Altona’s own Cole Kehler returns to the NHL fold, transitioning from local coach to emergency netminder for a season of high-stakes travel and practice with the Jets.
The Winnipeg Jets will have a familiar Manitoba face serving as their emergency backup goaltender for the 2026-27 season.
Altona product Cole Kehler has been selected by the Jets to serve as the team's emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) for the 2026-27 season, according to an announcement Thursday from the Altona Maroons.
The 28-year-old has most recently been involved with his hometown Maroons as the club's goaltending coach. The team says his new role will keep him busy for the next 10 months as he trains, practices and travels with the Jets.
Photo by Jonathan Kozub“We couldn’t be happier for Cole as he takes advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” the Maroons wrote in announcing the news.
The move represents something of a homecoming for Kehler, who has already spent time within the Jets organization.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound netminder attended Jets training camp ahead of the shortened 2020-21 season before signing a one-year contract with the Manitoba Moose. He appeared in three games for the Moose that season, going 2-1-0 with a 2.52 goals against average.
Amid COVID regulations, Kehler was signed by the Jets for the remainder of the 2020-21 season, providing the organization with additional goaltending depth. He did not appear in an NHL game.
Born and raised in Altona, Kehler played his junior hockey with the Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League before signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings as an undrafted free agent in December 2017.
His professional career included stops with the Manchester Monarchs, Fort Wayne Komets, Rapid City Rush, Cincinnati Cyclones and Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL, along with AHL appearances for the Ontario Reign and Moose.
Kehler eventually returned home to Altona, where he played for the Maroons before moving behind the bench as the team's goaltending coach.
His new position means the Maroons will need to find a replacement goaltending coach for the 2026-27 season, but the club says Kehler intends to return once his time with Winnipeg is complete.
“Cole has committed to returning to the Maroons when his time with the Jets organization is finished,” the team wrote, adding that he will return with additional “knowledge and experience gained from his time working alongside an NHL organization.”
As Winnipeg's EBUG, Kehler will be available in the event that circumstances leave the Jets or their opponent without two healthy goaltenders during a home game. And should that unlikely call ever come, the former Moose netminder would suddenly find himself one step away from making his NHL debut - in his home province.
Rules surrounding EBUGs pertain to jersey numbers (No. 00 strictly) and cannot have suited up in any NHL games while maintaining fewer than 80 professional games under their belts.
