ANALYSIS: Perfetti, Jets need to come together on contract talks as training camp kicks off

As the only unsigned player under team control, Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti will be absent from workouts and testing at the Hockey For All Centre on Wednesday, and until a new agreement with the team is reached.

It’s a difficult situation for the 22-year-old, who posted 19 goals and 38 points last season, both NHL career single-season highs. And with the number two centre position still very much a question mark entering camp for a second straight season, it’s even more difficult for the young Perfetti to compete for that spot in absentia.

Now, what precisely is preventing Perfetti and the Jets from reaching a new agreement is unsure, but we can certainly speculate with some certainty that money, but most likely the length of contract, is creating the widest impasse.

Part of that gridlock might be created due to questions concerning Perfetti’s durability, with the Jets not too inclined to offer a deal past two years and the player’s side looking for more security beyond that.

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Since he turned pro four seasons ago, the Jets’ first-rounder in 2020 has missed chunks of time seemingly each season with injury, a byproduct of being undersized but highly skilled. Therefore, to Winnipeg, the risk of offering a long-term contract might not be prudent just yet.

But at this point, whatever the Jets have tabled might be better than the alternative: Perfetti sitting out for any length of time during camp, the exhibition schedule and perhaps beyond. And that bit of advice has most certainly been uttered to the budding star from the likes of Josh Morrissey and Kyle Connor, two teammates – if you remember — who have historically been in the same situation.

For Perfetti, what’s been offered might not meet his expectations, but some would suggest he’s yet to meet his with the Jets either. Siting out any longer than a few days makes it next to impossible to compete for, say, a second-line centre job in absentia.

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