Connor signs 8-year, $96 million contract with Jets

Kyle Connor signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. The contract begins next season and has an average annual value of $12 million.

"It's awesome," Connor said. "Both sides were working hard to get this done before the season, and I couldn't be more thrilled and excited to be part of this organization for the next eight, nine years, including this year. And I think the culture and identity of this city and this organization fits well in my values and that's something that was a big priority for me."

Winnipeg plays its season opener at home against the Dallas Stars on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, Victory+).

"To hear it was completed and completed before the season, so it's not kind of a distraction, it's awesome," Jets coach Scott Arniel said. "I've been able to coach [Connor] for the past few years, [he's a] fantastic individual, an elite player, one of the elite goal-scorers in the League, and to have him here for a long time, that's great for us."

Connor is in the final season of a seven-year, $49.98 million contract ($7.14 million AAV) he signed Sept. 28, 2019, and could have become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Testing the market, however, never felt like an option for the 28-year-old forward.

"I reflected on it at the end of the year last year and gave it some thought, but there was never any scenario where I could see myself going somewhere else," he said. "This team, these guys here and this organization has been nothing but top notch. ... I wouldn't want to try to win a Stanley Cup with another group of players in an organization. So once you really start thinking about it, there's no other place."

Connor was seventh in the NHL last season with 97 points and tied for seventh with 41 goals. He led the Jets during the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 13 games.

It was his second 40-goal season (47; 2021-22) and his fourth consecutive 30-goal season. Since becoming a full-time NHL player in 2017-18, Connor has scored at least 25 goals in each of his eight seasons, and his 282 goals during that span are eighth in the League.

Selected by Winnipeg in the first round (No. 17) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Connor has 582 points (284 goals, 298 assists) in 613 regular-season games and 49 points (20 goals, 29 assists) in 58 playoff games.

"Looking at the window and the pieces that this organization has built over the years and just the willingness to win at all costs, you can see it top down, starting with [executive chairman] Mark Chipman and [him] giving us players, ever since I came into this organization, a chance to succeed and all the tools that you need. And it's continued throughout the career, and it's getting better. So from an organization standpoint, I love to see it, and I couldn’t be more excited."

NHL.com independent correspondent Darrin Bauming contributed to this report