NHL Draft and Free Agency Bonanza 2014

The Winnipeg Jets didn't do much at this year's draft  (again) except perhaps selecting a very good Nicolaj Ehlers from the Halifax Mooseheads with the ninth pick in the first round.  Ehlers just happened to lead all QMJHL rookies with 49 goals this year.  But as General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff gas repeated said, it's all in the plan to draft and develop.  Remember, Nic Petan, Joshua Morrisey, Eric Comrie, Adam Lowry and Austen Brassard are yet to come, plus the already invaluable Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba that are already their weight in gold.



The other Jets selections this year were:

• Nicolaj Ehlers (1st round/9th)   video
•  Jack Glover (3rd round/69th)    video
• Chase De Leo (4th round/99th)   video
•  Nelson Nogier (4th round/101st)   
• C.J. Franklin (5th round/129th)   
• Pavel Kraskovsky (6th round/164th)  
• Matt Ustaski (7th round/192nd). video

Alas, with every trade and free agent signing, we lost a couple of guys.  Mostly IceCaps that really never caught on with the parent club like Andrew Gordon who signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and Zach Redmond with Colorado.  Roster players lost are center Olli Jokinen who signed a deal with the Nashville Predators and goaltender Al Montoya who decided to sign a contract with the Florida Panthers.  IceCaps goaltender Eddie Pasquale was also traded to the Washington Capitals for picks in this year's draft.

The re-signing of restricted free agents include:

Forward Chris Thorburn, goalie Micheal Hutchinson, Will O'Neill (with the Icecaps), and defenceman Adam Pardy.

 As for picking up any free agents themselves, the Jets were able to pick up Mathieu Perreault from the Anaheim Ducks for three years at $9 million per.

Contrary to rumors of the "imminent" trade of Evander Kane, no deal was reached to send the underachieving forward packing.  But, this is still just a matter of time.