The Winnipeg Jets, like every other team, will be making their selections from afar this year.
The two-day NHL Draft starts on Friday and the league changed up the draft format as teams won’t make their picks in person and will instead make their selections virtually like they did during the COVID years.
With the Winnipeg Sea Bears playing at the Canada Life Centre on Friday and the Jets dressing room unavailable, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will make the Jets picks from a boardroom in their corporate office.
He said their draft process has changed greatly over the past decade with the use of algorithms and analytics. While he didn’t give any insight into their draft board or say who or what position they’re targeting, he did reveal some of the factors they’ll consider when making a pick.
“Size does get factored into it,” the Jets G.M. said. “You don’t want to overestimate something or another but there are different factors that maybe if it is a smaller player. Where do they rise in some of the other areas — or vice versa.
“One of the things that I hate to hear in the scouting meetings when you’re talking about big players, ‘Well he skates well for his size.’ No, no, no, no, no…No. Don’t say that.”
After winning the President’s Trophy as the top team in the regular season, the Jets won’t make a pick until the 28th slot. They have only five selections in the seven-round draft and have no picks in the second and fourth round.
There’s no generational type player available this year and outside the top four or five players, it’s thought to be wide open. Cheveldayoff will rely heavily on his scouting staff and analytics department. There’s always a few surprises and he said there’s no hard science in making selections.
“Sometimes you’re sitting at the table and you have to audibly gasp or hold your gasp in because someone takes a player you may have in your second round or something and they take him in the first,” said Cheveldayoff.
“I think that’s the art form of scouting. It’s not the scientific form of it. If there was a science to it, then everyone would be a lot more right than wrong.”
Cheveldayoff also spoke about the recent addition of three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews. They expect to officially introduce their newest player in early July once the contract is registered with the league after free agency begins on July 1.
Cheveldayoff said it’s Toews leadership that really stands out and before the terms were agreed upon, the Jets leaders jumped at the chance to try and get Toews to become a Jet.
“He’s obviously very, very excited,” Cheveldayoff said. “He’s on board with both feet, so to speak. And he was talking about the testing. He was talking about what are the standards, what are we trying to uphold here.
“When this started to become more real, I reached out to our captains and said look, we’re gonna have a zoom here with JT. Can I give him your numbers to call? And like within seconds all the guys were texting back absolutely.”
The NHL Draft starts at 6:00 p.m. Manitoba time on Friday.