The Winnipeg Jets signed Neal Pionk to his biggest contract yet.
The defenseman agreed to terms with the Jets on a six-year contract extension worth $7 million annually, the team announced Thursday. That cap hit is $1.125 million more than the $5.875 million on his expiring four-year contract he signed with Winnipeg in 2021-22.
Pionk has 10 goals and 29 assists for 39 points in 69 games this season. He ranks second among Jets defensemen in goals and points and second on the team in average time on ice, at 22:04. Josh Morrissey ranks ahead of Pionk in each of those categories.
For the next three seasons, Pionk will carry a larger cap hit than Morrissey, who's in the fifth year of an eight-year contract worth $6.25 million annually.
Morrissey, 30, has 14 goals and 48 assists for 62 points in 80 games this season. He recorded 69 points last season and a career-high 76 in 2022-23.
Pionk, meanwhile, has six straight seasons of 32 points or more, all which came after joining the Jets via trade in 2019. His career-high 45 points came in 2019-20.
The Omaha, Neb., native gets a new deal at a time when the NHL's salary cap is expected to increase significantly over the next three years. It'll increase by $7.5 million to a total upper limit of $95.5 million in 2025-26, and it's projected to reach $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million in 2027-28.
Pionk's new contract will give him the league's 34th-highest cap hit among defensemen next season. When Morrissey's eight-year deal kicked in in 2020-21, his cap hit was the 24th-highest among NHL blueliners. It's now tied for the 44th-highest.
Both teammates will look to do their part to push the Jets far in the playoffs. The Presidents' Trophy winners are set to face the St. Louis Blues in the first round, with Game 1 on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
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