Home isn’t where Jets’ heart is

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2022 (1187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was asked at the NHL Draft whether or not he had his eyes on a Manitoba-born prospect, and he provided a rather telling reply.

“We’ve never really looked at the region or the logistics of where a player is from,” he told a few of us scribes in Montreal earlier this month

The question is, should they? Especially when it comes to skaters born and raised here in the Great White North, which has been all but ignored in recent years by the organization.

Consider this: In the first three drafts since the NHL returned to Winnipeg, Cheveldayoff and company selected 14 Canadian prospects (out of 23 total picks, representing 61 per cent). That includes current alternate captains Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey, and shutdown centre Adam Lowry. In the nine drafts since, Winnipeg has selected just 14 additional Canadians (out of 55 total picks, representing 25 per cent). And only three have come in the past four years (out of 20 overall picks, representing 15 per cent).

That trend hasn’t gone unnoticed in hockey circles. I hear frequently from a Western Hockey League scout, who believes it’s a deliberate slight by the organization. He’s especially puzzled by the fact that in the past five years the Jets have only taken one player from the WHL (2020 sixth-rounder Tyrel Bauer).

“The WHL prides itself on being one of the top developmental leagues for professional hockey but oddly enough not for the Winnipeg Jets,” he recently told me. “It seems incomprehensible that a Western Canadian team would seemingly choose to ignore the WHL to the extent that the Jets have.”

A total of 87 Canadians were picked in Montreal, which represents 39 per cent of the 225 drafted players. Thirty-three of those were from Western Canada, including eight Manitobans. Winnipeg made seven selections — two Americans, two Swedes, a Russian, a Finn and, with the final pick, Ontario-born goaltender Domenic Divincentiis.

It’s a curious development, especially considering Cheveldayoff has Prairie roots running through him. He was born in Saskatchewan and played four years with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Yet, time and time again, the Jets are fishing in foreign waters as they try to add to the talent pool.

Perhaps, it’s motivated, in part, by cost and control. There are earlier deadlines for signing players from Canada’s major junior leagues, and development fees are paid to member clubs. That’s not the case for American college and European players, whose rights can be held longer without compensation.

“Are the Jets that strapped for cash?” the angry scout asked. You wouldn’t think so with the richest man in Canada, David Thomson, as co-owner along with Mark Chipman. But here we are.

It’s no secret Winnipeg isn’t exactly a prime destination for free agents, as we’ve been reminded once again this sleepy summer. Not only that, but several drafted-and-developed players from outside the country have jumped at the chance to get closer to home when the opportunity allowed. Jacob Trouba was traded to New York. Same with Andrew Copp, who then signed with hometown Detroit. Jack Roslovic was sent packing to Columbus. Kristian Vesalainen has gone back to Europe for a second time.

Then there’s Russian players such as Pavel Kraskovsky (2014 6th-rounder) who never even came to North America, essentially becoming a wasted pick. Winnipeg has drafted three Russian-born players in the last two years alone — that’s three times as many Canadians in that span — which adds another element of risk.

Other northern teams are facing similar issues these days. American-born Johnny Gaudreau bolted from Calgary as soon as he could, signing with Columbus in free agency in what he claims was a desire to be closer to home in New Jersey. Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk appears next to join him out the door, as the Arizona-born, St. Louis-raised star is expected to be traded south of the border to avoid a similar situation of losing him for nothing as a UFA.

“I can’t help thinking that a kid from Western Canada might be more interested in staying and playing in Winnipeg long-term than one from an American city like Rochester, Mich., (Trouba), Ann Arbor, Mich., (Copp) or Columbus, Ohio (Roslovic)?” the WHL scout told me, noting how Morrissey and Lowry both signed lengthy extensions.

At the Memorial Cup last month, there were 26 players among the four competing teams whose NHL rights are owned by 22 different NHL clubs. Not all that surprisingly, Winnipeg was among the 10 with no representation.

The WHL recently sent out a list noting that more than 140 players who have skated in the league in the past few seasons were at NHL development camps earlier this month. Winnipeg was one of just two teams that scrapped the on-ice summer program that had become a staple around here prior to COVID-19. However, if they had, Bauer would have been the lone WHL representative unless the Jets extended invites to any others.

Prior to Bauer, Winnipeg last selected a WHL player in 2017 in Skyler McKenzie (7th round). After four seasons with the Moose, the Alberta native wasn’t re-signed and spent last year playing in Sweden.

Colour me confused by the fact the Jets have made no secret of their fondness for made-in-Minnesota products. They’ve surrounded captain Blake Wheeler in recent years with the likes of Neal Pionk (trade), Nate Schmidt (trade), Dominic Toninato (free agency) and Dylan Samberg (draft), while speaking openly about the potential draw of having family and friends of those players be able to see them do their thing so close to home.

Wouldn’t the same apply to a Canadian kid, especially one from Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta? Jordy Stallard (fifth-round, 2016) remains the last Manitoban picked by the club

“I laughed out loud when Kevin Cheveldayoff was interviewed on draft day last year and said that Chaz Lucius’s family could drive up from Minnesota to watch the games. I snorted and said to the empty room, ‘Yeah, and Carson Lambos’ parents could drive in from Tuxedo and bring a couple hundred other people along with them,’” the scout told me.

Lucius, who was born in Kansas and played last year at the University of Minnesota, was taken 18th-overall by Winnipeg in 2021. Carson Lambos, the Winnipeg-born defenceman who stars with the Winnipeg Ice, went eight picks later, to Minnesota of all places.

“On a related note, the Jets are experiencing trouble at the gates, and I have commented previously on the lack of connection I feel with many of the Jets players. A few more Western Canadian kids might just help the fans connect,” said the scout.

They say home is where the heart is, but that’s certainly not the case for the local NHL team.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg