- Cole Perfetti is filing for salary arbitration ahead of the July 5 deadline
- Filing takes offer sheets off the table but leaves the door open for an extension or a trade
- Read below for what it means for the Jets and where the money could land
Cole Perfetti is taking the Winnipeg Jets to arbitration.
The 24-year-old forward is filing for salary arbitration ahead of the 5:00 p.m. ET deadline on July 5, according to a report from Murat Ates of The Athletic. If Perfetti and his camp somehow change course, the Jets still have 24 hours after the player deadline to file for team-elected arbitration.
Filing does two things. It wipes out any chance of a rival team swooping in with an offer sheet, and it sets a hearing date later this summer that acts as a deadline for a longer deal. Perfetti can still sign a long-term extension with Winnipeg or get traded before that date arrives.
The deadline is a busy one across the league:
Perfetti is coming off a two-year bridge deal that paid him $3.25 million against the cap and expired at the end of the season. A training-camp injury cost him the first 14 games of 2025-26, and he finished with 32 points on 12 goals and 20 assists once he got healthy.
AFP Analytics pegs his next number around $4.31 million on a one-year award and just under $6.4 million on a five-year term. That gap is the whole negotiation. Winnipeg would love to lock him up long, and Perfetti has every reason to bet on himself after a healthy summer.
He is not alone in going this route. Jason Robertson filed with the Stars earlier in the day, and Braden Schneider did the same in New York. RFAs are using the process as leverage all over the map right now.
For the Jets, the clock now runs toward a hearing they would rather never see. A deal before that date keeps Perfetti in the fold on Winnipeg’s terms. A hearing means a judge sets his salary for a year, and nobody in a front office enjoys that outcome.
