How the Jets Can Use Their $20.2 Million in Cap Space This Offseason

The Winnipeg Jets have $20.2 million of projected cap space for next season. That’s not chump change, and there’s plenty general manager (GM) Kevin Cheveldayoff can do with it coming out of a 2025-26 campaign where his club regressed by 21 wins and missed the postseason entirely.

If the Jets believe this season was a one-off and that they can get right back to competitiveness next season — and Cheveldayoff’s end-of-season remarks indicate that’s their belief — then they better spend right up to the cap again, which for 2026-27 is $104 million.

Re-Sign a Few Internal Free Agents

The Jets can let almost all of their pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) walk, which will open up quite a bit of money. They’ll need to use some of that to re-sign a few of their UFAs and a couple restricted free agents (RFAs), though.

Cole Perfetti will command the most money despite taking a step back this season and seeing his production drop to 32 points from 50 in 2024-25. He missed the first 14 games of the campaign with a high-ankle sprain he suffered in the final preseason game and did not look comfortable until the new year.

While the 2020 first-rounder hasn’t exactly put himself in the best situation to justify a significant raise from the $3.25 million average annual value (AAV) his expiring two-year bridge holds, a longer-term deal still seems on the table and is something he said in his exit interview he would like. A lengthier deal would likely carry a $5 million AAV or north.

Another RFA, Isak Rosen, was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the 2026 Trade Deadline and got an immediate NHL opportunity in Winnipeg. The 23 year old scored three goals in 21 games for the Jets down the stretch while averaging 10:42 in ice time and finished with six goals and four assists for 10 points in 37 games between the Jets and Sabres.

The 2021 14th-overall pick has been highly productive at the American Hockey League level, with 87 goals and 185 points in 231 games over parts of four seasons with the Rochester Americans. He put up 25 goals and 18 assists for 43 points for them in just 37 games this season prior to the trade.

The speedy left winger’s entry-level contract (ELC) is expiring, and the most-logical path forward for both parties seems to be a two-year bridge with an AAV between $2 and $3 million.

UFA Eric Comrie will likely return as Jets’ backup goaltender rather than testing free agency. The organization is familiar with him, he is well-liked in the locker room, and he only commanded a $825,000 AAV over the past two seasons.

There are also a few depth RFAs and UFAs they could re-sign including Jacob Bryson, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Phil Di Giuseppe, Walker Duehr, David Gustafsson, and Mason Shaw, but those deals will either be league-minimum or just above.

There is also a possibility Cheveldayoff will sign whoever he selects with his eighth-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft to an ELC, if he believes that player is NHL ready.

Swing a Trade For Someone With Term or Under Team Control

The 2026 free-agent class is pretty thin and will probably not garner a “savior” for the Jets’ long-standing lack of a true second-line centre. Numerous players have been deployed in the role over the past number of seasons, but no one’s filled it either very long (Paul Stastny, Sean Monahan) or very well (Kevin Hayes, Cody Eakin, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jonathan Toews). Other players such as Perfetti and Gabriel Vilardi, who played centre in junior, are now full-time wingers.

Winnipeg is far from the most-attractive market for free agents and Cheveldayoff is usually a bridesmaid rather than a bride when July 1 rolls around. Swinging a trade for someone with term or someone who isn’t eligible to be an UFA for a while is probably his best bet for finally filling this void for more than a season or two. Even after signing his UFAs and RFAs, Cheveldayoff should have the space to take on at least one sizeable contract.

Linus Karlsson (Vancouver Canucks), Monahan (Columbus Blue Jackets), Josh Norris (Buffalo Sabres), and Shane Wright (Seattle Kraken) could be among the targets.

Karlsson is a pending RFA not eligible for UFA status until 2028. Monahan, who was good for the Jets as a rental in 2023-24, has three years remaining on a contract with a $5.5 million AAV. Norris has four years remaining on a contract with a $7.9 million AAV. Wright, who the Jets were connected to at the 2026 Trade Deadline neared, has one year remaining on his ELC and is not eligible for UFA status until 2031.

Sign a Strategic (Younger!) Free Agent or Two

While the Jets won’t likely win the Alex Tuch “sweepstakes,” Cheveldayoff could still bolster the club further with a strategic free-agent signing or two.

Since one of the Jets’ major issues this season was that they were too old and too slow after Cheveldayoff added Gustav Nyquist, Tanner Pearson, Luke Schenn, and Toews from March 2025 onward, he would do well to avoid any of the aging veterans potentially on the precipice of a decline such as Anthony Mantha, Anders Lee, or Jaden Schwartz.

However, players such as Michael Bunting, Mason Marchment, Victor Olofsson, and Jack Roslovic could be among the realistic targets who could provide the Jets with more secondary scoring, another aspect of Winnipeg’s game that fell off dramatically this season from the Presidents’ Trophy-winning 2024-25. All four recorded 30-plus points this season, are all 30 or younger, and all had salaries below the $5 million AAV mark.

This will be a pivotal offseason for Cheveldayoff considering some think he’s past his expiration date as GM and because of the Jets’ huge tumble down the standings from a season ago. How he uses the money at his disposal, and whether he can spend it better than he did last offseason, will be very interesting to follow.