With the regular season right around the corner, the Winnipeg Jets announced they have signed Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck to identical seven-year contracts.
HERE TO STAY 😤
Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck have signed identical seven-year contract extensions with an average annual value of $8,500,000. pic.twitter.com/vINkMjXh9b
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 9, 2023
Hellebuyck and Scheifele’s new deals are worth $59.5 million and carry an annual average value of $8.5 million.
Here is the breakdown of Connor Hellebuyck’s deal according to PuckPedia:
Connor Hellebuyck’s 7 year $8.5M Cap Hit extension:
Yr 1 5M Salary & 5M Signing Bonus
Yr 2 10M Salary
Yr 3 7.5M Salary
Yr 4 10M Salary
Yr 5 9M Salary
Yr 6 7M Salary
Yr 7 6M SalaryRep’d by @RayPetkau @alphahockey https://t.co/u7UhUgii85
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 9, 2023
Hellebuyck has a full no-movement clause through the 2026-27 season, and then it becomes a modified no-trade clause (10-team no-trade from 2027-28 season on.
Here is the breakdown of Mark Scheifele’s new contract according to Puck Pedia.
Mark Scheifele 7 year $8.5M Cap Hit extension:
Yr 1 5M Salary & 5M SB
Yr 2 10M Salary
Yr 3 7.5M Salary
Yr 4 10M Salary
Yr 5 9M Salary
Yr 6 7M Salary
Yr 7 6M SalaryYrs 1-3 No Move Clause, Yrs 4-7 Modified No Trade
Rep'd by Craig Oster @TheHockeyAgencyhttps://t.co/THlFzMrW7K
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 9, 2023
Both players will be 38 when they finish their contracts. This is according to CapFriendly.
Both Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele will be 38 years of age when their contract extensions expirehttps://t.co/RkMwE0rjG6
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) October 9, 2023
This is a very interesting move, to say the least for the Jets. Again Winnipeg has been under scrutiny for not having a direction. However, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was not in the rebuilding business but the retooling business. Thus these players were not moving. The asking prices were just way too high.
Are the Winnipeg Jets Asking Too Much for Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele?
Connor Hellebuyck has stated he wanted to win. But also stated he was not going to sign a long-term extension in Winnipeg unless there was a chance the Jets could win.
As for Mark Scheifele, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his idol Steve Yzerman, who was a lifer in Detroit. Now he has become a lifer in Winnipeg.
Cheveldayoff gave the Jets a chance to win with the pieces he acquired in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade. Add in the fact, that Kyle Connor did not want to be a part of a rebuild and thus here we are, Hellebuyck and Scheifele getting extensions.
NHL Rumors: Winnipeg Jets Window Closing To Trade Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele
This is huge for a franchise as we have seen so many players wanting out over the past several seasons. At least there is a clear direction now.
Spoke with Jets chairman Mark Chipman last week in NYC at BOG and he was confident in the direction those negotiations were going. He was proven right. Just huge for that franchise. https://t.co/PJS51pKBoS
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 9, 2023
Scheifele was the first draft pick (seventh overall) of the new incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets back in the 2011 NHL Draft. He is coming off a career-high 42-goal season in 2022-23, where he also recorded 68 points and 26 assists. His best season came in 2018-19 where he recorded 84 points, a career high, (38 goals and a career high 46 assists).
For his career, he has recorded 645 points (272 goals and 373 assists) in 723 games played in the NHL. As he can see he is a better passer than a scorer. But can still light the lamp.
The biggest knock is the playoffs. After recording 20 points (14 goals and six assists) in the Jets run to the Western Conference Final in 2018, his numbers have tailed off and it has been linked to the hit on Jake Evans during the bubble run of 2021.
Mark Scheifele, signed to an 7x$8.5M extension by WPG, is an offensive first-line centre. His excellent finishing touch has seen him score at a 40-goal clip the past two seasons but his best asset is his excellent passing ability. #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/xJvrUt1kdU
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 9, 2023
As for Hellebuyck, he is one of the best goalies in the league. There was a reason teams were trying to acquire him. He has the ability to steal games in a playoff series. Hellebuyck is the workhorse for the Jets. Hellebuyck finished as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season and won the award in 2020. He also became the winningest goalie in American hockey history with 44 wins in 2017-18.
Connor Hellebuyck, signed to a 7x$8.5M extension by WPG, is one of the few goalies in the game who can comfortably be considered elite. #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/wmMf54dQWI
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 9, 2023
Last season, Hellebuyck carried the Jets to the playoffs with a 2.49 GAA and a .920 save percentage. In his career, Hellebuyck has started 436 games playing in 445 games, winning 238 of them. He has a career GAA of 2.66 and a save percentage of .916.