The Winnipeg Jets are preparing to open their season on Thursday against the Dallas Stars. Rumors had been swirling that the Jets and Kyle Connor were closing in on a contract extension. Now, the front office has completed one more piece of offseason work, signing Connor to a new eight-year extension worth $96 million.

Connor is entering the final year of a seven-year, $50 million extension he signed with the franchise ahead of the 2019-20 season. He will be enjoying a pay raise from just over $7.1 million AAV to $12 million AAV. This will make him the highest-paid player on the Jets next season. It also ties him for the sixth-highest in terms of AAV in the NHL next year. The new extension places the Jets' all-star on par with other star players, Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen.

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The contract has also been reported to have multiple years of signing bonuses as well as a full no-movement clause. This is something that the franchise has not done in the past, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Connor was the No. 17 overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Winnipeg Jets. He made his NHL debut in the 2016-17 season after playing one year at the University of Michigan. The American-born forward has been a solid producer for the team. He has scored 30 or more goals in seven of his past eight seasons, while scoring just 26 in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Further, he has amassed 90 points in a season twice in his career. That includes last season when he set a career high of 97 points.

The former winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy has averaged .95 points per game so far in his NHL career. He has improved that in recent seasons. Over his last four campaigns, he has averaged 1.07 points per game. With the fact that this deal is for eight years, and does not begin until the 2026-27 season, the winger will be 38 years old when the contract ends. This likely makes their star player a Jet for life.