Winnipeg Jets: Top Three Prospects to Watch in the 2021 Season
The Winnipeg Jets have a talented prospect pool that should set them up for success in the future. Here’s three rookies to keep an eye on in 2021.
It seems every year around the NHL each team has one rookie to watch out for in the new season. Every team has that one prospect that has all the hype around them to be the future of their team. The Winnipeg Jets are in a great situation regarding their young talent.
The Jets potentially have three rookies to watch out for in the upcoming season. Each of these young prospects has a different aspect of their game that can be an asset to a successful Jets team and can help them push for a Stanley Cup in the shortened 2021 campaign.
We’ve seen it many times before in the NHL, a top prospect can change a team’s fortunes around and bring a much needed new-look to a team. A young player may provide a spark in the lineup and cause a headache for opposing coaches to matchup against.
The Jets may have many prospects to keep an eye on for the future, but here are the top three Jets prospects to watch out for in 2021:
Cole Perfetti
We start off our list with the tenth overall pick in October’s NHL Entry Draft. The eighteen year old is an extremely talented player and he showed that last season when he had 37 goals and 74 assists in 61 games with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. That was good enough to rank him second in the OHL in points.
A couple of weeks ago, Perfetti put pen to paper and signed an entry level contract with the Jets worth an average annual value of $1,658,333. That contract alone shows how highly he is rated by the Jets.
Before the NHL campaign starts, Pefetti will be representing Canada in the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships. With some solid performances in the WJC, there is a good chance Perfetti could join the Jets right before the season starts.
The question involving Perfetti is can and will he make the jump to the NHL this season? There is no doubt that the eighteen year old is a star in the making and has the potential to be the next face of the Winnipeg Jets.
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Jets fans should keep a close eye on the young prospect’s development this season. It will be fun to watch how he performs against the best young players in the world later this month at the WJC and if he gets his NHL chance, it will be interesting to see how long it takes him to adapt his game against the world’s best.
Dylan Samberg
Now we turn our attention to a two-time NCAA Division One Ice Hockey Champion and an imposing young defenseman, Dylan Samberg.
The Jets second round pick of the 2017 draft, decided to forego his senior season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and signed with the Jets earlier back in April. Just like Perfetti, Samberg signed a huge entry level deal with the Jets with an AAV of $1,175,000.
Samberg has thrived playing big minutes for both UMD and the USA under-20 team. In his three years at the collegiate level he has had a +44 plus minus and 53 points in 2019 games.
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The Jets obviously rate Samberg as one of their top prospects and it will be interesting to take note of his development plan.
Samberg definitely has the potential to turn himself into a top-four NHL defensemen and he is one that Jets fans should watch in his first professional season.
Ville Heinola
This should come as no surprise to anyone who follows the Jets. Ville Heinola is definitely the top rookie to watch this upcoming season.
Out of the three players on this list, Heinola will probably have the biggest role out of the gate for the Jets. The Jets first round pick of the 2019 draft found himself in the Jets lineup at the start of last season and performed extremely well.
In eight games with Winnipeg in the early part of the 2019 campaign, Heinola had one goal and four assists and a +3 plus/minus. His performances turned heads around the NHL, but the Jets ultimately decided to loan him back to Finland for his development.
Heinola will also be competing with Perfetti at the 2021 WJC, but will be representing Finland. He will definitely be considered as Finland’s number one defenseman and will be looking to carry his team towards a gold medal.
In a small sample size, Heinola has shown that he has got what it takes to be a top defenseman at the NHL level. Heinola is definitely the Jets rookie of the year candidate and can take the NHL by storm this year.
One thing is for certain, the Jets have some extremely talented prospects in their system. Heinola, Samberg and Perfetti have the potential to be the future of the Jets organization and they should be extremely fun to watch in 2021.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Which prospect are you most excited to watch in 2021? Leave your comments below!
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*All Stats Provided by Elite Prospects*