Will Kyle Connor Get More Money Than Adrian Kempe?
On July 18th, on NHL Tonight on NHL Network, the crew of Bill Bidto, Mike Rupp, and Stu Grimson discuss the impact of the Adrian Kempe negotiations on what the Winnipeg Jets and Kyle Connor could be dealing with down the road.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Bill Pidto: “How does Kempe’s potential negotiations might impact what may happens to Kyle Connor?”
Mike Rupp: “Yeah. I mean, I think all these, this is, like we said, it’s almost going to, I don’t want to say reset the market. Connor McDavid will reset the market. So, a player like Adrian Kempe could set the bar. And I think there’s guys like Kyle Connor and his camp are watching this very, very closely. I mean, you look at what he’s done, he got 97 points. You’re saying, all right, I hope he gets 10, because if he gets 10, I mean, what does that mean for me? And the Winnipeg Jets are watching this situation too, very closely, because you want to obviously get him and get him at the right dollar, whatever you think that is.”
Stu Grimson: “These are the individual player discussions that players are having with their representation right now. Bill, given Kempe’s ask to Mike’s point, no question that Connors getting advice, ‘Hey, Kempe, you would be a really nice peg right now. Let’s hold off. He would be a really nice peg to have on the board, because even if he doesn’t get 10, if he’s nine-ish or within 500k of nine, that’s a really nice spot to have, peg to have on the board. If your Connor, as you come to the negotiating table, Connor deserves a significant, I mean, relatively speaking, a significant step above Kempe in his ultimate AAV.”
NHLRumors.com Note
There will be a lot of big-time free agents next year in 2026. However, as we saw in 2025, many of them stayed home, as these teams have an advantage with the salary cap increase. But as we see with every negotiation and free agent class, the person who signs first sets the market for other players. This will be the case if Kempe signs for Connor. If you look at comparables, Connor is a better player than Kempe, and both could get $10 million, considering how desperate both the Winnipeg Jets and Los Angeles Kings would be to lose either player.
It will be interesting to see how these negotiations play out.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.
