High hopes for Jets’ draft picks

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This article was published 23/06/2019 (2267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Mark Hillier is hoping the 2019 draft class for the Winnipeg Jets will be a case of quality over quantity.

While the Jets only had five picks over the two-day event, they believe they’ve come away with five solid prospects who will help them down the road. That includes using the first two picks to land puck-moving defencemen from Finland and Sweden, a couple centremen from Finland and Canada and an American goaltender.

Hillier, the director of amateur scouting, shared his thoughts with the Free Press on the newest additions to the organization, who will all hit the ice this week at the team’s annual summer development camp.

He said anyone who thinks the Jets are targeting players from Finland, or any specific country or league, is wrong.

“Don’t care where they play. People see we take two Euros in a row, are we going to take a third? If we think he’s the best player, we’re taking a third. I don’t care where they come from, I’m just trying to find NHL players and that’s the bottom line,” Hillier said on the draft floor at Rogers Arena.

“It looks like everybody’s calling us Finnipeg but we don’t spend any more time in Finland than we do in Sweden or the Czech Republic or Manitoba or Saskatchewan.” 

1. D Ville Heinola, 18 (1st round, 20th overall). Honkajoki, Finland. 5-10, 176 pounds. Expected to spend at least one more year in Europe.

“Really skilled. Really smart. We think skill and hockey sense are his best assets. Ran the power play for the under-20 team there. Was a regular in the Finnish Elite League. Just drawn to his skill and hockey sense.”

2. D Simon Lundmark, 18 (second round, 51st overall). Stockholm, Sweden. 6-2, 201 pounds. Expected to spend at least one more year in Europe.

“A real good skating, puck-moving defenceman. We think there’s a little more to come there, offensively. Coach told me he’ll get a chance on the first power play there this year, so we’re excited about his development. We saw him play in the under-20 tournament in February, where he played more and he was more of the No. 1 defenceman on that under-20 team. I saw him again at the Swedish junior finals in March, where his big team was eliminated and he was getting lots of ice time in all situations on his junior team. We just like his skating, puck-moving ability.”

“I think the NHL game now is guys that can go back, get the puck and turn it up ice, and that’s what these two kids can do. They can skate, they’ve got skill, they can really pass the puck. Lundmark can really pass the puck and Heinola is skilled. I think that’s what the game’s all about now.”

3. C Henri Nikkanen, 18 (fourth round, 113th overall). Nikkeli, Finland. 6-4, 200 pounds. Once a projected first-round pick, a tailbone injury limited his games last season and pushed his stock down. Now healthy, expected to spend at least one more year in Europe.

“Didn’t see him a lot as an underage, but this year, he started at the Hlinka tournament in Edmonton. Had a really good, strong tournament there. Big, left-handed-shot centreman. The first couple of games at the Hlinka, I was just drawn to his two-way game, his smarts away from the puck. I think it was in his last game against Switzerland there, he had a six-point game. We went back and saw him, I think it was in the Czech Republic, in December. Really good, strong tournament. See him as a potential third-line centreman. He got injured, so he didn’t play the rest of the year. We really saw a guy that might have went a lot higher if he (hadn’t got injured).

4. C Harrison Blaisdell, 18 (fifth round, 134th overall). Born in England, raised in Regina. 5-11, 181 pounds. Played last season in British Columbia Junior Hockey League, headed to University of North Dakota this fall.

“Good, hard-nosed, hard-working kid, up and down. Plays centre and wing. I think (he had) 33 goals in 51 games. A competitive kid that’s always in the action. I like the upside with the skill there, the two-way component of his game, and going to a good place to develop.”

5. G Logan Neaton, 20 (fifth round, 144th overall). Brighton, Mich. 6-3, 190 pounds. Played last season in British Columbia Junior Hockey League, headed to UMass-Lowell this fall.

“He had an outstanding season. We know he’s a (20-year-old), been through a couple of drafts, but he really matured this year. Had outstanding stats in the regular season and even better in the playoffs. I believe he was 16-1 in the playoffs with a .940 save percentage or something like that. Played the RBC Cup, lost the final game, but just had an outstanding season. I think he’s got a long development path at U-Mass Lowell. (Manitoba Moose goalie coach) Rick St. Croix, had a look at him as well. He gave it the thumbs up.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg