The Winnipeg Jets are now just 32 days away from kicking off their 2025-26 NHL regular season at home against the Dallas Stars. Jets players are beginning to return to Winnipeg ahead of the upcoming training camp. Whether it’s the prospects camp, the Manitoba Moose training camp, or the Jets training camp, you will see players not currently signed to the organization invited to participate.

Professional tryout contracts, known as a PTO for short, are used to give players a chance to fight for roster spots, creating more competition at these training camps. While it’s uncommon for players invited on a PTO to make the opening night roster, it does happen with every team every so often. Whether that player goes on to have a good season is another story, but regardless it’s always fun to watch the progress of these players. Here are three ex-Jets who turned their professional tryout contracts into an NHL contract.

You have to go way back to 2015 for this one, when the then 29-year old Austrian forward was invited to the Jets training camp. Raffl had never played in the NHL before, spending almost his entire hockey career in Austria apart from one junior season with the Kelowna Rockets and Swift Current Broncos and a few seasons in the Swedish Hockey League.

After a championship 2014-15 season with Salzburg EC in Austria where Raffl recorded 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points in 52 games, Raffl attended Jets training camp. The legendary Austrian forward successfully converted his PTO with the Jets into a one year contract worth $575,000. Unfortunately, the success story didn’t carry over to the NHL, and Raffl played just 31 games with the Manitoba Moose in the 2015-16 season, recording 5 goals and 5 assists for 10 points. After that season, Raffl returned to Salzburg EC in Austria. The now 39-year old continues to play on Salzburg EC, and Raffl has been a part of the team that has now won 4 straight championships in the ICE Hockey League.

The 2nd ex-Jets player that was able to turn his PTO into an NHL contract was a veteran “journeyman” forward with two Stanley Cups: Trevor Lewis. The former 1st round pick (17th overall) from the 2006 NHL draft by the Los Angeles King was never on the scoresheet as much as you might expect from a 1st round pick, but he developed his game into a strong bottom six forward.

Lewis spent his entire NHL career with the Kings until the end of the 2019-20 season. During the following training camp, Lewis impressed the Jets coaching staff, and it earned him a one year, $750,000 contract. Continuing to serve in his usual bottom six role, Lewis appeared in 56 games in the 2020-21 season with the Jets, recording 5 goals and 5 assists for 10 points. After the season, Lewis once again became a free agent and signed with the Calgary Flames. After two seasons with the Flames, Lewis returned to the Kings in the 2023-24 season, and he recorded 12 points in 60 games with the Kings in the 2024-25 season.

Last but not least is another (much more recent) 1st round pick who turned his PTO into a fairly successful regular season with the Jets. Evgeny Svechnikov was drafted 19th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2015 NHL Draft, but he never lived up to his potential. After the 2020-21 season where Svechnikov recorded 8 points in 21 games for the Red Wings, he moved on from the organization that drafted him.

In October 2021, Svechnikov earned himself a one-year, two-way contract at $750,000 after showcasing his skills at Jets’ training camp. During the 2021-22 season, Svechnikov contributed to the Jets in a bottom-six role. In 72 games, Svechnikov scored 7 goals and added 12 assists for 19 points. The Jets were pleased with Svechnikov’s best season of his career, but the team moved on from him as he became a free agent after the season. Svechnikov played one more season in the NHL in the 2022-23 season with the Sharks (14 points in 59 games) before going to Russia to play in the KHL, where he continues to play as of the 2024-25 season.

Although none of these three players made significant long term contributions with the Jets, they are some of the recent success stories that started with a PTO. Raffl may not have played a game in the NHL with the Jets, but he proved that he could transition from the European hockey style to the American league, even if it was just for a season. Lewis proved to himself (and the league) that he still had much more in the tank at that point of his already successful NHL career. Svechnikov earned himself a chance to be an every day player in the NHL, and he had his most successful NHL season before continuing elsewhere in his career, which will hopefully continue for a long time.