Top picks take to the ice

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This article was published 03/07/2015 (3780 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last week, it was about when their names would be called. This week, it’s about finding where they fit in.

Though little time has passed since Kyle Connor and Jack Roslovic heard their names echo through the arena last week in Sunrise, Fla., forgive them if it felt more like an eternity before they finally stepped on the ice with their new team.

“It feels like it’s been a long time between this and the draft, but it’s been fun,” said Roslovic, 18, the Winnipeg Jets’ 25th overall pick at the 2015 NHL Draft, following the conclusion of Day 1 of Jets Development Camp at the MTS Iceplex Friday. “No real words for it. It’s something I’ve always looked forward to doing, something I’ve looked at since I was a kid.”

Much was the same for Connor, 18, who the Jets selected 17th overall. Now that the stress of wondering where he’ll play next is over, he’s beginning to embrace the excitement of learning the ins and out of the pro hockey lifestyle.

“I want to get familiar with the organization, all the people and all the players too,” he said. “It’s a little difficult, but every time you see a guy, you grab him and ask him how it’s going, and for sure you got to get to know him.”

It’s fitting then, the two start their NHL orientation together, having already struck up a friendship. Both played in the United States Hockey League last season — Connor with the Youngstown Phantoms and Roslovic with the U.S. under-18 program — and have come to know each other quite well as opponents over the years. It’s no surprise the two look forward to building that relationship, only this time as teammates.

“He’s a great player, even better person,” Connor said of Roslovic.

But as chummy as things will get over the weekend for all 40 players in attendance, nerves still have their place, especially for those given the franchise tag that comes with being a first-round pick. But as much as nerves can take their toll, adrenaline also helped them get through the draft, and ultimately to where they are today, so both look forward to what lies ahead.

“Just come here, be a sponge and take in everything you can learn this week,” Roslovic said.

Perhaps no one understands what these two are going through better than the Jets’ 2014 first-round pick, Nikolaj Ehlers. Ehlers, who the Jets took ninth overall, was all the rave last year when he showed up at camp.

“I was the new guy,” recalled Ehlers, who has come to camp 14 pounds heavier than last year. “I came in and I didn’t know what to expect from this week. Last year I met some incredible guys here. This year I know what’s going to happen. It makes it a little bit easier.”

Ehlers plans to do the same for his younger teammates, noting he will try to make sure the new blood feels at home.

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Jets head coach Paul Maurice has vowed to make sure each and every guy feels equally good about being a Jet by the time they head home early next week.

“A big piece of this week is just to come in and get used to the faces, get used to the feel, so when they come back to training camp or prospects camp they’re a little bit more comfortable,” Maurice said.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.