Happy NHL Entry Draft Day to all those who celebrate. Personally, this is one of my favourite parts of the year.
The Winnipeg Jets are entering the draft with 7 selections:
1st Round Pick - #14 (WPG) 1st Round Pick - #30 (NYR) 2nd Round Pick - #55 (STL via NYR) 3rd Round Pick - #75 (CBJ) 4th Round Pick - #99 (ARZ) 6th Round Pick - #175 (WPG) 7th Round Pick - #207 (WPG)
There is a lot of speculation on who the Jets should select with some of those picks, mostly focusing on the first three picks there. Lets have a bit of a look at those first three picks first. Before we do that, we have to identify if the Jets need to draft based on their needs, or is they go for the best player available.
What are the Jets needs? Lets look at each position.
Center: Cole Perfetti, C/RW, 20 Morgan Barron, C/LW, 23 David Gustafsson, C, 22 Chaz Lucius, C, 19
Wingers: Daniel Torgersson, LW/RW, 20 Nikita Chibrikov, RW, 19 Dmitri Rashevsky, RW, 21
Left Defense: Ville Heinola, LD, 21 Dylan Samberg, LD, 23 Declan Chisholm, LD, 22 Dmitri Kuzmin, LD, 19
Right Defense: Leon Gawanke, RD, 23 Jonathan Kovacevic, RD, 24
I think each one of these players has a pretty good chance at making the NHL someday. Sure, some may not, injuries may get in the way, development may stall, who knows. But as of today, I believe these are all future NHL players.
The glaring need here is on the wing. Chibrikov and Torgersson look like they could make it, and may even have some higher ceilings. The rest of the wingers in the system are aging and not looking like they will amount to much. Now, Morgan Barron, Cole Perfetti, or any other center may be a winger at the NHL level, and that is perfectly fine.
So, I would say wingers are the biggest need of the prospect pool, but right-handed defenseman are right up there too. I think the Jets might look for a scoring winger, and/or a mobile defenseman in the first round of the draft. So...who might be available?
Some names to look out for with the 14th overall pick, in terms of a scoring winger, include Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Jimmy Snuggerud, Danila Yurov, and more. Just some names to keep an eye out for there, and as for those right shot defenders, there isn't much there for the taking this high in the draft, unless Simon Nemec or David Jiricek magically fall all the way down, which is less likely that the Coyotes winning the cup next year...
As for 30th overall, I could see the Jets opting to take a guy like Mattias Havelid if they opt for a defenseman, or they could go with a very non-Jets like move and select Lane Hutson, who has incredible talent, but lacks a lot of size. They could also go with Luca Del Bel Belluz or Liam Ohgren if they go for a forward.
Those are just some names to look out for. Obviously, those are more than likely wrong, and every person reading this will have a different opinion on who is the best, as well as who the Jets should take.
Here is a bit of a research-based question that Ross77 asked me, based on a tweet I had yesterday
Other selections:
β Jacob Billington (@JacobBillingt10) July 7, 2022
Chaz Lucius: 0 (0GP)
Cole Perfetti: 2 (18GP)
Ville Heinola: 1 (25GP)
Kristian Vesalainen: 2 (70GP)
Patrik Laine: 176 (407GP)
Logan Stanley: 2 (95GP)
Ross77 wanted to know what team, since 2015, has drafted the most combined goals. I want each of you to take a guess, without looking it up. I will release an article tomorrow about the 1st round picks the Jets made, as well as the answer to this question.
With the Jets 2.0 draft history, they have taken 8 forwards in the first round, and 4 defenseman. Most of these picks have been successful, with the Jets drafting
Laine 2nd Scheifele 7th Trouba and Ehlers 9th Perfetti 10th Morrissey 13th Connor 17th Lucius 18th Heinola 20th Vesalainen 24th Roslovic 25th
Looking at this list, there isn't a ton to complain about on the surface. Each of the picks in the top-17 of the draft have turned out to be elite players, with Perfetti right on track with that. Trouba and Morrissey may not be defined as elite by most, but they are both really important to their teams, and I would call them good picks still.
Below that, with Lucius, Heinola, Vesalainen and Roslovic, things don't look as good at the end of the 1st round. Heinola is on his way to being a great defenseman (if he ever gets the chance in Winnipeg), and Lucius, we are still waiting to see more of. But with Vesalainen and Roslovic, the Jets certainly could have gotten some better value in those picks. With Vesalainen, selected 24th, some picks to follow in the next 15 picks include: Jake Ottinger (26th), Eeli Tolvanen (30th), Nic Hague (34th), and certainly Jason Robertson (39th). Sure, hindsight is always a completely different story, but there were definitely some better picks, and with Roslovic, drafted 25th, he has been a good player, maybe not worth a 1st, but definitely not near the bust territory.
For second round picks, the Jets haven't seen too much success come out of there, yet. Nick Petan and Jansen Harkins are the only two to really have an NHL career after being drafted in the 2nd round by the Jets, with Eric Comrie just getting his started. Some of the more recent picks have been looking promising, like Dylan Samberg, David Gustafsson, Daniel Torgersson and Nikita Chibrikov.
For the rest of the rounds, I will just be highlighting some of the important picks the Jets have made:
3rd Rounders: Adam Lowry, whether you love him or hate him, has been a very serviceable bottom 6 center. He gets overplayed, but is a good asset to have if used right. (539GPt, 168P)
Jonathan Kovacevic looks like he could take the step into the NHL, but it may be tough for him to get into the roster with so many other young guys battling. Not a bad pick with a 3rd round pick though.
Nathan Smith looked like a pretty good pick, up until he told the Jets he would not be signing with them, and was then shipped off to Arizona for a 4th along with Brian Little's contract.
4th Round Picks:
Andrew Copp has been incredible value for a 4th round pick. The Jets turned the 4th into a first, Morgan Barron, and a second, while getting a lot of serviceable games out of him. Great selection for the Jets.
Copp is the onlyo Jets player selected in the 4th round to record more than 11 games.
5th Round Picks:
Connor Hellebuyck has been one of the leagues best goalies since coming into his own. Selected in the 5th round, that is some good scouting. Hellebuyck has been a franchise goaltender for many years, and while some people are saying that moving him is the best move for Winnipeg, it is nothing to do with a lack of talent.
Tucker Poolman is an NHL defenseman, just signing a 4 year deal with Vancouver. He is a 3rd pairing guy, who won't give you much offense.
Leon Gawanke is in almost the exact same position as Jonathan Kovacevic. He is a great defenseman, but there is so much plugging up the defense depth chart, I have to wonder if he makes his way through. He deserves it, but it will be hard.
Declan Chisholm, yet another defenseman, has a better chance of making it into the Jets lineup than some other defenseman. I think once the Jets move out some of their current NHL D, Chisholm will be one of the first to earn a spot.
6th and 7th Round Picks:
Mason Appleton was a 6th round pick, and has become a pretty good 3rd line winger. Selected in the expansion draft, then traded back to the Jets, it seems as if the Jets have a soft spot for him.
Sami Niku was once a very promising young talent. The closer he got to the NHL the better he looked, but he couldn't translate his game, and was eventually claimed off of waivers by Montreal.
That's a bit of a highlight on what to expect from the Jets this weekend, let me know your thoughts, and I hope you all have a great Draft Day!
Jacob