A look at the UFAs and RFAs for the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose this summer

Last summer was a summer of uncertainty in Winnipeg with the big question being the direction the franchise was heading in. Of course we didn’t learn until the fall that the team would be signing Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck to seven-year extensions which will begin during the 2024-25 season.

With the NHL Draft still over a month away we look at the unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents in the Jets system.

According to CapFriendly the Jets have 17 players under contact for the 2024-25 campaign which means there are a number of UFAs and RFAs that will be in need of new contracts either with Winnipeg or with new NHL/AHL teams or a team overseas. Included in brackets is their 2023-24 cap hit in the NHL and AHL.

Unrestricted free agents (UFAs):

Sean Monahan ($1,985,000.00)
Tyler Toffoli ($4,250,000.00)
Dylan DeMelo ($3,000,000.00)
Brenden Dillon ($3,900,000.00)
Colin Miller ($1,850,000.00)
Laurent Brossoit ($1,750,000.00)

Restricted free agents (RFAs):

David Gustafsson ($775,000.00) (arbitration eligible)
Cole Perfetti ($894,167.00)
Logan Stanley ($1,000,000.00) (arbitration eligible)

There are also a number of players on the Moose (some of whom could be with the Jets next season) who will also be in need of new deals including:

Unrestricted free agents (UFAs):

Jeff Malott ($762,500.00/$175,000.00)
Kristian Rechiel ($775,000.00/$175,000.00)) (Group 6)*
Jeffrey Viel ($775,000.00)
Kyle Capobianco ($762,500.00/$775,000.00) (Group 6)
Ashton Sautner ($775,000.00/$225,000.00)
Collin Delia ($775,000.00)

Restricted free agents (RFAs):

Ville Heinola ($863,333.00/$70,000.00)
Artemi Kniazev ($789,167.00/$70,000.00)**
Simon Lundmark ($850,833.00/$70,000.00)
Oskari Salminen ($855,000.00/$80,000.00)

* The first player to sign overseas was Kristian Reichel who signed a three-year deal to play in the German DEL with Adler Mannheim.

** Five months ago the Jets announced they had reassigned defenceman Artemi Kniazev to the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL. It never really worked out for the 2019 2nd rounder of San Jose who Winnipeg got when they dealt Leon Gawanke there two summers back.

For those curious what a Group 6 free agent means this is from CapFriendly:

A player whose contract is expiring and meets all of the following conditions will become an unrestricted free agent (UFA):

1. The player is 25 years or older (as of June 30th of the calendar year the contract is expiring).
2. The player has completed 3 or more professional seasons – qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19 year old player), or 1 or more professional games (for a player aged 20 or older). This can include NHL, minor league, and European professional league seasons played while under an SPC.
3. The player has played less than 80 NHL games, or 28 NHL games of 30 minutes or greater for a goaltender.