Scheifele, Hellebuyck signings give Jets stability

To Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, signing identical seven-year contracts to stay with the Winnipeg Jets was meaningful, particularly since each seemed to have one foot out the door as a pending unrestricted free agent.   

Scheifele, 30, grew up idolizing Hockey Hall of Fame forward Steve Yzerman, who played his entire career with the Detroit Red Wings, and Jets Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk, who died August 18, 2020, at the age of 57. Each were an influence for the forward in his decision agree to play what could be the rest of his NHL career in Winnipeg.

“Those two guys in particular weighed on my thinking a lot,” Scheifele said. “To see Dale being a Jet was a big one, it’s a tremendous honor. I’ll never be Dale Hawerchuk, but to know he’s up there watching down on all of us and knowing that I’ll be a lifetime Jet is pretty phenomenal and it gives me the chills. I’m very honored and very excited.”

On Tuesday, Scheifele and Hellebuyck signed their seven-year, $59.5 million contracts (average annual value of $8.5 million), which Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff jokingly said didn’t matter who signed which contract because they were each the same. 

Scheifele was selected No. 7 in the 2011 NHL Draft. He was Winnipeg’s first draft pick after the franchise relocated from Atlanta. He is the face of the modern-day Jets just like Hawerchuk was of the version of the Jets before they moved to Arizona in 1996. 

“Me and Connor are both very competitive and we want to win a Cup here,” Scheifele said. “We’ve had a lot of conversations with [GM Kevin Cheveldayoff], with each other, with a lot of guys on the team and our goal is to win and obviously this is a big step.”

Locking up its No. 1 center and Vezina Trophy-winning goalie through the 2030-31 season is a major accomplishment for Winnipeg since the future of the two players there was unclear.

Now the Jets can focus on getting back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Winnipeg has qualified in five of the previous six seasons.

“The uniqueness yesterday was awesome, where once we got the final ‘yes’ from them, they got the opportunity to stand in front of their team in a team meeting and say they were committing to Winnipeg,” Cheveldayoff said. “The roar that came out of the dressing room, unfortunately I wasn't in there, but I was walking by it at the time and the roar that came out of the dressing room, I knew exactly what had happened.”

Hellebuyck, 30, was selected by the Jets in the fifth round (No. 130) of the 2012 NHL Draft. He joined them in 2015-2016 and became their starting goalie the following season. He won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie in 2020.

“I think what was tempting, is being around a fan base that loves us so much and cares so much about us and an organization that believes in us so much,” Hellebuyck said. “I think that was really what you want to be around, what you want to surround yourself with. When you’re putting in that much hard work and you care as much as you do and you see everyone around you has that same feeling, that’s what you want to be part of. And that’s how’s you win. That’s what you want to win for.”

Signing Scheifele and Hellebuyck brings some much-needed stability after a busy offseason. They traded center Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings on June 27 for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Winnipeg also bought out the final year of the contract of former captain Blake Wheeler, who then signed with the New York Rangers.

The Jets open the 2023-24 season at the Calgary Flames on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; SNW) with a more balanced lineup.

“I think it’s a fantastic day for our franchise, the city of Winnipeg, the province of Manitoba and all of Jets Nation,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “You’re looking at two world-class athletes that if they had wanted, they could have waited until July 1, and pretty much gone to where they wanted. But they chose to stay here with our franchise and help us win. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup. They firmly believe that we can do it and they're obviously going to be two very huge parts of doing that.”

Scheifele and Hellebuyck feel the Jets are on to something special and wanted to be part of it instead of moving on and having to start over. Winnipeg was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights last season.

“We owe it a lot to the guys in the locker room,” Hellebuyck said. “We said it from Day One that we get along so well and this team meshes to well, that if the guys around us know that we care and we truly believe in this city and the guys around us that helps them figure out where this team is going and that’s one direction and that’s to win the Cup.”

NHL.com independent correspondent Darrin Bauming contributed to this report