Winnipeg Jets’ 3 Worst Contracts for 2026-27 – The Hockey Writers – Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets don’t have any completely disastrous contracts on their books, but like any team, they do have a few that are suboptimal.

Here, we’ll take a look at the Jets’ three worst contracts for 2026-27.

3: Vladislav Namestnikov – $3 Million AAV, 1 Year Remaining

$3 million is not a ton in the context of a $104 million salary cap. However, if Namestnikov’s poor production continues into 2026-27, the Jets will be wasting money — they could likely replace him with a prospect on a league-minimum deal and get similar or better production.

The veteran had been a reliable and versatile secondary contributor for the Jets since being acquired in 2023, but he was among the most disappointing players of last season as his offensive production fell off a cliff. He posted just eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 60 games, way down from the 38 points he recorded in 2024-25 and the 37 he recorded in 2023-24. His season ended with a whimper as he missed 21 of the Jets’ final 24 games with a lower-body injury.

It’s possible that age has simply caught up to the 33 year old and he is now on an irreversible downward trajectory and no longer capable of shouldering a top-nine assignment. His contract seemed to have the potential to be moved off the books via trade or buyout, but as of writing, he remains a Jet.

2: Nino Niederreiter – $4 Million AAV, 1 Year Remaining

Like Namestnikov, Niederreiter is a veteran who had been a reliable secondary contributor but whose production dropped drastically last season. He posted 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 61 games, down from 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists) in 82 games in 2024-25, for his lowest full-season points total since 2011-12 (which was his first full campaign in the league).

Also like Namestnikov, if his play is similar to last season, the Jets could easily find someone internally or even on the waiver wire who can provide them 19 points for far less than $4 million.

Part of Niederreiter’s downturn last season was health related: he decided to play through a nagging knee injury rather than get surgery in the 2025 offseason, justifying that getting surgery then could cause him to miss playing in his 1,000th-career NHL game (which he did in December) or from representing Switzerland in the 2026 Winter Olympics (which he also did).

His decision was widely seen as an instance of a player putting himself before the team, and it’s hard to argue with that perspective. In many games last season, he was ineffective and clearly ailing; he ended up having to get the arthroscopic knee surgery after the Olympics in early March anyway and missed 20 games as a result.

1: Neal Pionk – $7 Million AAV, 5 Years Remaining

There’s still plenty of time for Pionk’s six-year contract with a $7 million average annual value to turn out at least alright in the long run, However, last season — the first year of the deal — raised the level of concern it could age like milk rather than wine.

The defenseman took a big step back last season after his 2024-25 was among his best campaigns as a Jet. In 2024-25, he maintained his strong offensive production (10 goals and 29 assists for 39 points) while shoring up his actual defensive game that had been often chaotic and made him a lightning rod for criticism since joining the Jets in 2019. He parlayed that strong campaign alongside Dylan Samberg on the second pairing into the aforementioned lucrative extension that made him the Jets’ highest-paid defenseman.

Last season, he struggled to stay healthy as he missed 31 games with various injuries. His production plummeted all the way to 12 points (three goals and nine assists) for his lowest-career single-season point total, but it’s also worth noting his possession metrics were similar to 2024-25 despite the Jets being a much worse team. One will have to hope that his underperformance was injury-related rather than indicative of the beginning of his decline, or else the contract will hamper them in the years to come.