Jets have strong options at eight

A week ago, the Winnipeg Jets found out that they will be selecting eighth overall at the 2026 NHL Draft

I recently spoke with draft analyst Chris Peters from FLOHockey about the strengths of this year’s class, who the Winnipeg Jets could target, and which prospects Jets fans should keep an eye on.

Can you help put Jets fans at ease about the quality of player that should still be available at the eighth pick?

Peters: The Jets are still in a range where you can get one of the higher impact pieces from this class. And I think there's a number of different ways that you can get that. I mean, like basically by being in the eighth spot, you're at worst, going to have one of the top tier defensemen available. So that's one element of it. You're also in a range where you could potentially, dip in a little bit further down the board for maybe a center like a Tynan Lawrence or Viggo Bjorck, or maybe you could go for the high upside, big winger in Ethan Belchetz or something like that. So, I think the options that are available are still very strong. So, eight is like, right within the window still of landing what I think could be one of the better prospects in the class.

There are some concerns about Björck’s size at 5-foot-9 and 177 pounds. What makes him capable of overcoming that and becoming an effective NHL centre?

Peters: I mean, I think part of it is through his own intelligence. I think he's an incredibly smart hockey player, and then obviously compete level. I think if you look at Zach Benson right now in the in the NHL playoffs, he's not a big guy. He's a highly competitive player. Now, I don't think that that Viggo has the same motor that Zach has and had in his draft year, but he has the willingness to go compete. He goes into corners. He fishes pucks out. He goes into the hard areas. He does not play the game with fear. I think he could continue to build strength, quicken his pace a little bit as well. That will help him be more impactful. There is concern about whether or not he could be a center at the NHL level, but the fact that he was playing center in the SHL at 17 years old is bananas. And not just playing it but playing it well. And I guess the only concern that you would necessarily have is as good as he is and as skilled as he is that offensive ceiling high enough where, if he's not producing, what do you do with him? Like that's what it becomes harder to be a smaller player.

Lawrence seems like a player with a lot of tools and upside to work with. What stands out most about his game and long-term projection?

Peters: He's a player that had a very trying draft season. He was injured at the beginning of the year in training camp, missed significant time, then he goes to Boston University at midseason, kind of trying maybe to push for first overall. Didn't really go well, I think some things got exposed, just his ability to process the game. I think we're going to probably be talking about Tynan Lawrence next season as a guy who really broke out in college and had a really successful sophomore year at Boston University, I do think that.  For me, he's got the offense, he's competitive, he has enough two-way skills, he's a good skater. I like a lot about his game, and I just think he would definitely be a fit in terms of the style of play and the way that the Jets have traditionally drafted. I think he fits kind of their mold. And the question is, just like were some of the things that we saw with his hockey sense, if that's the reality is that something he's going to be able to overcome, and I think hockey sense is one of those things that's a little bit harder. So that's where I think the risk lies with Tynan, because on ability, I think he's right where he needs to be.

Could Alberts Smits — viewed by some as one of the more NHL-ready defencemen in the class, played for Latvia at the Olympics — realistically still be available at eighth overall?

Peters: I think there is a chance. Yeah, I definitely do. He's probably the most pro ready of any of the defensemen. He's the guy, say the Jets draft him. I think at worst, he's playing top pairing or top four minutes with Manitoba next season. Being the most NHL ready doesn't mean that they're going to be the best player, but we've seen a real rapid upward trajectory in his game. We've seen him do it against men. We've seen him play a very prominent role at big events. And so, to me, if he's the guy that's available at eight, that's such a great spot. It's a really great player to get in that range. Because I think he is a top four defenseman. I think he's a guy that does a little bit of everything, has the physicality. The question will be, how good is the offense? Does he have the offensive upside of, like, you know, and let's say, out of, you know, if Daxon Rudolph and Alberts Smits are both there, then that creates a different kind of discussion for Winnipeg,

Rudolph is currently playing in the WHL Final with Prince Albert. What do you like most about his game and NHL potential?

Peters: Yeah, I think he's probably he's intriguing in a lot of ways. Just because he's got size (6’3”, 206), he's got the mobility, he's a right shot. He was the leading scorer for one of the best teams in the WHL this year, he's been that way through the playoffs. The offensive upside seems pretty strong for him. I think defensively, there's still plenty to be worked on. There are still games where you can kind of come in and out a little bit. You want to see him be a little bit more consistent. But I didn't anticipate that he would have this level of production this season. I think if you were to draft him in terms of timeline, I think he seems like a really strong candidate to maybe do more of the hybrid style, where he goes to college next year and then comes in maybe a year or two later. I think he would probably benefit from that. He needs to build some more physical strength, because he has the frame to support more muscle. I think he's got the ability to bulk up a little bit. But, man, I like the player a lot. But again, it just comes down to, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Keaton Verhoeff’s there.

What are your thoughts on Verhoeff (North Dakota) and where he fits among this year’s top defencemen?

Peters: I think there was a little bit too much this year where Keaton was kind of beating himself a little bit, where he was he was not making the right reads, not making the right decisions, and that has led to questions about his overall hockey sense, which I think is a fair criticism of him at this point. He's got a bomb of a shot. I think he'll probably be a much more impactful sophomore. He was one of the youngest players in college hockey this year, so that challenged him pretty significantly here in the last little while. But I think that there's still a lot of there's a lot of upside for him to reach like I think his ceiling is incredibly high as a player. It's just that that concern about the hockey sense is one that I think, especially in the fact that he didn't outright dominate at the World U-18’s, was not exactly the best closing argument for him. But he's still 6’4”, 200 plus pounds, right shot defenseman who can skate well enough and does a lot of the things. So, I got a lot of time for the player. But again, I think that because of the weirdness of the top of this class, anything is possible. And yeah, if he ends up there, he'd be easy to go watch the Ralph a couple times a year too. But here's the other thing, I think barring a significant jump, I think he needs two more years in school.