The Winnipeg Jets currently have 21 drafted and developing skaters in various leagues and levels who could one day work their way up to the big club. Ten of them are currently with the Manitoba Moose while 11 are scattered around the Canadian Hockey League, college and European clubs.
To help you keep tabs, we are checking in on the kids each month over the course of the season.
The playoffs have arrived for several of the organization’s top prospects, which provides a chance to see how they perform under increased pressure. Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and his staff will be pleased by the early returns.
Let’s start in the Western Hockey League with the top forward in the system, Brayden Yager, who has led his Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 2-0 first-round series lead over the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The dynamic 20-year-old centre had two goals and two assists in those two victories after putting up 52 points (14G, 38A) in 33 regular-season games with the club. Yager also had 30 points (11G, 19A) in 21 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors prior to a mid-season trade and also served as captain of the Canadian World Junior club.
Memo to Manitoba hockey fans: Games 3 and 4 are set for Tuesday and Wednesday at Tundra Oil & Gas Place in Virden, where the fourth-place Hurricanes will be trying to sweep the fifth-place Wheat Kings (whose home rink in Brandon is not available).
Yager is an exciting piece of the Jets future and would likely join the NHL club once his playoff run is over.
The Jets have two other players in the ’Dub.
Forward Markus Loponen (5th round, 2024) is with the Victoria Royals, who are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and have a 2-0 lead over the No. 7 Tri-City Americans. The 18-year-old Finn is having a nice rookie season in North America with 44 points (19G, 25A) in 65 games. He hasn’t hit the scoresheet yet in the playoffs.
Forward Connor Levis (7th round, 2023) is on the Vancouver Giants, who are the No. 6 seed and trail the No. 3 Spokane Chiefs 2-0. The 20-year-old, who has yet to sign a contract and could become a free agent this summer, has a goal and an assist through two playoffs games after racking up 56 points (23G, 33A) in 64 regular-season games
Turning to the Ontario Hockey League, the Jets have four skaters playing meaningful spring hockey.
Forward Colby Barlow (1st round, 2023) is off to a sizzling start with the No. 4 ranked Oshawa Generals, scoring four goals and adding an assist through the first two games of their series against the No. 5 Brampton Steelheads, which is tied 1-1. Barlow, 20, got off to a miserable start this year and wasn’t even invited to World Junior selection camp. He tore it up in the second half and still finished with 61 points (32G, 29A) in 62 regular-season games.
Forward Kevin He (4th round, 2024) shattered his career highs with 75 points (36G, 39A) in 62 regular-season games with the Niagara Ice Dogs. The 18-year-old from Beijing had a goal and an assist in Game 1 against the No. 2 ranked Barrie Colts, which his seventh-ranked squad lost.
Forward Kieron Walton (6th round, 2024) had a monster regular season with the Sudbury Wolves, more than doubling his previous offensive bests with 92 points (38G, 54A) in 66 games to finish ninth in OHL scoring. He already has four playoff points in two games (1G, 3A), but his team, which is the No. 6 seed, trails 2-0 against the No. 3 Kingston Frontenacs.
Forward Jacob Julien (5th round, 2023) saw his regular-season production dip from 78 points a year ago to 54 this season (11G, 43A) on a deep London Knights team, but the 20-year-old has chipped in with three helpers in a pair of playoff wins for his No. 1 ranked team over the No. 8-ranked Owen Sound Attack.
Looking south of the border to college, the Jets will be represented at the upcoming Frozen Four in St. Louis by two prospects who will actually face each other in the semifinal on April 10.
Forward Zach Nehring (3rd round, 2023) is on Western Michigan, which punched its ticket for the first time in school history with a win Sunday over UMass. The 20-year-old from North Dakota had a terrific first season with 30 points (13G, 17A) in 40 games.
Defenceman Garrett Brown (4th round, 2022) is with the University of Denver, which won the national championship last year with Brown watching from the sidelines after suffering a season-ending torn ACL just eight games into his campaign. The 20-year-old shutdown defenceman played all 41 games this year with two goals and five assists.
