Winnipeg Jets select Swedish defenseman in 2nd round of NHL Draft – Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Jets were on hand for the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft on Friday Night at the Sphere in Las Vegas after trading their 26th overall pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Sean Monahan.

This year’s draft marks only the second time Winnipeg has gone without a first-round pick since moving from Atlanta in 2011. The Jets were without a first-round pick in 2018 following the Paul Statsny trade with St. Louis earlier that year, and ultimately took David Gustafsson with the 60th overall pick.

But when the second round began on Saturday morning, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and the scouting staff were able to actively participate in the process, and with the 37th overall selection went Swedish defenseman Alfons Freij.

The 6-foot-1, 187-pound left-shot blueliner had 14-19-33 in 40 games with Vaxjo Junior during the 2023-2024 season. And in seven games at the U18 World Championship in Espoo, Finland – Freij scored twice and set up four other goals to help Sweden ultimately earn a bronze medal with a 4-0 win over Slovakia.

Some scouting reports describe Freij as “boom or bust,” but McKeen’s Hockey described him as a diamond and “a dynamic, mobile, offensive puck-moving defenseman.”

The Jets acquired this pick, which originally belonged to Montreal, from the Los Angeles Kings last June as part of the trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Winnipeg traded their own second-round pick to Nashville just before the deadline on February 25, 2023, to acquire Nino Niederreiter from the Predators.

The Jets were without a third-round pick following last spring’s trade with New Jersey to acquire Tyler Toffoli at the deadline.

Winnipeg sent their 4th (123) and 7th (219) round picks to Buffalo to move up to 109th in the draft and selected Niagara Ice Dogs forward Kevin He. The 5-11, 182 left winger went 31-22-53 in 64 games for Niagara and became the highest-drafted Chinese-born player in NHL history. He was born in Beijing and arrived in Canada at age 5 when his family moved to Montreal.

Andong Song, also born in Beijing, had the honor of being the first Chinese-born player selected in the NHL draft when he was taken in the sixth round (172nd) by the NY Islanders in 2015.

He hails from the same hometown (Nobleton, Ont) as Calgary first-round pick Zayne Parekh, who is of Indian and South Korean descent.

6-1, 185-pound Finnish Center Markus Loponen was Winnipeg’s selection (155th) in round five. He went 25-29-54 in 45 games for Karpat U20 this past season.

With their final projected pick of the day, the Jets took 6-6, 211-pound center Kieron Walton from OHL Sudbury in round six (187th). The Toronto native scored 18 goals and had 25 assists for 43 points in 65 games for the Wolves.

The entire 2024 Jets draft class is expected to be in attendance for development camp, which kicks off Wednesday at the Hockey for All Centre. But there will be one notable absentee from Winnipeg’s prospect pool, as GM Kevin Cheveldayoff confirmed to reporters in Las Vegas that 2022 first-round pick Rutger McGroarty will not be in attendance.

There was much speculation that McGroarty would be traded prior to or during the draft after rumors swirled that he would not sign with the team because he did not want to start his pro career with the AHL Manitoba Moose.

But for now, the University of Michigan star remains a Jet, as does veteran forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who has also been the subject of trade rumors. Cheveldayoff told reporters on Friday that Ehlers remains part of the team’s plans for the future.

Defenseman Charlie Elick of the Brandon Wheat Kings went in the second round (36th) to Columbus, while Brandonite Carson Caswell of the WHL Swift Current Broncos became the first Hockey Manitoba product to be selected in the 2024 draft when he was selected in the fifth round (141st) by the Seattle Kraken.

G Dawson Cowan of Warren (Spokane), RW Luke Mistelbacher of Steinbach (Swift Current), D Josh Fluker of Boissevain (Wenatchee) and LW Gavin Hodnett of Winnipeg (Edmonton) were all listed in the NHL Central Scouting rankings but went undrafted.

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