Jets prospects check: He piling up points in OHL By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 4:00 AM CST Monday, Nov. 4, 2024

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This article was published 04/11/2024 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s no time like the present for the Winnipeg Jets, who keep racking up the goals and wins and points as they have soared to the top of the NHL standings with an unprecedented start to the 2024-25 season.

But the future seems fairly bright as well.

The organization currently has 24 prospects playing in various leagues and levels who could one day work their way up to the big club. A dozen of them are currently with the Manitoba Moose, while the other 12 are scattered around the Canadian Hockey League, college and European clubs.

To help you keep tabs, we’ll check in on the kids the first Monday of every month over the course of the campaign.

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Let’s begin with Kevin He, who is starting to look like a steal.

Selected last summer in the fourth round (109th-overall), the product of Beijing turned plenty of heads with an impressive first training camp with the Jets. And He has carried that momentum back to junior, where he’s currently lighting it up with the Niagara Ice Dogs on the OHL.

Take his latest effort on Sunday as an example. He scored the game-winner just 53 seconds into overtime to give his club a 4-3 victory over the Sudbury Wolves. He also had an assist and was named the first star.

The 19-year-old is now up to 23 points (12G, 11A) in 15 games to put him near the top of the league’s scoring lead. The Jets are thrilled with his development, and He could turn out to be one of those later-round gems that every organization hopes to find.

He has a motor that never quits, a terrific work ethic and an inspiring story, becoming the highest China-born player ever drafted. There’s also some clear leadership abilities, too, since He was recently named captain of his team.

Elsewhere in the non-professional ranks:

OHL:

–F Kieron Walton (6th round, 2024): He’s off to the best start of his young career, with 19 points (6G, 13A) in 15 games with Sudbury. At 6’6 and 216 pounds, he’s been using his huge frame effectively.

–F Colby Barlow (1st round, 2023): A slow start with just six points (4G, 2A) through 12 games with the Oshawa Generals. Sure, he’s been a bit snakebitten, but you’d expect much more from a first-round pick who many had pegged as a lock for Canada’s World Junior squad. That’s no longer such a sure thing, and Barlow is going to have to pick up the pace. He didn’t have a great camp with the Jets, either.

–F Jacob Julien (5th round, 2023): Julien had arguably the best development of any prospects last year, jumping from 16 points to 78 with the London Knights. Was that just a blip? He’s got just eight points (2G, 6A) in 13 games with London this year. Not bad, but some early regression, it seems.

WHL:

–F Markus Loponen (5th round, 2024): A nice debut so far for the 18-year-old Finnish product, who is getting his first taste of North American hockey. Loponen has eight points (4G, 4A) through 12 games with the Victoria Royals.

–F Brayden Yager (1st round, 2023): He’s the only one in this piece that wasn’t drafted by the Jets, but we’re including him because he was swapped for Rutger McGroarty. While McGroarty is now struggling in the American Hockey League (one assist in six games with Wilkes-Barre), the 19-year-old Yager is once again leading the way with the reigning WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors with 17 points (8G, 9A) in 13 games. Look for him to be the No. 1 centre with Canada at the World Juniors.

–F Connor Levis (7th round, 2023): The odds are stacked against any player taken this late, but Levis continues to show plenty of promise. The 20-year-old right-winger has 14 points (7G, 7A) in 13 games this year with the Vancouver Giants. He had 55 points in 65 points last year, so he’s on pace to surpass that.

COLLEGE:

–F Zach Nehring (3rd round, 2023): He’s jumped from the USHL (14 points in 44 games last year) to college and has made a seamless transition. With five points (3G, 2A) in his first four games at Western Michigan University, the 19-year-old from Minot, N.D. was just named the rookie-of-the-month for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

EUROPE:

–D Alfons Freij (2nd round, 2024): There’s a lot to like about this smooth-skating Swede, and he’s off to a nice start in the top men’s league over there with four points (1G, 3A) in 13 games. The 18-year-old had spent the last three years in the Swedish junior league.

–D Garrett Brown (4th round, 2022): Brown is finally healthy after suffering a torn ACL last year after just eight games with the University of Denver. He’s been held without a point through seven games this year.

–F Fabian Wagner (6th round, 2022): Nothing much to report here. Fifteen games for Linkopings HC in the top Swedish men’s league and zero points so far. The 20-year-old forward had just six points (1G, 5A) in 41 games last year.

–F Dmitry Rashevsky (5th round, 2021): It remains to be seen whether this intriguing player will ever be lured away from the KHL, but the Jets certainly hope that could be the case. He has six points (3G, 3A) in 21 games with Moscow Dynamo so far this year after putting up 43 points (24G, 19A) in 67 contests last season,

MANITOBA MOOSE:

It’s been a rough first few weeks for the American Hockey League team, which is just 3-5-0 so far.

–G Thomas Milic (5th round, 2023): Milic was arguably the MVP of the Moose last year as a rookie, but it’s been a tough start so far. He is 1-3-0 with a 3.60 GAA and .857 SV%.

–F Brad Lambert (1st round, 2022): No doubt disappointed he couldn’t crack the big club out of camp, it’s been a quiet showing so far with six points (1G, 5A) in 8 games after putting up 55 points (21G, 34A) in 64 games as a rookie last year.

–D Elias Salomonsson (2nd round, 2022): Winnipeg’s top blue-line prospect has not disappointed as he plays his first year in North America, with five points (1G, 4A) through seven games and some steady two-way play.

–F Danny Zhilkin (3rd round, 2022): He was never a big scorer even in junior, so not a surprise to see him with just one assist through seven games.

–G Dom DiVincentiis (7th round, 2022): Easily the surprise of the year so far for the Moose. The rookie was expected to begin his pro career in the ECHL but remained with the Moose after the Jets lost Kaapo Kahkonen on waivers out of camp. He is 2-2-0 in four starts with a sparkling 1.78 GAA and .941 SV%.

– F Nikita Chibrikov (2nd round, 2021): No sophomore slump for the promising young Russian, who has seven points (3G, 4A) in eight games to lead the Moose in scoring.

–F Chaz Lucius (1st round, 2021): The Jets are being careful with him, sitting him out occasionally as a form of load management following numerous injuries that have sidelined him in the past. Lucius has played in just three games so far, with two assists. Look for his workload and production to eventually pick up.

–D Dmitry Kuzmin (3rd round, 2021): He spent some time in the ECHL last year after struggling at the AHL level and has appeared in six games with the Moose this year, failing to record a point so far.

–F Daniel Torgersson (2nd round, 2020): The 22-year-old from Sweden just hasn’t been able to put it together. He had a disappointing 2023-24 season with the Moose (1G, 8A in 52 games) and has no points to show for five games this year. He was a healthy scratch for the other three games.

–D Tyrel Bauer (6th round, 2020): As tough as they come, Bauer has appeared in just three games so far this year and has one fight but no points.

–D Simon Lundmark (2nd round, 2019): One of the real surprises of Jets training camp, and one of the final cuts, the 24-year-old is a key piece of the blue-line for the Moose. He has two points (1G, 1A) in eight games so far.

–F Henri Nikannen (4th round, 2019): Now 23, Nikkanen is once again struggling to produce much at the pro level with three points (1G, 2A) in eight games.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

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