The Winnipeg Jets are set for a Stanley Cup victory. Why you ask? Incredible Draft Choices
Every team can make the easy draft picks. No brains were used when Edmonton took Connor McDavid 1st overall in the 2016 Entry Draft. Mutual thoughts on the Jets decision to draft Patrik Laine 2nd overall. These picks wouldn’t be reversed by any team, and just by flipping through a hockey magazine could be chosen. Ninety percent of the time, these picks will be huge parts of their teams franchise for decades to come. (Yes Nail Yakupov, you are an exception, and no we don’t mean exceptional…) These picks aren’t what will win you Stanley Cups. These picks are the foundation of a huge puzzle. Edmonton has shown you can have as much top end talent as you want, but without the depth to compliment it, good luck winning. As the Jets continue through their rebuild, they continue to muster huge selections late in drafts when even the biggest hockey fans fall asleep.
Nicolas Petan was always a hockey star. No defense tandem has ever been able to stop his offensive output. After a 120 point season with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks, he could have guaranteed himself a spot at the top of the 2013 Draft. 29 NHL clubs thought otherwise. A small 5′ 9″ frame overlooked his incredible skill set. The Winnipeg Jets decided enough was enough and took Petan with the 45th selection. Since then Petan has had two more 100+ seasons in junior, a long with a split year between the Jets, and the Manitoba Moose, where he led his NHL affiliate in points per game. He’s left NHL management stunned, looking at their scouting staff thinking “Why’d we let this guy go?”.
JC Lipon will never prove he should be a 1st Round Pick, but the poor man’s Brendan Gallagher has all the tools to become the legit modern day fourth line winger. He also has a scoring pedigree, having an 89 point season in junior. All this in a third round pick.
Connor Hellebuyck is another one of the Jets draft pick steals. He was a 5th Round Pick from the 2012 draft, and will be the future of the Jets franchise in net. He’s already dominated international competition for Team USA at the World Championship, and has showed resilience in huge games.
Trades have helped as well
The acquisitions of Marko Dano, Joel Armia, and Brendan Lemieux will all add up in the Jets rebuild, as their scouting staff will continue to try and find future Stanley Cup winners beyond the limits of the fairway.