Björck, Jets prospects win first game at Prospect Challenge

GATINEAU, QC – For their first game of the season, the Winnipeg Jets prospects looked pretty good.

Together for just over 24 hours, the Jets opened the 2026 Prospect Challenge in Quebec with a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday afternoon. Head coach Mark Morrison was impressed with the team’s compete level, especially early in the game.

“I thought we made some plays and some passes. Second period, not so much,” said Morrison.  

“I thought we got out competed in the second period, but we came back in the third and had some offensive chances in the third period. So, you know what? I think that's a great start.”

It was the debut of the Jets’ eighth overall draft pick, Viggo Björck, who opened the scoring with a glimpse of the chemistry he could have with Brayden Yager. The two combined on a terrific passing play in the first period, with Björck finishing it off for his first goal in a Winnipeg uniform. He would finish the afternoon with two points.

“Yeah, I mean, fun game,” said Björck.

“Nice to get a first win with the new organization, and yeah, it’s nice to get a goal as well.”

Yager liked what he saw from the young Swede especially when they were put together on the Jets top power play unit.

Yeah, he's a very unique player. You know, he's so good in both ends of the ice,” said Yager.

“He's got a great stick, and the puck just seems to find him.”

It was Yager’s turn in the second period, and the timing couldn’t have been better. The Canadiens had seized momentum and were pressing hard, but the Jets earned a late power play with less than a minute left.

Morrison sent out a power-play unit featuring first-round picks Björck, Yager and Colby Barlow. With the clock ticking toward zero, Lucas Wahlin spotted Yager alone in the slot. Yager wasted no time, snapping a quick shot past Arseni Radkov with just 2.8 seconds left in the period to restore Winnipeg’s two-goal lead and the eventual game winner.

“We have skilled guys on the power play. I think it comes down a lot to that, and like everyone is willing to like work with each other, talk about plays” said Björck.

“Good shot by Yags there, and we got Walls in front of the net, getting pucks back, Bars in the middle, open for space and everything. And Alfons (Freij) very good QB with a lot of movements up there, so it was great.”

As Morrison pointed out, there was a bit of a drop-off in the second period, and that’s when another 2026 draft pick showed his potential. Samuel Hrenak, who the team selected in the third round, was brilliant, making three quality saves to keep Winnipeg up 1-0 before Yager’s goal. Hrenak had only seen two shots in the opening period before his hectic second.

“I was trying not to think about it,” said Hrenak who finished with 22 saves.

“You know, I was I was trying to treat every period the same If there's 20 shots or five shots or only one shot, so I was trying to stay in the moment and focus on the next shot.”

Kevin He scored early in the third to make it 3-0 and then the Slovakian goalkeeper almost put something else on his highlight reel, late in the period with the Canadiens net empty and the Jets leading 3-1, Hrenak saw a chance and lifted a shot down the ice that came very close to making it 4-1.

“You see the confidence at the end there,” said Yager.

We love to see that. Would have been nice to go in, but he's such a nice kid, and he's got that quiet confidence. And obviously, we had a had a lot of confidence in him today.”

The Jets will be back in action on Sunday at 12 CT when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs to close out the tournament.