The Winnipeg Jets have reached identical, very long-term agreements with two of the main members of their core.
Forward Mark Scheifele and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck each signed 7-year contract extensions, worth an average of $8.5 million per season.
The extensions will come into effect during the 2024-2025 season, which will prevent both players from having to end their current contracts with uncertainty about their future.
PHOTO JOHN WOODS, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, 30, was drafted a year later in the fifth round and is entering his ninth season with the team.
Scheifele had the best season of his career in goals last season, with 42, and ranks first in franchise history in playoff goals (19) as well as game-winning goals (44). He was drafted by the Jets in the 7the rank overall in 2011.
Hellebuyck, 30, was drafted a year later in the fifth round and is entering his ninth season with the team.
The American goaltender is the franchise’s best goaltender in terms of games played (445), wins (238) and shutouts (32). He won the Vezina Trophy in 2020 and was a finalist in 2018 and 2023.