Insider: Cole Perfetti Talks With Jets Are "Sluggish"

Cole Perfetti remains the only one of the Winnpeg Jets' five restricted free agents this summer still without a new contract. The Fourth Period is reporting that the talks between the two sides are "sluggish" and insider David Pagnotta tells us there hasn't been much conversation.

It’s been crickets for the most part, minus a brief phone call last week. Obviously, it takes one call to shift things and gain any momentum, but that still hasn’t happened as of (Thursday) morning.

The team has seemingly been looking at a short-term bridge deal with Perfetti, as Pagnotta noted last week, somewhere in the $4 million AAV range.

"Perfetti would be open to a long-term agreement with Winnipeg if the Jets approach him and his agent with that option," says Pagnotta, "but right now it sounds like we may see something fall in the two-year range whenever this gets finalized."

Perfetti would not even "entertain" an offer sheet, according to the insider, but even if he did, the Jets "would not hesitate" to match it if one came along.

The 22-year-old is not expected to be at Jets camp when it opens in less than two weeks if a deal is not in place by then.

He played his first near-full season this past year, and posted 19 goals and 19 assists in 71 games. He was the 10th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft.