Figured it was time for a new article to outline any Winnipeg Jets related news that has occurred since the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup. Since there is a lack of things to talk about if I solely focus on the Jets, I will also include some other NHL news through out the article. I will also keep updating the section about the ongoing draft to keep people up-to-date about any Winnipeg news or other notable news items.
Let’s start of with the NHL Awards Night, which saw the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon pick up his first Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s Most Valuable player. The Winnipeg Jets picked up some hardware as well, with Connor Hellebuyck picking up both the Vezina & William M. Jennings Trophy. Since the masked man last won the Vezina Trophy during the “Covid season”, it was nice that Connor was actually able to attend a ceremony this time around.
The Jets’ starting goaltender almost swept the voting by NHL GM’s by getting 31 of 32 first place votes for the Vezina, which likely puts him in a prime position to grab the top tending spot for the US squad in the upcoming Four Nation Face Off. Bucky also got to pick up the Jennings Trophy for least goals against by a franchise and in his acceptance speech he acknowledged the contributions by fellow goalie Laurent Brossoit & his teammates as well as the fans at Canada Life Centre for playing a big role in the team’s regular season success.
To quote Illegal Curve, this is how they described Hellebuyck’s performance in the past regular season: “Of goalies who played more than 25 games during the 2023-24 campaign he had the second best save% at .921, the fourth best GAA at 2.39, he played the second most (60) of any goalie in the league and finished with the second most wins (37). And using goals saved above expected he finished in top spot with 33.1“
Other winners include Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes picking up the Norris, the Hawks’ Connor Bedard unsurprisingly winning the Calder (though the Wild’s Brock Faber gave him a good run), the Canucks’ Rick Tocchet edging out the Jets’ Rick Bowness & the Preds’ Andrew Brunette for the Jack Adams, the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov grabbing the Lady Byng, and the Avs’ MacKinnon also being named best player in the NHL by the NHLPA (Ted Lindsay Award).
When it comes to Roster Moves made by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to clarify next season’s roster, not much has been done. The Winnipeg Jets did make one important move by locking up upcoming unrestricted free agent (UFA) Dylan DeMelo on a new deal with an average cap hit of $4.9M per season. Here is how our good friends at PuckPedia outline the contract:
With DeMelo now under contract, the Jets’ defense can return 5 out of the 6 starters from last season with Brenden Dillon about to hit UFA status as of July 1st. With Ville Heinola waiting in the wings to possibly fill that open LHD spot, has Chevy stopped making moves to improve the team or does he have more plans over the summer?
BREAKING NEWS!!! The Winnipeg Jets have decided to buyout the final year of defenseman Nate Schmidt’s contract. The move will save the team $3,233,333 in cap space this season, despite a $2,716,667 cap penalty for Schmidt. Next season, the franchise will have to deal with a $1,616,667 cap penalty but at least Wheeler’s $2.75M cap penalty will be off the books then. This season, Winnipeg will have $5,466,667 in dead cap due to those recent buyouts (as shown in PuckPedia’s graphic below), which would have come in handy to Chevy when filling out this season’s roster.
Currently, the Winnipeg Jets will have $11,211,309 in cap space with 11 forwards, 4 defensemen, and 1 goalie under contract on their NHL roster after Schmidt’s buyout. With those funds, the GM needs at least 2 more forwards, 3 defensemen, and a back up goalie. He does have cheap options for some of those spots (Gustafsson, Stanley, Heinola = approx. $2.75M combined), as well as RFA Cole Perfetti ($2.75-$3M range). That would leave the team with $5,461,309-$5,711,309 to spend on a right handed defenseman and a back up goaltender. But Chevy could have other moves in mind, so we will have to wait to see how he handles the start of Free Agency tomorrow.
Now we get to the NHL Entry Draft, which is going on as we speak. Typically, I am quite pumped about drafts but the lack of picks by our Winnipeg Jets has hampered that excitement. However, with the trade rumours surrounding speedy forward Nikolaj Ehlers and prospect Rutger McGroarty, I was still “forced” to watch the 3+ hours of the 1st round just in case Chevy made a move that netted an early selection. News is indicating that the Jets might have come close, as there were serious discussions with the Minnesota Wild about their 13th overall pick with McGroarty potentially going the other way. Alas, the Wild ended up seeing a player they really liked drop farther than they expected so the franchise ended up moving up to #12 instead to pick the defenseman with the highest offensive potential in the draft (Zeev Buium). Despite numerous trades occurring (mostly draft picks for draft picks), Winnipeg didn’t end up moving into the 1st round and that was probably the right decision unless they got an offer they couldn’t refuse.
When the Jets first selection (#37) finally rolled around, the two teams in front of them ended up taking big right-handed defensemen and that resulted in Chevy selecting a LHD in Alfons Freij with that pick. The 6’1″ 196 lbs Swede is known more for his offensive abilities, but has been projected as high as a top pairing defender if he can improve the defensive & physical aspects of his game. He is also currently playing on the right side of the ice, so that will give Winnipeg some flexibility on where they can expect him to break into the lineup in the future.
Here is a link to an article from The Hockey Writers talking about his strengths & weaknesses.
The draft is just entering the 4th round, so there is still some time before the Winnipeg Jets make another selection. Might as well fill in some time by looking at who was selected in the spots the Jets would have picked if they hadn’t made any trades previously.
The acquisition of Sean Monahan ended up costing the 26th overall pick and it flipped around a couple teams to end up with the Los Angeles Kings grabbing 6’2″ winger Liam Greentree. Winnipeg’s 2nd rounder was traded to the Nashville Predators for Nino Niederreiter, but was moved on the draft floor to the Philadelphia Flyers who took 6’3″ RD Spencer Gill. The Jets’ 3rd round selection was involved in the Tyler Toffoli trade with the New Jersey Devils and they ended up nabbing 6’3″ RW Herman Traff.
Currently waiting until the 123rd selection when the Winnipeg Jets will get to add another prospect to their pool. They also have one pick in each of the other three rounds, at this point.
Okay, the Jets made a trade to move up a bit (see below in Trade Section for more details) and ended up selecting Kevin He with the 109th pick.
Here is the pre-draft scouting article on the 5’11” Canadian winger.
With the 155th pick of the draft, the Jets selected 6′ center Markus Loponen of Finland.
Here is what one scout had to say about him:
Markus Loponen, LW: Loponen played a depth role for the Finns, mostly helping out in his own zone. And, honestly, he wasn’t really noticeable. From watching him play domestically, he struggled to adjust to changing situations in games and his effort level was all over the place. That felt like the same thing here, even if he showed spurts of real skill.
Since that wasn’t a glowing review, here is another perspective:
Loponen has a variety of different shot types he can utilize. His catch-and-release wrister in particular earned respect from our scouting staff, but his arsenal also includes a very competent inside leg release that he uses to surprise goalies even from longer distances. -EliteProspects 2024 NHL Draft Guide
Chevy finally heard the fans clamouring for big players and he delivered with the 187th selection of the draft when he opted for Kieron Walton. The 6’6″ C/LW has a lot of height to go along with a 211 lb frame at the young age of 18 and put up 43 pts in 65 games with Sudbury in the OHL in his pre-draft season.
Since the Winnipeg Jets traded their 7th round pick to move up in the 4th, I am not expecting them to make any more selections. But you never know, so will keep an eye out until the final player gets his childhood dream fulfilled by getting his name called by an NHL GM.
TRADE ACTION:
There has been a lot of movement by other teams and here are some of the more notable transactions to this point:
- OTT gets Linus Ullmark from BOS for Joonas Korpisalo, Mark Kastelic, & 25th overall (Dean Letourneau).
- WSH nabs Andrew Mangiapane from CGY for 2nd round pick (2025).
- UTAH obtains Mikhail Sergachev from TB for JJ Moser, Conor Geekie, and 2nd/7th round picks.
- UTAH trades for John Marino & 5th round pick from NJ for 2nd round pick (Mikhail Yegorov) & 2nd round pick (EDM’s 2025).
- LA acquires Tanner Jeannot from TB for 2nd round (2025) & 4th round (2024) picks.
- PIT gets Kevin Hayes & 2nd round (2025) from STL for future considerations.
- WSH now has Logan Thompson from VEG for two 3rd round picks (2024 & 2025).
- WPG trades 4th (123rd) & 7th (219th) picks to BUF for 4th (109th – Kevin He).
- VEG nets Alexander Holtz & goalie Akira Schmid from NJ for Paul Cotter & 3rd round pick (2025).
- TOR gains the rights to pending UFA Chris Tanev from DAL for their 7th round pick and Max Ellis (22 yr old undrafted prospect).
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