Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti and his camp are expected to file for salary arbitration ahead of Sunday's 5 p.m. ET deadline, according to multiple reports.

Perfetti joins a growing list of restricted free agents electing to go this route, following Jason Robertson, Braden Schneider and Kirby Dach among a group of 15 total players.

Filing for arbitration removes one significant variable for the Jets. By filing, Perfetti becomes ineligible to sign an offer sheet, though he could still work out a long-term extension with Winnipeg or be traded elsewhere. 

The hearing itself is still to be scheduled and will likely fall later this summer, effectively serving as a soft deadline for the two sides to reach a long-term deal before then. For a Jets front office already navigating a complicated summer, that removes at least one avenue of outside interference.

Arbitration can be one of the more adversarial exercises in professional sports. The process requires the team to make its case to a neutral third party for why a player is worth less than his camp believes, essentially building an argument around his shortcomings while the player and his representatives push back in his defense. 

It's a system that plenty of players around the league have described as bruising, particularly when it involves people within the organization they've trusted throughout their careers. 

Notably, salary arbitration is fairly rare in hockey, and only 11 players filed for it across the entire league last season, none of which required an actual hearing, as most cases get resolved via settlement before things reach that point. 

Still, the process is widely viewed as one that can strain long-term relationships between a player and the organization, which is why teams and agents typically try to avoid an actual hearing whenever possible.

The core of the disagreement will likely come down to which version of Perfetti the Jets are paying for as he was a 50-point player a season ago, but after suffering an injury early into this past season and missing time. Winnipeg will likely make the case towards trying to pay the price of the Perfetti that just finished recording 32 points in 68 games this past season. 

Perfetti's camp will likely point to the 50-point campaign and his continued upside as a former top-ten pick back in 2020. The Jets, for their part, have reason to lean on the disappointing follow-up season, even if injury played a real role in that decline, to argue his value should be closer to his down year than his best one.

This all comes during an eventful offseason for Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who has also been fielding questions about the future of reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. 

Winnipeg has already made moves to shore up its roster, adding goaltender Stuart Skinner and defenseman Mario Ferraro in free agency, as the team looks to bounce back from a season that saw it fall from Presidents' Trophy winner to missing the playoffs entirely.

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