The Winnipeg Jets wrapped up a busy Monday with not one but two long term deals the club announced. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and forward Mark Scheifele inked identical 7 year contracts, each sporting an $8.5M AAV.
Scheifele, 30, is coming off a career best 42 goal campaign in which he suited up for 81 contests for the Jets. The former 7th overall pick from the 2011 NHL Entry Draft has spent his entire 723 game NHL career as a member of the Jets organization after a stellar 2 year stint with the OHL’s Barrie Colts.
The Kitchener, ON native was the 1st player drafted by the Jets following their return to Winnipeg, and currently ranks first in franchise history for both playoff goals (19) and GWG (44).
Meanwhile, Hellebuyck, also 30, was taken in the 5th round (130th overall) by the Jets the year following Scheifele’s selection and owns virtually all the goaltending records in franchise history. That list includes most games played (445), wins (238), shutouts (32), and saves (12,465) amongst others.
A perennial Vezina contender, the Commer, MI native took home top honours amongst NHL netminders in 2019-20 and has been named a finalist on two other occasions.
The extensions are set to kick in during the 2024-25 campaign, and will keep the two franchise pillars tied to the Jets organization through the 2030-31 season.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.