Note: The Jets made two important selections last night as they augmented their forward prospect depth with the additions of Rutger McGroarty with his first 1st round pick and Brad Lambert with his second 1st round selection on Thursday night. The evening concluded with Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff reflecting on day 1 of the draft and looking ahead to day 2.
Note II: The Jets start day 2 with one 2nd round pick, one 3rd round pick, one 6th round pick and one 7th round pick. Will they be able to continue their success from day 1? Might they be active on the trade front? Stay tuned to find out.
Jets news:
Sportsnet: Jets picks McGroarty, Lambert take unique paths to NHL Draft. Interestingly the 30th pick might be the NHL before the 14th selection given Lambert has more latitude and McGroarty will spend some time in college. Either way good additions to the prospect pool writes Wieber.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets take forwards McGroarty, Lambert in first round of NHL Draft. Scott gives you his thoughts on the Jets first night of the Draft from Montreal.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets steal Lambert with 30th pick. (Paywall). Word that pops out to me is “motivated”. Jets will have to hope that Lambert maintains that fire in his belly.
Winnipeg Free Press: McGroarty excited to join Jets. (Paywall). One of the knocks against the Jets is a lack of sandpaper who can also put the puck into the back of the net. The Lincoln, Nebraska product looks like he’ll be able to accomplish both tasks.
Lincoln Journal Star: McGroarty makes history, picked 14th by Winnipeg in NHL Draft. Pretty clear how much pride he takes in being from Nebraska and specifically Lincoln.
The Athletic: Who won round 1 of the NHL Draft? Which team performed the worst? Scott Wheeler weighs in. (Paywall). The Jets are once again listed as Winners by Wheeler who follows prospects as closely as anyone.
The Athletic: Winnipeg Jets’ NHL Draft 2022 picks, analysis and fits. (Paywall). Like Wheeler, Pronman also closely follows prospects and he provides his insight into the selections by Winnipeg. He also has an article on the best players available on day 2 of the Draft if you want some insight.
The Athletic Winnipeg: Inside how the Jets scouted and drafted Connor Hellebuyck. (Paywall). Great story from Murat on all the factors that went into the drafting of the Jets Vezina winner.
Draft news:
Winnipeg Free Press: Trio of Manitobans hear names called at NHL Draft. (Paywall). There was a lot of hope from Jets fans who told us they wanted to see one one (or more) of these Manitobans wearing a Jets jersey.
