Welcome back to the third last edition of the “Jets Nation year in review” series to wrap up and recap the Winnipeg Jets 2025-26 season. This series is getting quite close to its conclusion, as the NHL Draft and the second week of NHL free agency are now complete. I’ll continue to look at the individual seasons from Jets players throughout the 2025-26 season and also take a quick look ahead to what the upcoming 2026-27 season may have in store for each player. This afternoon’s players are the other Jets forwards which I’ve not mentioned so far that were regulars in the lineup throughout the season.

Going through the forwards which I’ve done a review on already, we’ve looked at Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Jonathan Toews, Morgan Barron, and Adam Lowry. The most notable forward which I haven’t mentioned yet is Cole Perfetti, so we’ll start with him and go down in terms of points these players collected in the 2025-26 season for the rest of the Jets regular forwards.

Cole Perfetti’s fourth NHL season was cut short due to an upper body injury. In 68 games, Perfetti scored 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points. Perfetti’s production dipped this season, and part of the reason could have been due to the lack of a true second line forward to replace Nikolaj Ehlers. Perfetti had various linemates throughout the season, and it was tough for him to really get on a roll at any point in the season. Perfetti is now a restricted free agent, and he’ll be headed to arbitration for his next contract, with a previous cap hit of $3.25 million and a career high of 50 points in the 2024-25 season.

Nino Niederreiter was one of several Jets forwards to have a sizeable drop in offensive production in the 2025-26 season. Niederreiter did miss some time due an injury which required surgery, but even before his injury there wasn’t much going well for his game. In 61 games, Niederreiter scored 8 goals and 11 assists for 19 points. Just like Perfetti, Niederreiter shuffled a bit around the lineup, which could have impacted him being able to gain chemistry with his linemates. Sitting on 499 career NHL points, Niederreiter will enter the third and final year of his current contract with the Jets with a cap hit of $4 million.

Cole Koepke was one of the better Jets free agent signings from last July, which isn’t saying much as he played primarily in a 4th line role. Koepke was only playing in his 2nd full NHL season, as the former 6th round pick spent the early part of his career mostly in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch. In 66 games, Koepke scored 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points. Koepke would have been a free agent, but the Jets re-signed Koepke in April to a new two-year deal with a cap hit of $1.45 million.

Vladislav Namestnikov dealt with multiple injuries in the 2025-26 season, and overall had a very unproductive season. After back to back quality seasons with 37 and 38 points, Namestnikov only scored 8 goals and 6 assists for 14 points in 60 games. It’s tough to pinpoint what went wrong in specific, but when you look at the overall lack of depth scoring from the Jets this past season, Namestnikov was just one player who couldn’t replicate his recent success from the last two seasons. The 33-year old forward will be entering the second and final year of his current contract with the Jets at a cap hit of $3 million, and it’s unclear if the Jets will attempt to re-sign him when he becomes a free agent in July 2027.

Tanner Pearson was another short term Jets free agency signing that didn’t work out too well. Pearson was coming off a pretty good season with the Golden Knights, but couldn’t replicate it playing in the Jets bottom six. In 52 games, Pearson scored 7 goals and 6 assists for 13 points. Pearson was traded to the Sabres for a 7th round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, but he only played 4 games for the Sabres, collecting 2 assists. Pearson was a healthy scratch in the playoffs, and the now 33-year forward is an unrestricted free agent, as he hopes to get another contract to continue his NHL career.

The final player for this Jets Nation year in review is another free agency signing “gone wrong” for the Jets: Gustav Nyquist. After a very surprising 75 point season with the Nashville Predators in the 2023-24 season, Nyquist cooled off with the Predators and Wild last season. This season the Jets were hoping for Nyquist to be a depth scoring option on the 3rd line, but that didn’t happen. Nyquist struggled throughout the season, at times being a healthy scratch, and in 51 games Nyquist only scored 1 goal and 11 assists for 12 points. The $3.25 million cap hit didn’t pay off for the Jets, and now the 36-year old forward is in the same position as Pearson as he’s currently an unrestricted free agent looking to find another contract to continue his NHL career.

The 2026 NHL Free Agency continues on, as teams explore options for improving their rosters. Stay tuned for the next edition of the Jets Nation “year in review” series article coming in a few days! There will be just two articles left in this series, as I’ll be recapping the remaining defencemen and a final article on players who were traded mid-season or played in a small amount of games as call-ups throughout the season.

The Toyota Tacoma is the ultimate power play. Its standard i-FORCE engine delivers more power than ever and a towing capacity of up to 6,400 lbs. It helps you take on challenging landscapes with confidence with its available Panoramic Multi-Terrain View Monitor that provides a live, underfloor view of the terrain you’re tackling. It even makes loading and unloading gear effortless with its available Power Liftgate. Whether it’s for early morning practice or weekend away games, the Tacoma is a teammate you can rely on. Visit your local Prairie Toyota dealer during Red Tag Days for limited-time offers.