Heading overseas, the Jets have two prospects to keep an eye on.
Forward Dmitry Rashevsky (5th round, 2021) is on Dynamo Moscow in the KHL, who are up 2-1 in their quarterfinal series against SKA. The 24-year-old, who the Jets would love to bring to North America as early as this summer, has been held without a point through three playoff games after putting up 40 (19G, 21A) in 65 regular-season contests.
Defenceman Alfons Freij (2nd round, 2024) had his year come to an end this past weekend as his club team was eliminated. The 19-year-old, who was the other trade piece from the Los Angeles Kings for Pierre-Luc Dubois (along with Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari), had eight points (2G, 6A) in 29 games with IF Bjorkloven of the top Swedish men’s league and five points (2G, 3A) in five games with the junior club. He’s under contract for one more year in Sweden.
Finally, it’s been a rough season for the Manitoba Moose. There will be no playoffs for the AHL club, which is 23-36-5 with eight games remaining. Here’s a snapshot of how the prospects have fared, ranked in order of draft year and position.
– G Thomas Milic (5th round, 2023): He’s bounced between the AHL and ECHL this year with 18 appearances in each league. Milic has gone 11-5-2 with a 1.82 goals-against-average and a .935 save percentage with the Norfolk Admirals, but just a 5-10-3 record, a 3.45 goals-against-average and an .875 save percentage with the Moose.
– F Brad Lambert (1st round, 2022): His sophomore year has been a struggle with just 33 (5G, 28A) in 55 games after putting up 55 points (21G, 34A) in 64 games as an AHL rookie last year. The 21-year-old, who has one assist in five games with the Jets this season, will likely be called up once the Moose season ends to serve as one of the extra “Black Aces.”
– D Elias Salomonsson (2nd round, 2022): Winnipeg’s top blue-line prospect has been one of the real bright spots with the team despite missing 19 games earlier in the year due to injury. He has 23 points (5G, 18A) in 45 contests this year as a rookie and will also get a call up to the big club in the near future for the playoffs — and maybe even a regular-season game or two.
– F Danny Zhilkin (3rd round, 2022): After registering just one assist through the first quarter of the year, Zhilkin is up to three goals and three assists through 45 games.
– F Fabian Wagner (6th round, 2022): Maybe the best story of the year for the Moose. After parts of four years with Linkopings HC in the top Swedish men’s league, in which he didn’t score a single goal over 87 combined games, Wagner joined the Moose in November and didn’t light the lamp in his first 31 games. Incredibly, that was followed by a stretch of seven goals in seven games by the 20-year-old, who suddenly looks like a legitimate prospect. He has 10 points (7G, 3A) in 42 games this year.
– G Dom DiVincentiis (7th round, 2022): After beginning the year in the ECHL, where he posted a 15-5-0 record with a 2.97 goals-against-average and .896 save percentage, the rookie is actually have a nice season despite the overall Moose struggles. He is 11-9-3 with a 2.94 goals-against-average and .905 save percentage in the AHL.
– F Chaz Lucius (1st round, 2021): Lucius had nine points (3G, 6A) through 25 games this year but has now been shut down indefinitely for undisclosed reasons. The injury-plagued skater was last reported by the team a couple weeks ago to be consulting medical officials about his future. That certainly sounded ominous.
– F Nikita Chibrikov (2nd round, 2021): A season-ending injury in January derailed a terrific year which included two goals and an assist in four games with the Jets and 18 points (7G, 11A) in 30 Moose games.
– D Tyrel Bauer (6th round, 2020): Bauer has two assists in 52 games this year along with 101 penalty minutes.
– D Simon Lundmark (2nd round, 2019): The 24-year-old from Sweden, who had a nice training camp with the Jets, has 14 points (4G, 10A) in 59 games so far this season.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
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Mike McIntyre
Reporter
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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