Moose goalie tandem off to hot start

The Winnipeg Jets have taken a bit of an “out with the old, in with the new” approach this year, with recent draft picks such as Viggo Bjorck, Tyrel Bauer, Brad Lambert and Elias Salomonsson all on the current roster.

And there may be more where that came from.

Winnipeg has another dozen drafted and developing prospects getting valuable experience down on the farm with the Manitoba Moose right now, and 15 others skating in various junior, college and pro leagues around the globe.

The Free Press will check in on the kids on the second Tuesday of every month. Now, without further ado, here’s the first installment.

Manitoba Moose

Talk about a dream start to the season.

The American Hockey League club looked like a powerhouse this past weekend, sweeping the Chicago Wolves at Canada Life Centre by a combined score of 11-3.

And you know Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff must be smiling, given the contributions from several players who are on the cusp of making the jump to the NHL.

Let’s start in net, where the goaltending tandem of Dom DiVincentiis and Thomas Milic provided a rock-solid one-two punch.

First up was DiVincentiis, who got the party started with a 36-save shutout on Saturday. The seventh-round pick from 2022 came close to cracking the Jets out of camp, only for the waiver claim of Clay Stevenson to bump him off the roster. No doubt he was disappointed, but he’s obviously gone down with the right approach.

Milic, a fifth-round pick from 2023, followed up on Sunday by stopping 25-of-28 pucks. Expect these two crease-mates and good friends to continue pushing each other all year while staying ready should an injury situation to Stevenson or Jets starter Stuart Skinner necessitate a call-up.

In terms of the offence, 2023 first-rounder Brayden Yager carried the momentum from a great Jets camp into the start of his season, scoring twice and adding an assist in the two games. It shouldn’t be long before he’s given the chance to make his NHL season debut.

Kevin He (fourth round, 2024), scored his first pro goal in his first pro game on Saturday — into an empty net off a great hustle play — then put one past the goalie on Sunday while also chipping in with an assist. He also made history by becoming the first player born in China to suit up in the AHL.

Colby Barlow (first round, 2023) also had a three-point weekend with a goal and two helpers. Considering he had only 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 65 games with the Moose last year as a rookie, that’s an encouraging sign.

The Moose also got a goal and an assist from Danny Zhilkin (third round, 2022), two assists from Nikita Chibrikov (second round, 2021) and Jacob Julien (fifth round, 2023), and the first pro goal from defenceman Alfons Freij (second round, 2024).

In fact, only three drafted players did not contribute on the scoresheet — forward Fabian Wagner (sixth round, 2022), who was a healthy scratch for both games, plus forward Kieron Walton (sixth round, 2024) and defencemen Garrett Brown (fourth round, 2022), who are both currently injured.

The Moose now hit the road for two games Friday and Saturday.

Canadian Hockey League

The Jets organization is a little lean right now when it comes to junior hockey in this country. There are just four prospects — two in the Western Hockey League, one in the Ontario Hockey League and one in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

Starting in the ’Dub, Oakbank’s Owen Martin (third round, 2025) has a goal and an assist in his first two games with the Spokane Chiefs, where he set a career high last year with 56 points (26G, 30A) in 65 games.

Intriguing defenceman Noa Ta’Amu (seventh round, 2026) has a goal, an assist and a fight in his first four contests with the Edmonton Oil Kings, after recording just 12 points (3G, 9A) in 62 games last season.

Forward Jacob Cloutier (seventh round, 2025) is off to a nice start with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, with four points (1G, 3A) through four games as he looks to build on the 47 points (22G, 25A) he had in 64 games with the club last year.

And how about slick, speedy defenceman Alexandre Taillefer (fifth round, 2026), who has already racked up seven points (1G, 6A) in just five games with the Quebec Remparts, which is tied for third overall among all blue-liners in the league.

United States Hockey League

He turned plenty of heads at the prospects tournament last month, and Samuel Hrenak continues to open eyes as he plays his second year with the Fargo Force.

The third-round pick from this past summer has posted a 2.24 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in five games so far, going 3-2-0.

College

The Jets have their largest-ever crop of college kids, with eight prospects currently combining hockey and a post-secondary education south of the border.

Most of them don’t get their seasons going until this coming weekend including forwards Zach Nehring (third round, 2023) at Western Michigan and Markus Loponen (fifth round, 2024) at Lake Superior State, defencemen Sascha Boumedienne (first round, 2025) at Ohio State and Edison Engle (sixth round, 2025) at Western Michigan and goalie John Parsons (seventh round, 2026) at Providence.

As for the three whose seasons are underway: forward Landon Hafele (sixth round, 2026) has three assists in two games for Arizona State; forward Connor Levis (seventh round, 2023) has a goal and an assist in two games with Bowling Green State; and forward Zach Wooten (fourth round, 2026) went without a point in his first game for the University of Wisconsin.

Europe

The Jets only have two players in international waters right now.

Forward Victor Klingsell (fifth round, 2025) has four points (1G, 3A) in his first seven games with Kalmar of the top Swedish league, where he finished last year after dominating the junior league in that country.

And we continue to include Dmitri Rashevsky in this roundup, even though it seems unlikely he’s ever going to come to North America. The fifth-round pick from 2021 has started his seventh season in the KHL, with three points (2G, 1A) in 10 games with Omsk Avangard. Now 25, the Russian power forward seems content to stay close to home.

winnipegfreepress.com/mike.mcintyre