General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff appears to have put the two week break to good use, working out a new contract for forward Vladislav Namestnikov. News has broken that the Winnipeg Jets have agreed to a 2 year extension with the 32 yr old veteran, keeping him in the Peg until the end of the 2026-27 NHL campaign. A two year deal giving him a raise of $1M per season, the value is definitely there for the True North franchise with the contract paying Namestnikov $3M/yr over the next two seasons.
The Russian forward has excelled this year and is on pace to challenge for his most offensively impactful season of his long NHL career. And that was when he was just a young lad in his fourth professional campaign. The middle six forward has bounced around quite a bit throughout his career (8 different franchise changes), but appears to have found a comfortable fit in Winnipeg and is willing to sign on to stay here for a full 4 seasons.
A 30 to 40 point forward that can play wing & center while bouncing around the middle six, all the while doing it with a smile. Seems like good value to me….and provides a bit of time to let potential 2nd line center replacements like Brad Lambert, Brayden Yager, & Chaz Lucius develop further.
In case you missed it, here is what I wrote recently about the center in my Final Push article:
Vladislav Namestnikov: The Russian center has performed admirably as Winnipeg’s 2nd line center, even though it may be a bit too high up in the lineup for his talent level. Namestnikov was limited to 78 games in his first full year with the Jets, but did manage to put up a decent 37 pts and has proven to be a useful utility player for coach Scott Arniel. Once again in 24-25 Vladdy has missed 4 games, but if he keeps up his current pace (29 pts in 52 gms) he will flirt with his career-best of 44 points.
Glad you like the city & hockey team, Vlad. Happy that you found a “permanent” home for the first time since the four seasons you spent in Tampa Bay to start your career.
