NHL Draft: Jets boost prospect list with big D-men

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This article was published 23/06/2017 (2498 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHICAGO — Grabbing defencemen with some loft to them became a repetitive procedure for the Winnipeg Jets on Day 2 of the NHL Draft.

Four of the seven players Winnipeg selected Saturday at the United Center were blue-liners, while the Central Division club also took a pair of forwards and a goalie.

Stockpiling sizeable defencemen is never a bad thing, but in the Jets’ case bringing young, skilled defenders into the fold was a top priority for a club short on prospects with those specific attributes.

In the second round, the Jets used their 43rd overall pick to take Dylan Samberg, a 6-3, 190-pound defenceman from Hermantown High School in Minnesota. He also played six games with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League.

Winnipeg went with a big body again in the third round, drafting defenceman Johnathan Kovacevic, 6-4, 212 pounds, who just completed his first year at Merrimack College (NCAA), north of Boston.

Winnipeg grabbed German-born defenceman Leon Gawanke, 6-1, 180 pounds, in the fifth round and then used a second pick in the seventh round — acquired from the Montreal Canadiens at the 2016 draft — to take Croix Evingson, a 6-5, 209-pound defenceman from Anchorage, Alaska.

Notice there’s a theme here.

Yet, Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said taking four young D-men that stand taller than six feet wasn’t necessarily by design.

“They are (big). It wasn’t so much targeting for size, but it did happen in that way,” he said. “(These are) players that have some development path in front of them but who we think are going to develop nicely and play the game the way the game needs to be played.

“We certainly addressed some depth needs in our organization with respect to some of the players we drafted,” Cheveldayoff added. “It’s interesting, at least off our list you started to see a lot of defencemen get taken in the draft. It takes a long time to develop a defenceman. That’s why when they fall into your spots when you’re drafting and you feel comfortable in taking them, you do.”

On Friday night, the Jets used their first-round pick (24th overall) — originally the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ pick but acquired in a deal that allowed Winnipeg to surrender only unrestricted free agent Chris Thorburn in the expansion draft — to select 6-3, 207-pound Finnish-born winger Kristian Vesalainen.

Returning to the draft table Saturday, Cheveldayoff and his scouting staff went to work bolstering the depth on the blue line. They used the 12th pick of the round to take Samberg, recently named the top senior high school hockey player in Minnesota.

He described himself as a big, puck-moving defenceman, noting he models his game after Minnesota Wild defenceman Marco Scandella.

“My shot is definitely a big part of my game and my physicality. Keep guys to the outside, don’t let them get around you,” he said, adding he’s very familiar with one Jets veteran, in particular. “(Dustin) Byfuglien. That’s a big one. He’s definitely a big role model with all the heavy hits.”

Samberg, 18, has committed to play next season for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

Jets’ director of amateur scouting Mark Hillier said Samberg is an intriguing prospect.

“There’s a bit of a raw element to him. He’s going to skip a year in the USHL to go right to college, so we’re excited about his upside,” he said.

Some would argue Winnipeg jumped the gun on Kovacevic, taking him with the 74th overall pick when NHL Central Scouting had him at 155th.

Hillier said the Grimsby, Ont., product is worth the risk.

“We think he’s a bit of a late bloomer. He’s a big 6-4 defenceman, a really good skater and puck-moving defenceman. His game is just starting to come on its own and we think there’s good things to come,” he said. “It’s hard to rate his speed on defence but the agility and feet are really good for a big man.”

Kovacevik said Jets scout Max Giese paid close attention to him during the school year and he had a feeling he might wind up with Winnipeg.

“I was really hoping, to be honest, before the draft to be a Jet, so I couldn’t be happier right now — the fact it’s an up-and-coming team right now, a really exciting team, to be a part of,” he said. “To be a part of it is truly humbling and such a huge honour.

“It’s crazy how they do like their big D, so, hopefully, I can fit in there.”

In the fourth, the Jets chose Finnish-born forward Santeri Virtanen, 6-2, 194 pounds and later selected diminutive winger Skyler McKenzie from the Portland Winterhawks in the seventh round.

McKenzie, just 5-8, 161 pounds, had a breakout season in the Western Hockey League, putting up 42 goals and 84 points as a 19-year-old after just 25 points the previous season.

He played portions of the season with Winnipeg-born centre Cody Glass, who was drafted sixth overall by the Golden Knights.

“(Skyler) is one of those real competitive players that when you go and watch a hockey game, he just jumps out at you,” said Cheveldayoff. “He took a real jump in his offence this year and put up some really good numbers. But the skill and the skating draws you to him, but the compete, the tenacity, that he plays with is why he could be a guy that bucks the odds and makes it.”

Winnipeg also took Swedish-born goalie Arvid Holm in the sixth round.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell