Winnipeg Jets Place Forward on Waivers Hours After Signing Record-Breaking Kyle Connor Extension

After losing Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency this past off-season, ahead of the Winnipeg Jets 2025/26 campaign, the team announced a historic extension for superstar winger Kyle Connor.

The deal locks in one of the franchise's best ever players for quite some time to come, and given how good this team was a season ago, they're optimistic that they can once again be top contenders in the Western Conference this season.

Now however, the team have made a surprising move, as Elliotte Friedman revealed on Thursday that they have officially placed talented forward David Gustafsson on waivers.

The 25-year old was a second-round pick of the Jets back in 2018, and while he's gotten his chances in the NHL thus far, he hasn't exactly thrived, as he has just 6 goals and 20 points in 146 games played thus far.

Standing at 6-foot-2, the Swedish forward has certainly earned his opportunities in the NHL, but without much production to go alongside it, it's easy to see why the Jets couldn't fit him in to their opening night roster.

That opening night matchup comes on Thursday at home against the fierce division rival Dallas Stars, and with their roster locked in and a star player locked up for the foreseeable future, the Jets made the surprise move to waive Gustafsson, and if he passes through waivers, he'll once again become a key piece for the Manitoba Moose in the AHL.