Preparing for their Saturday night game in St. Louis, the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets have announced the signing of veteran forward Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year contract extension with an annual average value of US$3 million.
Namestnikov was a pending unrestricted free agent, so this new deal will begin in the 2025-26 season. The 32-year-old Russian is in his third year as a Winnipeg Jet after being acquired from San Jose on March of 2023 for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL entry draft.
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Namestnikov has 10-19-29 in 52 games for Winnipeg this season, primarily as the centre for Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti on the Jets second line. That trio combined for 8-18-26 during the franchise’s record-tying eight game winning streak ahead of the two-week break for the Four Nations Faceoff Tournament.
The six-foot, 181-pound pivot was Tampa Bay’s first round draft pick, 27th overall, in 2011. He spent most of the first six years of his professional career in the Lightning organization and was traded to the New York Rangers as part of a deadline deal for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller in February of 2018.
Namestnikov has also played for Ottawa, Colorado, Detroit, Dallas, and completed a second run with Tampa Bay before arriving in Winnipeg. In 760 career NHL games, he has recorded 136 goals and 191 assists for 327 points. Namestnikov has notched seven goals and seven assists in 57 NHL playoff games for the Lighting, Avalanche, Stars and Jets.
Namestnikov’s extension leaves Winnipeg with forwards Nikolaj Ehlers, Alex Iafallo and Mason Appleton as well as defencemen Neil Pionk and Haydn Fleury as pending unrestricted free agents going into the off-season.
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