Winnipeg Jets Number Ten Prospect: Jansen Harkins
Some folks in these neck of the woods don’t think too highly of them, but the Winnipeg Jets boast one of the best prospect groups in the National Hockey League. What General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has done in his time with the franchise is remarkable, even more so considering the state of the minor league system when he took over.
We’ve covered some ground in the past few weeks related to the Jets’ prospects but over the next few days, Hockey at the Forks will be ranking and counting down the ten best prospects in the Jets system. Today we start with the #10 player on our list, freshly drafted Jansen Harkins.
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Many draft projections had Harkins as a first round player this year and Cheveldayoff scooped him up with the 47th overall pick when he fell to the Jets in the second round of the draft this year. Harkins had 20 goals and 59 assists for the Western Hockey League’s Prince George Cougars last season and also played for Canada at the World Under-18 Hockey Championships.
After drafting Harkins, Cheveldayoff noted how impressive it is for any player to be a point per game in the WHL in their draft year. He also highlighted Harkins ability to play a two-way game with a high hockey IQ.
Harkins is still a long ways from the National Hockey League and has a ways to go in his development, but it is easy to start to wonder how high his potential is. Harkins has shown he can be an impressive playmaker already in junior hockey and the fact he has already bought into playing a two-way game bolds well for his future moving forward. His father Todd was a former NHLer and currently Jansen’s general manager in Prince George and you’d have to think that son has heard from father what it takes to make the NHL.
Harkins will be a player to keep an eye on over the next few years as he continues his development in Prince George. After his breakout 2014-15 season, we’ll start to see more of what kind of player he is over his next few seasons of junior hockey.
Tomorrow, co-editor Andrei Lutz will break down the number nine player on our list.