At 35, veteran forward Gustav Nyquist knows he has only so many more chances to chase a Stanley Cup.

Having skated in 863 NHL games, Nyquist also has 83 playoff games to his name but hasn’t won a round since helping the Columbus Blue Jackets achieve that feat before losing to the Lightning in 2020. 

He joined the Winnipeg Jets as a free agent on July 2, signing a one-year, $3.25 million deal in hopes that the Jets will give him the opportunity for a long playoff run. 

“I’ve played in a lot of playoffs but never won the Cup. That’s something that’s on your mind, probably a little bit more than in your younger days,” Nyquist told the Winnipeg Free Press on Tuesday.

“When you’re young, your first years in the league, you don’t realize how hard it is to go all the way, how few chances you actually get. That was a big part of the decision to join the Jets. They’ve shown to be such a good team for quite a while here, and now I’m obviously hoping to take that next step with them.” 

The Halmstad, Sweden native split the 2024-25 season between the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild. He started the campaign with the Predators, scoring nine goals and 21 points in 57 games as the team struggled out of the gate and never recovered as they finished third-last in the NHL.

He had just seven points in 22 games with Minnesota and zero points in six playoff games as the team bowed out in six games to the Vegas Golden Knights.

After last season, Nyquist knows he has more to give, as he isn’t far removed from having a career-high 75 points in 2023-24.

“I still feel young, legs feel good, and body feels good. Hopefully I can take that game [from two seasons ago] and bring that to Winnipeg,” said Nyquist.

“I want to contribute offensively as much as possible but just be an all-around good player.”

The Jets finished the 2024-25 season as the NHL’s regular-season champs, earning the Presidents’ Trophy with 116 points. They made it to the second round of the playoffs before losing in six games to the Dallas Stars.

Making the postseason in seven of the past eight seasons, the Jets have struggled to break through in the playoffs, with their pinnacle so far being a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2018.

Up until now, Nyquist has spent his entire NHL career in the United States, playing in Detroit, San Jose, Columbus, Minnesota and Nashville. He said he is looking forward experiencing playing in a Canadian market for the first time.

“I’m expecting the media around morning skate is going to be probably a little bit different than in Nashville,” he said. “Any time you play road games up in Canada you always see just how big hockey is. It’s going to be really cool to experience that.”