Contract Update for Jets RFA Cole Perfetti

An update on what is going on with restricted free agent Cole Perfetti and his new contract

On Friday, the Jets announced that they had re-signed depth forward Simon Lundmark and left the team with one restricted agent remaining, Cole Perfetti. 

The 22-year-old forward is still slated to be a top-six addition next season, but has yet to sign his new deal with the team. 

Winnipeg has approximately $5.80 million in cap space and will need to save future money for a slew of free agents next offseason like Neal Pionk, Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Iaffalo among others. 

It was reported that the team was looking to move on from Ehlers along with high-end prospect Rutger McGroarty this offseason but haven’t managed to land on a suitable returning package for either player. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkPS9CCLBsI[/embed]

A decision will need to be made sooner than later as a qualifying offer was extended to Perfetti back on June 30th and allows the Jets the right of first refusal or draft choice compensation if Perfetti signed an offer sheet with another team.

He still has some options, but the most likely scenario seems to be Perfetti returning to the Jets as he is one of the team's most high-end prospects and would be challenging for him to adjust to a new system at such a young age. He could do this by either signing a new agreed-upon deal or accept his qualifying offer. 

One thing that is for sure is that the story is not yet finished and that news on Perfetti should appear sooner than later, as he is one of the last remaining restricted free agents to not have a new deal. 

Carolina’s Martin Necas, Columbus’ Kirill Marchenko and Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen were all RFAs heading into this offseason and have agreed to new deals before Perfetti.

Another player from Perfetti's draft class, Minnesota's Brock Faber, signed a fresh eight-year, max extension on Monday, which will kick in for the 2025-26 season. He was selected one round and 35 places after Perfetti four years back. 

Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated that Perfetti had arbitration rights.