Perfetti finding success with Connor, Scheifele on Winnipeg Jets’ top line

Last season, Winnipeg’s top line was Scheifele flanked by Connor and Gabe Vilardi, who’s taken Perfetti’s place on the second line.

Early in the 2026-27 campaign, Connor and Perfetti have been Winnipeg’s scoring duo, accounting for eight of the team’s 12 goals.

Connor’s two against the Avs included the game-winner with one minute left. The tally extended the Jets’ (3-0-1) season-opening point streak to four games.

Perfetti’s goal against Colorado wasn’t achieved with finesse. He went to the front of the net and the puck hit his skate and went in past Mackenzie Blackwood after a point shot by Dylan Samberg.

That’s just fine with Connor.

“He does a lot of things well,” he said of Perfetti. “You see the (goal Wednesday), he just wins body position. It’s such an underrated thing for a player — to get to the net and find that lane.

“He makes plays and he’s smart, too. It’s real good. He’s adjusted great.”

Perfetti, a 24-year-old forward from Whitby, Ont., was selected by the Jets with the 10th pick overall in the 2020 NHL draft. He became a regular on the roster in 2022-23, but was hit by injuries and has only played 82 games once in 2024-25.

Last season, he missed 14 games with a high-ankle sprain. The five-foot-11, 185-pound product of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit started slow in his return, with just three goals over his first 27 games of the campaign.

Now times have changed for the better.

“It’s fantastic,” Perfetti said. “Obviously, it was a long summer so I had time to heal and really get my body into the shape that I wanted it to be. I spent a lot of time in the gym and on the ice and worked on a lot of things. It’s nice to know that it is off to a good start and paying off right now.

“It’s nice to get that opportunity. It’s always great to move up and get more and that’s what every player strives for.”

Now in his sixth NHL season, Perfetti has 62 goals and 163 points across 294 regular-season games. In July, he signed a five-year, US$30-million extension that takes him through the 2030-31 season.

With points in all four of Winnipeg’s games, he’s having a career-best start to the season.

Connor leads the team with five goals and seven points. Perfetti is next with his three goals and six points.

Scheifele picked up his first two points of the season against the Avalanche, assisting on one of Connor’s two goals and Perfetti’s marker.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel said he gave Perfetti the opportunity on the top line for a variety of reasons, including his skill set and hockey IQ.

“(Scheifele and Connor) can really help people play well because they have the puck a lot, but they are also hard to play with,” Arniel said. “It takes some time.

“In the exhibition games, I know Cole was getting frustrated because he didn’t know where to go, but K.C. and Mark spent time with him. When they’re here, they’ll tell him to go there, those types of things — being on the same page. Now he’s got them figured out.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2026.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Perfetti finding success with Connor, Scheifele on Winnipeg Jets’ top line

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