Rich

Can't see the Jets being all that active in the top free agents this year. Money will go to Ladd and possibly Buff. They will likely look for a deal in the secondary wave of players like they got with Perreault last year,. I've always been a fan of Vermette with his face-off abilities, but with Little / Sheifele / Lowry as our top 3 centres, not sure he would be worth the money he is going to want. He will likely be in the Frolik range and would you rather have kept Frolik than Vermette? Sekera, Beauchemin, Oduya, Martin, Ehrhoff, and Jackman are all left handed D. I wonder if you could sign one of them to play in the top 4 D and trade Buff. Beauchemin and Martin are probably too old for what the Jets are looking for, then again maybe they can bridge a couple of years before Morrissey moves in. If we don't re-sign Stafford, than I think we definitely have to be in the market for at least one top 6 forward to step in for the loss of Frolik / Stafford. I wonder if there will be any interest in Mike Richards with his hometown being so close. Not sure he is much more than a 4th liner now, and is that centre spot reserved for Copp?

Very interesting. This might be where the pre-free agent day window to talk to teams plays into our advantage. Surely his agent made some calls and they have an idea that the Jets offer was in the ballpark of fair market. Otherwise there is no reason to work on a deal the day before (or two days before) Free Agency. It would seem to indicate Stafford enjoyed his time here also and wants to be here. Which is weird since no one wants to come to Winnipeg. Be nice if Jets announce signing of Stafford AND extension for Ladd this week. Burmi signing probably not far off either (or trade). For sure there will always the percentage of players that prefer to play in a bigger city, but I think it has been shown, even back to the Jets 1.0 days, that while Winnipeg isn't a top priority for many players, once they get here, there are many players whole like it and wish to stay.

It was there before. The Washington Capitals' seventh-round pick will go to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014 that sent Eddie Pasquale and a sixth-round pick in 2014 to Washington in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2014, Nashville's seventh-round pick in 2014 and this pick.[51]

This is an interesting website that shows all of the Jets picks and their NHL stats. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00010675.html Since 2011, we've only had 4 players with an NHL game under their belt and one of those is Andrew Copp with the one game he got at the end of last season. I know it takes 3 - 4 years for a lot of these guys to make the NHL, and you see a lot of names there that should be in the NHL over the next couple of years, just an interesting look at how a team drafts and their NHL success. Other than Sheifele and Lowry, I don't think anyone else from the 2011 draft is even still in our system.

For everyone still in the city, don't forget to join us in chat today during the game!

I think after the first couple rounds you just pick best player available as they are longer shots to even play in the NHL. Just for comparison: 2011 - 3 Forwards, 3 Defensemen, 1 Goalie 2012 - 3 Forwards, 1 Defensemen, 2 Goalies 2013 - 3 Forwards, 5 Defensemen, 1 Goalie 2014 - 5 Forwards, 2 Defensemen, 0 Goalies 2015 - 7 Forwards, 1 Defensemen, 0 Galies

If it is 6 years in that dollar range, it would start paying him around $6M in the first year and around $7.5M in the last year. Not going to get him for much cheaper than that to have him forego free agency. I agree 7 years would be too much. 6 years is even pushing it, but you are going to have to give him term to sign him. I'd prefer 5.

So the draft looks like this: Round 1 (17th) - LW - Kyle Connor (USA) Round 1 (25th) - C - Jack Roslovic (USA) Round 2 (47th) - C - Jansen Harkins (USA) Round 3 (78th) - LW - Erik Foley (USA) Round 4 (108) - RW - Michael Spacek (CZECH) Round 6 (168) - C - Mason Appleton (USA) Round 7 (198) - D - Sami Niku (FIN) Round 7 (203) - C - Matteo Gennaro (CAN) I wonder if the Jets find the USA to be under scouted. Lots of scouts always looking at the Canadian juniors leagues. It came out this week that the Jets employ twice the number of scouts than Toronto does (surprising with the budget Toronto could have). Maybe they find more value in the USA systems that fall further in the draft than their talent would dictate. Edited: Apparently we had one more late pick in the 7th round, added it in. So we did draft a Canadian after all!

