But there will also be plenty of attention on one of the organization’s newest faces.
2026 first-round pick Viggo Björck will make his home debut in a Jets uniform, skating alongside fellow Swede Isak Rosén and veteran Gabriel Vilardi. After an encouraging first preseason outing in Edmonton, Björck will get his first opportunity to experience the energy of a packed Canada Life Centre.
“I think we have like three or four practices together, but yeah, super skilled guys,” said Björck after the morning skate.
“I think they're gonna make it easy for me out there, and just like if I have something that I'm questioning about, just like ask them and try and like talk things out.”
The Swedish centre did a lot of good things Saturday night in Edmonton, winning nearly 42 per cent of his faceoffs, showing strong positioning in the defensive zone and creating some offence as well. Björck centred fellow Swede Elias Rosén and Brad Lambert, and tonight, the two Swedes will welcome Vilardi to the line.
“Hopefully, they're both a little bit more comfortable,” said Arniel.
“Obviously, Rosie's had more games than Viggo. Gabe's gonna give him that sort of that big power forward in the net front, the ability to retrieve pucks. We’ll just see how that works.”
For Arniel, tonight’s game will be another chance for players to shake off the summer rust.
“We had a chance to go through all our five-on-five video, all our five-on-five practises of our systems. Now, put it into play. There's gonna be moments where guys forget some things and guys ask questions about things,” said Arniel.
“We'll teach some things. But it's just get the rust out on the system, the structure, and then get yourself up to speed because like I said, the veterans are only playing two games. Just get yourself up to speed and running here.”
Jets fans can also see another new addition to the organization in defenceman Jack St. Ivany who was traded from Pittsburgh to Winnipeg for David Gustafsson in the offseason. Ivany made his NHL debut with the Penguins in 2024 and by the end of last season, he had appeared in 53 NHL games.
“With the (Elias) Salomonsson injury right now, it’s an opportunity for him against some other guys to fight for that spot,” said Arniel.
“Probably more than anything you can see he's got NHL games, so he's not a guy coming in here as a first timer and scrambling to figure out what to do. There's a learning curve for him coming to our organization, but other than that, I think he's filled in well.”
This is the second preseason game for St. Ivany as he also played in Edmonton and was paired with Hadyn Fleury, the American defenceman played just over 23 minutes and hopes for better execution tonight.
“Definitely. Executing on those puck plays are huge and cleaning up the breakouts,” said St. Ivany.
“Hopefully we’ll have the puck in the O-zone a little bit more. We’ve got a good lineup going.”
St. Ivany may be new to the Jets but there are a few familiar faces here in Winnipeg. At the 2019 World Juniors in Vancouver/Victoria, he and Dylan Samberg won a silver medal with the United States.
“It’s great. I know him from playing U20, so it’s great to see him. I know a couple of other guys,” said St. Ivany.
“I know (Alex) Iafallo from my hometown (of Manhattan Beach, California). Now being here for three weeks, I feel like I know everyone really well. The team has been great welcoming me and I couldn’t be happier to be here.”
