2026 NHL Draft

[Board Bard]

I was telling my wife and kids about the upcoming draft yesterday. My wife asked who I wanted the Jets to pick and I told her Daxon Rudolph. She brought her own analysis to the table and informed me that the name Daxon is a mashup of Dasher and Vixen. I think she might be onto something. Can't argue those facts.

And let's not forget that Rudolph is also a reindeer.

 

[lanky]

And let's not forget that Rudolph is also a reindeer.

How do we make sure Chevy is aware of this intel? Does anyone have a contact in the Jets front office?

 

[Gil Fisher]

How do we make sure Chevy is aware of this intel? Does anyone have a contact in the Jets front office?

We want Daxon to lead the sleigh, but it's Chevy with the red nose.

 

[Jets 31]

Probably gonna get flamed but…
All Pro sports, hockey is not exempt.
It’s become ALL about money and who can blame the players for it?
It’s not about the pure passion anymore.
I don’t give a shit but there is no way a 30 year fan of hockey in Vegas or Salt Lake City has anywhere near the passion of a Canadian hockey fan whose passion runs through several generations.
Growing the game is all about money which again is great for the players.
Canadian fans are increasingly less important and highly disadvantaged than the other markets.
Taxes, climate and lifestyle issues are more enticing to a kid from Foam Lake than playing in his home country.
I hate the direction the NHL is taking.
Hockey is no longer Canada’s game.
It’s not a game it’s a cold,soulless business.
Who cares about Vegas or Carolina winning the cup.

Love having a team here in Winnipeg but when most players won't play the game they love for millions of dollars here we are in a very tough spot. Actually it's getting that way for all the Canadian teams, not as much as Winnipeg but still not great. Most of the TV revenue comes from Canada as well which is pretty frustrating.

 

[Mud Turtle]

And let's not forget that Rudolph is also a reindeer.

It’s just too bad we no longer have Saint Nik.

 

[lanky]

Love having a team here in Winnipeg but when most players won't play the game they love for millions of dollars here we are in a very tough spot. Actually it's getting that way for all the Canadian teams, not as much as Winnipeg but still not great. Most of the TV revenue comes from Canada as well which is pretty frustrating.

I'm sure these details have been debated to death on the Business of Hockey forum, but I don't venture there.

Doesn't the salary cap mitigate how far these trends can run? It doesn't really matter that every player wants to be traded to Vegas because they don't have the cap space to accomodate. If other teams want to help Vegas gain cap room, they're doing it because of the return they're getting.

Also, Chevy's stubbornness has proven to be a strong tool to counter trade requests. He'll do the trade if he gets a worthy return but he's not going to be backed into a corner by a player (Kane trade supported this more than the Trouba trade).

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Very important post here, and I think shopping Helle could bring a big return.

Helle is talking like he wants out, and if I was the GM, I’d help him with his wishes.

One key trade, if done properly, could really turn this Jets club right around.

Helle is a key guy I would shop.

At the very least, it would require another trade to get a goalie. It would probably start an exodus. But I think it is time for that.

 

[GeorgeJETson]

It’s just too bad we no longer have Saint Nik.

We just need to find another Nick.

What's Nic Petan up to these days?

 

[Daximus]

At the very least, it would require another trade to get a goalie. It would probably start an exodus. But I think it is time for that.

Yeah if even Freidman is hearing some noise then its probably getting there.

The Jets will keep it tight lipped for now. What may happen is a team might leak it out to light a fire but Chevy rarely budges when that happens. The iron is hot for a move to Florida given their circumstances. If we can see it then Helle and Chevy can see it to. Rare to get a contender that has a down year get the 9th overall pick. Hopefully Chevy can get more out of them.

 

[gojetsgo]

Yeah if even Freidman is hearing some noise then its probably getting there.

The Jets will keep it tight lipped for now. What may happen is a team might leak it out to light a fire but Chevy rarely budges when that happens. The iron is hot for a move to Florida given their circumstances. If we can see it then Helle and Chevy can see it to. Rare to get a contender that has a down year get the 9th overall pick. Hopefully Chevy can get more out of them.

maybe but all that stuff he's hearing about helle could easily be from those fake rumours this past week

 

[WolfHouse]

Yeah if even Freidman is hearing some noise then its probably getting there.

The Jets will keep it tight lipped for now. What may happen is a team might leak it out to light a fire but Chevy rarely budges when that happens. The iron is hot for a move to Florida given their circumstances. If we can see it then Helle and Chevy can see it to. Rare to get a contender that has a down year get the 9th overall pick. Hopefully Chevy can get more out of them.

Was interesting to hear that Jets were looking at Preston - who it was pointed out would be around at Buffalo’s first rounder range - that and some pundits talking about how Lundell would have to be in the return from Florida something that has been dismissed on here...

Bjork and Samoskevich or Preston and Helenius…? Seems to be the return unless Chevy pulls a back against the wall miracle

 

[ps241]

2026 NHL Draft Final Top 32 Prospects Ranking - HockeyProspect.com

HockeyProspect.com is proud to release our Final Top 32 Rankings for the 2026 NHL Draft, the culmination of a full season of live viewings, video analysis and

hockeyprospect.com

Hockey prospects is my favorite draft prospects publication. I know these rankings will catch most off guard but this team at least does their homework. This publication is 244 pages (on my iPad at least). Yes they charge for their work but I find it to be well worth the money.

 

[Sleestak Nation]

Yeah if even Freidman is hearing some noise then its probably getting there.

The Jets will keep it tight lipped for now. What may happen is a team might leak it out to light a fire but Chevy rarely budges when that happens. The iron is hot for a move to Florida given their circumstances. If we can see it then Helle and Chevy can see it to. Rare to get a contender that has a down year get the 9th overall pick. Hopefully Chevy can get more out of them.

