With the 2025 NHL entry draft just 2+ weeks away, today I’ll be reviewing the season of one of the Jets most promising young players: Cole Perfetti. While the Jets continue to have other young players develop either in the juniors, AHL or outside North America, Perfetti was the youngest player in the Jets lineup on a regular basis this season. After last season, I wrote about how Perfetti took a positive step towards ensuring he was an NHL regular and how he can make sure he secures his spot in the lineup. 2024-25 was another positive step for Perfetti, this time proving that he can very soon be a permanent part of the Jets top 6 forward group.

Sometimes called “Goal Perfetti” or simply “Fetty / Fetts”, Cole Perfetti played an important role on the Jets 2nd forward line, usually with Vladislav Namestnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers. This year was Perfetti’s 3rd full season with the Jets, and the 1st time he appeared in all 82 regular season games. The 23-year old from Ontario was drafted 10th overall by the Jets in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, and after a few years of ups and downs in his development, this season Perfetti seemed to finally show what made him a 10th overall pick.

The 2nd line of Ehlers, Namestnikov and Perfetti exceeded expectations for most fans this season. The chemistry worked better than I thought it would, and they really pushed each other to be at their best. Perfetti finished 6th on the Jets in team scoring, scoring 18 goals while adding 32 assists for 50 points in 82 games. Perfetti finished 1 goal shy of his career high in goals (19) set last season, but he improved his career high in assists in a season by 10, when he collected 22 in 2022-23. Perfetti was a +14, and his physicality was sneakily notable too. Perfetti got 71 hits this season, just over double his 2nd highest total of 35 back in 2022-23.

Last season the playoffs were disappointing for Perfetti, as he was healthy scratched in all but one game. That one game Perfetti didn’t make any impact (0 points), but the Jets were nearing their exit from the playoffs in his appearance. The 2024-25 playoffs were much better for Perfetti, appearing in all 13 playoff games, scoring 3 goals while adding 3 assists for 6 points. The highlight of Perfetti’s playoffs was the epic round 1 game 7 3rd period game tying goal against the St. Louis Blues with under 2 seconds left. That goal sent Canada Life Centre into a frenzy, and without that goal the Jets would have been sent home in a 1st round upset by the Blues.

After an off-season where Perfetti almost went without a new contract, the Jets and Perfetti finally agreed to a new deal just a few weeks before the 2024-25 season. Perfetti was playing in the 1st year of a two-year, $6.5 million dollar deal, with an average annual value of $3.25 million. This type of a deal is commonly known as a “bridge deal”, as it allows the Jets to see how Perfetti will progress before potentially offering a long term, high dollar deal. After the 2025-26 season Perfetti will be a restricted free agent, but I have no worries that the Jets won’t be able to find a way to extend Perfetti.

Perfetti’s 2024-25 season can be described as one that continued to show positive signs of development and growth, both in terms of point production and in his defensive contributions. If you were closely watching Perfetti during any Jets game this season, you could see that he had more overall awareness on both ends of the ice, and he just seemed more confident in high pressure situations. There’s other “little things” that you also may notice from Perfetti as he matures into his NHL career, and as a Jets fan you love to see that Perfetti is trending in the right direction. Next season, Perfetti should be locked in all season on the Jets 2nd line, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a 20+ goal, 55+ point season from this intelligent top 6 forward.