As the National Hockey League’s 2026-27 campaign inches ever closer, with training camps around the league set to open up on September 16th/17th, the majority of players have already arrived in their home cities to begin the process of getting ready for another grueling season. While the veterans (most of) will focus on informal skates with their teammates until training camp officially opens up, the young prospects will get an opportunity to display their skills against some of their peers this weekend.
Once again the True North kids will be heading east, as the Ottawa Senators are hosting a tournament that will also feature the likes of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens, & our own Winnipeg Jets. Occurring in Gatineaux, Quebec, each franchise will get the chance to play a pair of contests this weekend, with our club getting the following games:
- Sept 12th – Jets @ Canadiens – noon CST
- Sept 13th – Jets @ Maple Leafs – noon CST
With the many prospects like Sascha Boumedienne or Edison Engle heading back to the NCAA this season, they are not eligible to participate and have left the Jets fielding the roster below (lines are mine):
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Since it seems like guys like Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, & Danny Zhilkin’s time in the Prospects tourneys is over, the fans will still be treated to a glimpse into the future over the weekend. Recent top 10 overall draft pick, Viggo Bjorck, will be able to make his first impression on the True North fan base and he should be helped by what appears to be a decent top six for Winnipeg. After finishing their Junior careers, both Kevin He & Kieron Walton bring a level of excitement to the Manitoba Moose this year and hopefully will be able to reignite the stalled offense for the Jets’ AHL affiliate. Colby Barlow’s professional career didn’t go as planned as a rookie, but with the proper deployment the former OHL sniper could rediscover his form. Since the majority of the remaining players leaning towards bottom six roles, I put the “veteran” of the team on the top line, with Lucas Wahlin showing me last season with the Moose that he has the game to keep up with Winnipeg’s best prospects.
The bottom six forwards offer some potential NHL talent as well, with big Jacob Julien, Owen Martin, and Jacob Cloutier playing a grinding style of hockey that could pay dividends. The rest are undrafted Junior players or an ECHL pro (Sedley) that could eventually sign a contract with Manitoba in the future as they try to be one of those players that make the big leagues despite their non-drafted status.
The defense has less depth, though the additions of newly drafted Noa Ta’amu & Alexandre Taillefer give Winnipeg a few more actual prospects in the game. Undoubtedly, the stars of the back end will be former 2nd rounder Alfons Freij and former 4th round Garrett Brown. Both made their AHL debuts at the end of last season’s campaign and will be looking to hold down the top pairing against the Habs & Maple Leafs’ prospects. I liked the little I saw of Lukas Gustafsson after he joined the Moose as an undrafted free agent and Evan Nause will be joining Manitoba’s blueline this season, so I will be keeping an eye on them in hopes for a better season from the AHL club in 2026-27.
In net, I was a bit surprised that neither Dominic DiVincentiis nor Thomas Milic would be attending, but they joined the others in the “aged out” category. In their place, Manitoba’s 3rd goalie Alex Worthington and recently drafted Samuel Hrenak will be guarding the cage over the weekend.
Well, that is about all I have to say about the upcoming Prospects tournament. I am guessing that Toronto will have #1 overall draft pick Gavin McKenna on display, but from the released lineups Montreal will have much less high end talent on the ice. The games can be streamed via the Winnipeg Jets official site, so if you aren’t doing anything around noon on Saturday & Sunday, give it a watch and join us here to chat about the action.
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Of course, I can’t ignore the elephant in the room….
As of Tuesday, there has been no sign of Connor Hellebuyck at any of the informal practices in Winnipeg and that of course has led to a bunch of articles about a potential holdout. It would be jumping the gun to guess anything at this point since there is still more than a week to go before the Jets officially open up their training camp…but it certainly isn’t out of the question. I am not really sure that the move would put more pressure on GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to move him, as it might actually decrease the level of offers the team gets for the veteran goalie. I really don’t see Chevy bowing out at this point for a loss on a potential deal, so all it would really do is cost him money. Would the move cause any more friction in the dressing room than Helly already saying that he doesn’t think his teammates are good enough to win a Cup? Not significantly in my mind. While answering questions from the media about the situation is annoying, I really can’t see any of the Jets wanting the GM to trade the goalie without getting a helpful asset or assets coming back.
Fortunately, it is possible that after a lot of supposition & conjecture…there might be some actual news on the Hellebuyck front. Word out of TSN is that Winnipeg & Buffalo has recently re-engaged in discussions about the 3 time Vezina Trophy winner. So maybe something will occur before training camp?
Otherwise….I think both sides might dig in their heels for a bit but eventually Bucky & his agent will have to recognize that the trade deadline or next summer offers them there best route to getting out of the Peg. Then hopefully he shows up and plays to the best of his ability…like any good professional athlete should.
