Christmas has arrived early in Bomberland.
The week began with star running back Brady Oliveira agreeing to a three-year contract extension, and it ended with another major piece of the offence and fellow Winnipegger in receiver Nic Demski putting pen to paper on a two-year deal.
“This is obviously where I wanted to be. For them to reach out as early as they did was awesome,” said Demski, who signed on Thursday and spoke with media over Zoom on Friday. He was scheduled to hit free agency in February.
“We weren’t too far off so things kind of happened quick when they started going.”
It still hasn’t been confirmed who will be calling the plays on offence for the two local products in 2026, but the Blue Bombers are expected to replace Jason Hogan with Tommy Condell. Condell is a long-time CFL assistant who spent the last two seasons as the offensive co-ordinator of the Ottawa Redblacks.
Most importantly, Condell has previous ties with Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros as the two worked together in Hamilton when they made it to the 2014 Grey Cup.
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Blue Bombers star receiver Nic Demski signed a two-year contract extension with the club on Thursday.
It would also be a return to Winnipeg for Condell as he was hired by Jeff Reinebold back in 1997 to be the team’s special teams co-ordinator.
Demski has heard good things about the potential hire from both Collaros and Dru Brown — a former Bomber who now starts at QB in Ottawa.
“He’s had great years. It would be fun to work with him if that is the case,” said Demski.
“Obviously, I speculate as much as you guys. I’m just waiting to see confirmation, but I’m pumped up to see what the door could open.”
“This is obviously where I wanted to be. For them to reach out as early as they did was awesome.”
No matter who’s wearing the headset, they can expect more big things out of Demski.
The 32-year-old has led the team in receiving the past two years and is coming off his third consecutive 1,000-yard receiving campaign in 2025, finishing with 67 receptions for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games.
The former Manitoba Bison missed the final two regular-season contests and the East semifinal loss in Montreal with a hamstring injury.
Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Demski racked up a third consecutive 1,000-yard receiving campaign, despite missing the last three games of the season due to a hamstring injury.
Demski is seventh in receiving yards in franchise history with 5,560. He initially joined the Bombers in 2018 as a free agent after three seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I think early on in my career, I was always athletic enough and being able to be a playmaker and all that good stuff, but I never was a holistic pro,” admitted Demski.
“Honestly, until I came to Winnipeg and kind of saw how everyone else was doing it in front of me, to see them get into their routines and see how they handled their bodies and expand their football IQ, they definitely led the way for me for that. I followed the path and it brought me here… I feel like I can even take my game to a higher level. I’m really excited about that.”
The Bombers will also need to find a way to take their game to a higher level. Nobody was happy to go 10-8 and miss out on playing in the Grey Cup for the first time since 2018.
“Obviously, the last three we went to didn’t go in our favour but, at the end of the day, we have a lot of good football left in Winnipeg and we know it,” said Demski.
“You see management getting on guys fast to get back here and, as you can see, guys want to come back. We have a lot of good football left to be played and a lot of guys are going to be motivated to fix what happened last year and not try to get stuck in the past.”
DEMSKI ON SCHOEN
It remains to be seen if Dalton Schoen will ever play again.
The star pass catcher tore the ACL in his left knee in this year’s Labour Day Classic. To make the injury even more devastating, it was the same ACL he tore the year before.
Demski was asked on Friday if he’s chatted with Schoen about his potential future.
The Kansas State standout exploded onto the CFL scene in 2022 when he made 70 catches for 1,441 yards and a whopping 16 touchdowns. Schoen’s scheduled to become a free agent in February.
Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter
“I talk to him a bunch. It’s funny, though, because we haven’t really even talked about that,” said Demski.
“I think with his world right now, with back-to-back ACL injuries, he’s just trying to become healthy and trying to become Dalton again. Injuries alone take such a toll on individuals, but with ACL injuries like that where you involve surgeries and seven to nine months rehab processes, it’s just crazy. So I don’t even know if he’s thought about it, to be honest.
“My personal opinion, I know Dalton’s a competitor, he’s a dog and he loves this game, he respects the crap out of this game. So I can see him making a push. I think it’s just a matter of what the timeline’s like and where he’s at mentally and physically.”
winnipegfreepress.com/taylorallen
Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.
Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.