Even with five years remaining on the contract, do you think Chevy is responsive to the thought of retention in order to get a little more back? Florida (IIRC) has about $15M but has a number of UFA's and only 31 contracts at this point so they may look for some extra funds to build the roster out.

 

[Daximus]

maybe but all that stuff he's hearing about helle could easily be from those fake rumours this past week

Friedman gets his stuff from people inside the league. He's about as insider as it gets league wide. He would have verified from sources on teams if they are hearing anything.

 

[Daximus]

2026 NHL Draft Final Top 32 Prospects Ranking - HockeyProspect.com

HockeyProspect.com is proud to release our Final Top 32 Rankings for the 2026 NHL Draft, the culmination of a full season of live viewings, video analysis and

hockeyprospect.com

Hockey prospects is my favorite draft prospects publication. I know these rankings will catch most off guard but this team at least does their homework. This publication is 244 pages (on my iPad at least). Yes they charge for their work but I find it to be well worth the money.

Definitely a more out there take. But I can see why they have Bjorck so high.

 

[gojetsgo]

Friedman gets his stuff from people inside the league. He's about as insider as it gets league wide. He would have verified from sources on teams if they are hearing anything.

friedman often says he reads reports from other people then checks in on them



he just said there was a lot of noise around helle, he also led off by saying no real news today, if he was hearing from actual execs that helle was out there wouldn't that be considered real news?

 

[ps241]

Definitely a more out there take. But I can see why they have Bjorck so high.

Honestly I was pretty taken back seeing Bjorck at #1 but once I dug in and read the reports on the top 10 prospects they did a really good job of building the case. It reinforces what I have been saying from the start. I think this draft starts at #3 this year.

I also thought their scouting report on McKenna was very fair. They laid out his strengths and weaknesses really well and highlighted some of the concerns I have about this gifted by flawed talent.

Carels is their top rated D man.

 

[MelikeJets]

I like listening to Jets at Noon on CJOB but anytime there is a discussion about trading Helle they immediately shoot it down as crazy.." he's a Vezina winner, MVP of the team, you need him for the team to have a chance" blah blah blah. I've said it before and I'll say it again, no player should be untouchable. Think Gretzky when you have thoughts that it is unthinkable to trade your best player.
I like Helle but he's not the saviour of this team and IF you can get a decent return I say go for it...what do you have to lose...miss playoffs? Did that already and no one died. Let's get some excitement back into this franchise watching fast, young players that will lift fans out of their seats like Laine did in his first year.

 

[roccerfeller]

^ in their case it seems more to be callers who want him gone for the sake of it as opposed to logical reasons to trade him. We know goalies don’t return great deals so you’re not going to be getting the best player in a hypothetical deal. You already have that best player so unless he wants out, logic says you keep him. In that similar ilk of the get rid of Nik crowd. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

 

[WolfHouse]

And let's not forget that Rudolph is also a reindeer.

In the combine interviews, they had a sleigh in the corner of the room...

‘Okay, its Christmas Eve, its dark, your nose is oh so bright… tell us what you would do'

 

[Daximus]

friedman often says he reads reports from other people then checks in on them



he just said there was a lot of noise around helle, he also led off by saying no real news today, if he was hearing from actual execs that helle was out there wouldn't that be considered real news?

There have been plenty of clickbait rumours he hasn't even commented on so if there is some noise then it could be chatter from other teams leaking info out. Perhaps Chevy has been making some calls. We know Chevy won't leak anything so if anything comes out its likely coming from other teams.

 

[Buffdog]

Honestly I was pretty taken back seeing Bjorck at #1 but once I dug in and read the reports on the top 10 prospects they did a really good job of building the case. It reinforces what I have been saying from the start. I think this draft starts at #3 this year.

I also thought their scouting report on McKenna was very fair. They laid out his strengths and weaknesses really well and highlighted some of the concerns I have about this gifted by flawed talent.

Carels is their top rated D man.

The first thing that my cynical mind thought was that putting Bjorck at 1 is a deliberate "hot take" intended to drive both purchases (to see the rationale) as well as engagement

Unfortunately, we see that tactic used from random fan accounts all the way up to established sources

 

[gojetsgo]

There have been plenty of clickbait rumours he hasn't even commented on so if there is some noise then it could be chatter from other teams leaking info out. Perhaps Chevy has been making some calls. We know Chevy won't leak anything so if anything comes out its likely coming from other teams.

or perhaps he was going off what spitten chickletts/pagnotta were putting out there, because he barely made a comment on it just said there was "alot of noise" which there was after that podcast/pagnotta and also said the was no real news which again, I think if he was hearing from other execs that would qualify as real news

 

[Daximus]

or perhaps he was going off what spitten chickletts/pagnotta were putting out there, because he barely made a comment on it just said there was "alot of noise" which there was after that podcast/pagnotta and also said the was no real news which again, I think if he was hearing from other execs that would qualify as real news

He might not be hearing from execs either though. Could be beat reporters who have been hearing things, could be scouts, could be any number of contacts he has inside teams that have maybe been asked to look into Helle or something along those lines. He's only going to make it known when he hears it from a more reliable source.

 

[gojetsgo]

He might not be hearing from execs either though. Could be beat reporters who have been hearing things, could be scouts, could be any number of contacts he has inside teams that have maybe been asked to look into Helle or something along those lines. He's only going to make it known when he hears it from a more reliable source.

well two of our beat reporters have said that they haven't heard anything, murat said he talked to other execs around the league and they don't give him the impression that helle asked for a trade

and like I said this could all be from those bs reports from sc/pagnotta because he really didn't say much about helle at all