The Winnipeg Jets drafting and development has been a key to their success, and I see no reason why that will stop any time soon. Sure, the draft picks will be lower, but whatever.
The Winnipeg Jets have an impeccable record with first round picks, and Kevin Cheveldayoff and crew deserve a lot of the credit. You can’t just ignore that.
You can’t ignore Cheveldayoff, either. The man has been building a winner everywhere he goes. He won consecutive AHL championships with the Chicago Wolves, who were the farm team of the Atlanta Thrashers.
After that? He became the assistant to Stan Bowman. Bowman, as you know, won a few Cups with the Blackhawks. Cheveldayoff didn’t even have to move cities. He then got the nod for the new iteration of the Jets, and I see no reason he should leave.
Look, Cheveldayoff seems to have hit well on his big trades. I know this is just a season review, but hey, it takes years to build a winner. Let’s start with this season, though. The main bit? The Paul Stastny trade.
Did they give up too much? Well, I’m not sure. We’ll find out eventually. But Stastny was good for the Jets, and he wasn’t the reason they were booted. He saw the chance to improve their odds and he took it. It didn’t work out. Oh well.
Tyler Myers was acquired via trade with Buffalo. Also in that Myers deal? The pick that turned into Jack Roslovic.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele, Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey and Kyle Connor were all first round picks. All, for now, hits. Connor Hellebuyck was a fifth rounder!
Mathieu Perreault and Brandon Tanev were undrafted free agents. Perreault is a big hit for a UFA. Look, there was no award for GM of the Year. We all knew that was going to George McPhee.
But hey, in a non-expansion year? I think it would’ve been reasonable to expect Cheveldayoff to win. Look, you know when a team has a bad GM. You know when your team has a good one, too, and Cheveldayoff is a good one.
He’s built a winner, and I fully expect him to maintain one. Let’s not forget, he also is the one that hired Paul Maurice.