Round 7, finally pick a D. Sami Niku, Finland, 6'0" 176 lbs.

Round 6 Jets draft another centre. Mason Appleton (USA again) 6'2" 194 lbs. Can't find any scouting report on him but last season with the Tri-City Storm, in 54 games he had 12 goals, 28 Assists (40 points) and 84 penalty minutes. He also popped up in a site called hockeyfights.com, so I think he might be a bit of a goon.

Round 4, Jets draft another centre (Czech Republic) Michael Spacek, 5'11" 187 center http://www.tsn.ca/michael-spacek-right-wing-1.296783 Jets have no Round 5 pick, so next pick will be Round 6.

Jets take Erik Foley, LW, in Round 3. (Another American) 5'11' 185 lbs http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=212561

Jets take another centre in 2nd round. Jansen Harkins http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/prospect-of-interest-the-411-on-jansen-harkins/

What's your cell number? Don't worry, I won't text you play by play's or anything. Or the score. ...trust me. 867-5309 Jenny, is that you?

That was about as close as you can get to a 2nd upset in the Pick 'Ems this week.

They are going for volume this draft. Their upcoming prospects are thin and it is a deep draft so they are looking to trade down in some quality to stock up.

Another Anerican centre. Jets must scout NCAA like crazy.

New GM in Boston. He is putting his stamp on that team. Rebuild is coming there. Their window has come and gone. Put your stamp on the team by trading into the top six then... This stamp says I gambled and it didn't quite work Yes, they tried and failed. I didn't say it was a good stamp.

New GM in Boston. He is putting his stamp on that team. Rebuild is coming there. Their window has come and gone.

Phoenix keeps the 3rd pick and takes Strome.

Seems like a lot for Buffalo to give up. O'Reilly only has one year left and will be expensive to re-sign.

Maybe one day you will get your crystal ball.

When you looked at the trades and saw player for player did you check to see if that player was actually playing in the NHL or a prospect? And if so, please list some and give the percentage of them that you feel would be comparable to us trading Frolik for something long term and immediate that would help the Jets. I took a quick look at last seasons deadline and I'd say at least 80% of the trades where for picks or prospects. It is probably higher, some names I just don't recognize and didn't bother looking up, but that also means those trades are pretty meaningless and fringe players. Frolik was a UFA. What team is going to give a comparable player who has term on their contract? It just makes no sense. Other teams are in the NHL to win, just like the Jets. When you are thinking about a trade, look at it from the other teams perspective, if I were them would I do this trade and why? And if the answer is no, chances are they aren't going to do it. You don't want Frolik because he is a UFA and are going to lose him, other teams are thinking the same thing. There is a reason no team deals their free agents at the deadline when they are in the playoffs. You want to give your team the best chance to win and you want to get in. The Jets made the playoffs by 4 points last season. If only two games go the other way, LA is in the playoffs instead of us. That margin is so low, I'm pretty confident that if you take one of our top 6 players out of the lineup and replace with with ... nothing ... we don't make the playoffs.

Little could easily be moved over to the wing. You draft d-men and centres first, wingers only if their talent is far above that of the other two. A centre can play wing much easier than a wing can play centre. Also you don't draft for your lineup today, you draft the best player for a lineup tomorrow. I agree. But I would also be disappointed if the Jets moved up to #3 and took Strome. Little, Scheif, Lowry, Copp are all young so they are set for years. Little doesnt like playing wing as much as center. Perreault is also a center. So is Petan. You always want to be improving, but I dont think Center is the greatest need for the Jets. And really, neither is D. But if its Hanifin they want, you're talking about a franchise LHD to go with our franchise RHD Trouba. Then they start filling in some of the mid six and you could have a contender for 10 years. I don't know a whole lot about Strome, and I'm not petitioning for them to do so, but my argument was more that suggesting you don't draft a centre because we are set is not sound logic in the NHL. I don't think Petan will be big enough to play centre in the NHL. Same with Perreault, he didn't play much centre last year. I'm not sure that Sheifele will ever be a true #1 centre. He is still young for sure, but just get the feeling he is destined to be a good #2 option. Is Strome that future #1 centre? Not sure.

Glad this passed, but horrible that the vote was so close.