Jets make six selections on Day 2 of NHL Draft

DALLAS, Texas -After making no selections in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and his team got to work on Saturday, making six picks over the course of Day Two.
In total, the Jets chose three centres, two left-shot defencemen, and a goaltender at American Airlines Center, providing depth up the middle of the ice in the prospect pool.

"For young players to get a foothold that early in men's leagues over in Europe they have to have some special qualities and he does have some of those. "
The second centre came in the very next round, as the Jets chose Nathan Smith from the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
Smith, who got his start in the game in roller hockey - and didn't play on ice until he was 11-years-old, led the RoughRiders in scoring with 47 points in 51 games.
"He's someone that in talking to our scouts is a late-bloomer type of player," said Cheveldayoff.
"He's come into the USHL, he's put up some good numbers but we really think there is a strong development path there."

Without a pick in the fourth round, the Jets used the 150th and 153rd overall picks to bolster the left side on the blue line's depth chart. They chose two puck-moving defencemen from the OHL - Declan Chisholm (Peterborough Petes) and Giovanni Vallati (Kitchener Rangers) - to accomplish that goal.
Both players had three goals in their respective campaigns, and finished the 2017-18 season with 20 and 26 points respectively.
For the third straight year, the Jets used the sixth round to add to their goaltending depth.
The selection of Jared Moe at 184th overall followed the picks of Arvid Holm (2017) and Mikhail Berdin (2016) in previous drafts.
Moe posted a 23-6-0 record with the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks last season, posting a 0.919 save percentage, and has committed to play with the University of Minnesota.
He was a player the Jets considered taking earlier, but took a chance and were happy he was still available where he was.
"He put up really good stats this year, competitive player, good size," said Cheveldayoff. "Obviously with goaltenders the development will still need to be there and that's where you need to have the games.
"It's all about the opportunity to have the net and we think that will be a strong development path if it goes in that direction."
With their final pick of the day, the Jets chose Austin Wong 215th overall from the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
Wong plays both centre and right wing, and had 54 points in 55 games in 2017-18.
"Offensive, hard hitting, competitive," was how Cheveldayoff described the 5'11, 190-pound forward. "He's a player that competes and that can finish checks … we thought it was a good value pick ther,e where you can get a guy that competitive with the skill level and compete package that he has."
The prospects don't have much time to enjoy the moment, as the team's development camp begins in just a couple days at Bell MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg.
That word, development, is important to Cheveldayoff.
"The key to all of this is the development path and the actual development of the player," he said. "There (are) certain elements of these players games that we drafted here today that need development.
"Part of the discussions, and part of the places that we ranked them, we feel that they're on good development paths and in good situations to develop."