The Jets Are Giving Tyrel Bauer Another Chance to Find Game

Sometimes a two-year contract doesn't mean a player has arrived. Sometimes it means a team isn't ready to give up on him. That's probably the way to look at the Winnipeg Jets' new deal with Tyrel Bauer. The 24-year-old defenceman has signed a two-year, $1.75-million contract, but this isn't a case of Winnipeg suddenly deciding Bauer is ready to become an NHL regular.

The Jets seem far from giving up on the young blueliner.

The contract is actually a pretty good indication of where things stand. Bauer's deal is two-way for the 2026-27 season and becomes one-way in 2027-28. In other words, the Jets are giving themselves some flexibility while giving Bauer something important: another couple of years to prove he belongs. Last season, Bauer played 52 regular-season games for the Manitoba Moose, recording one goal and four assists. He also picked up 110 penalty minutes.

Those aren't numbers that jump off the page, particularly for a defenceman who is trying to establish himself as an NHL player. But not every defenceman is being developed to score. Bauer's game has always been built more around the physical side. There is value in having a defenceman who isn't afraid to make life uncomfortable for opposing forwards. The trick, of course, is getting enough of everything else into his game to make that physicality useful at the NHL level.

The challenge facing Bauer now is translating his game to NHL speed.

The Jets will probably send him back to the Moose to start the coming season. That isn't necessarily bad news. At 24, Bauer needs to get some bigger minutes. He needs to be put into situations where he can make decisions with the puck, defend against good players and figure out how to translate his physical game to the professional level.

The one-way portion of his contract in 2027-28 is the interesting part. It doesn't guarantee Bauer will be in Winnipeg by then. But it does suggest the organization sees enough in him to make a longer-term commitment while keeping the immediate financial risk fairly modest.

That's often how development works. A young player gets a little closer, doesn't quite make it, goes back to the minors, works on his game and gets another opportunity. Sometimes that second or third chance is the one that sticks. Bauer has already spent considerable time in the Jets' organization. Now he has two more seasons to make a case.

Winnipeg is making a pretty reasonable gamble on Bauer.

For Bauer, it's another opportunity to show that being a tough defenceman is only the beginning of the story. If he can add enough puck-moving ability and defensive consistency to the physical game, there might still be an NHL player in there.

And that's what the next two years are really about.