opportunity, I couldn’t pass it up.”

At the 2018 NHL Draft, Koepke was selected in the 6th round, 183rd overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in Dallas, Texas, with his family and friends in attendance.

“Being drafted by Tampa Bay was a dream come true. Something I’ve always dreamed of as a kid and it’s just been a cool process to be a part of.”

He spent the next three seasons with the Bulldogs in the NCAA while again playing with Samberg for two. In those three seasons, he became a reliable goal scorer with 75 points across 104 games. His hard work helped the Bulldogs win their second straight NCAA championship in 2019. His final season saw him nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, which was eventually won by Cole Caufield.

Battling for an NHL spot

Koepke turned pro at the end of the 2020–2021 season but struggled to find a role on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had just settled into their Cup window and didn’t have much time for developing prospects. He had solid stints on the Syracuse Crunch and notched his first NHL goal on Nov. 13, 2022—and it couldn’t have been more bizarre.

Koepke found time and space and scored from in tight, spinning around a post on a backhander. The puck, however, quickly bounced off the net camera and out, so no one in the home crowd reacted until 20 seconds later when Brandon Hagel fired a one-timer under the pads of Charlie Lindgren. They reviewed the initial goal and, after some confusion, Koepke’s goal stood as the first of his career.

The rest of Koepke’s time on the Lightning was uneventful, as he had limited stints and finished the season in Syracuse, where he scored 39 points in 53 AHL games. A change of scenery was needed, and he got the opportunity when he signed a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins in 2024.

Koepke found an identity in Boston as a tough-to-play-against depth forward who also had a scoring touch. He said his biggest adjustments weren’t the speed of the game but the travel time and more rigorously structured days. The Bruins struggled in the 2024–25 season, finishing 8th in the Atlantic Division with a 33-39-10 record, missing the playoffs by a wide margin. Despite the setback, Koepke made the most of his fourth-line minutes with 10 goals and seven assists while averaging only 11 minutes of ice time.

Koepke said in his end-of-season interview that he wanted to improve his puck-moving ability and comfort in his own zone. Winnipeg signed him in the 2025 offseason during free agency.

Touching down in Winnipeg

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said that with the Koepke and Pearson signings, they wanted the forwards to have a different look from last year with the loss of Nikolaj Ehlers.

“Some guys are dual roles, they can play powerplay and penalty kill. Some guys are more energy, Koepke can get in on the forecheck, do different things like that,” said Cheveldayoff on Jul. 4.

Head coach Scott Arniel praised the character and hard-hitting ability of the offseason acquisitions and said the Jets made a concentrated effort to find depth on the forward market.

Koepke said that on the day he signed with the team, he had heard good things about the Jets locker room and how they operate. He was excited to join, while also giving insight into what Jets fans can expect.

“I can be dependable in the defensive zone, and I always try to be physical and a good skater, with speed. I try to use that to my advantage the best I can. So, like I said, I try to be sound in the defensive zone, be physical, make it hard on the other team, and offensively try to chip in goals whenever I can. I am more of a shoot-first guy when it comes to offence (I want to help) whenever I can.”

Koepke so far has three points on a Jets squad still looking for consistency. Detractors point to a lack of secondary scoring, though Koepke has mostly been absent from that conversation, with fans’ frustration more pointed toward the middle six.

“I’m sure everyone’s feeling the pressure, we’re not trying to think about it. I think for us, for our line, let’s go out there, play as a group of three, try and wear the other teams down, make sure we’re sound in our own end and create offence that way,” Koepke said in his postgame interview on Friday night.

Nothing about Koepke’s career has come easily, and joining a new organization hasn’t changed that. But as he starts to find comfort in his role and shows flashes of the game that carried him this far, he’s giving the Jets exactly what they hoped for: a hard-working forward who can push for more. His first goal may only be a small moment in a long season, but for Koepke, it’s another sign he’s moving toward the player he believes he can be.