Note: It was an anticlimactic Expansion Draft last night in Seattle as almost all of their selections had been announced hours before the televised event kicked off in Washington State. The Jets lost effective third-line winger Mason Appleton who has been a draft and developed player since he was selected by the Jets in the sixth round of the 2015 draft.
Note II: Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is set to speak today at 2:30 PM ahead of the Draft. Update: Watch it in full here.
Note III: The NHL is expected to release the full 2021-22 schedule this evening at 5 PM CT so stay tuned as we bring you the full Jets calendar.
Note IV: With the expansion draft in the rearview mirror the trade freeze is set to lift this afternoon and of course the 2021 NHL Entry Draft gets underway with the 1st round on Friday night. We will have another special edition of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show which gets underway at 7 PM CT. Please join us here.
Note V: We also learned yesterday that the Moose will open the 2021-22 season on the road in Toronto and then play their home opener in Winnipeg six days later against the Griffins. The full AHL schedule is expected to be released on Friday.
Note VI: TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger with some interesting news about the CHL this morning and I looked at why this could be huge for the development of Jets 2020 1st rounder Cole Perfetti.
Jets draft coverage:
Sportsnet: Jets 2021 NHL Entry Draft Preview: Will Winnipeg target Carson Lambos? Ken gives you some thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s Entry draft (as an aside Ken will join us live tomorrow for our 1st round coverage on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show) and he makes an interesting comment at the end saying goalie prospect Arvid Holm will be in North America this upcoming season.
The Athletic Winnipeg: A Jets guide to the first round of the NHL Draft: Who could fall to them? Who should they want? (Paywall). Insight into the first round for Jets fans which is good since folks are going to be turning their attention to Friday’s first round of the NHL Draft once the Expansion Draft is over.
Jets news:
Global News: Appleton’s departure from Jets presents an opportunity. Leah looks at the opportunity which knocketh as a result of the selection of the Wisconsin product off the Jets roster last night.
The Athletic Winnipeg: Projecting the Jets lineup after the Kraken draft: Appleton goes, DeMelo stays, and would Ristolainen be a fit? (Paywall). Some interesting thoughts from Murat on how the Jets lineup could shape up and I agree that forwards (2 or 3) would seem to make sense for this group. Time to give prospects a shot and with Perfetti in no mans land between NHL/OHL next season it could make sense to give him a long audition. But the big questions remain on D.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Winnipeg Sun: Best-case scenario for Jets as Kraken takes Appleton, leaves DeMelo alone. Appleton had really rounded into a new piece for Winnipeg so his loss isn’t an easy one to stomach.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets lose Mason Appleton in expansion draft, keep blue line intact. (Paywall). As I said on Wednesday while this is the right player for them to lose given the state of the right side of their D, Appleton is still a heck of a story of hard work and perseverance.
Sportsnet: Jets avoid crisis with Seattle taking Appleton as focus turns to blue line. Ken gives you his thoughts on tonight’s selection by Seattle and how it impacts the local NHL club.
Jets video:
TSN: While Appleton loss stings, Jets relieved to not lose d-man. While the Winnipeg Jets were not keen on losing dependable winger Mason Appleton for nothing, they are somewhat relieved that an already depleted blueline didn’t get any thinner. TSN’s Sara Orlesky has more on the Jets decisions for the expansion draft.
