Jets Go North American at 2012 Draft

The NHL held it’s annual amateur draft on the weekend and the Winnipeg Jets made six picks among the 211 players that were chosen over seven rounds.

The Jets’ did not concentrate on one position, instead choosing players based on who was available when their turn came. Winnipeg drafted 2 centremen, 2 goaltenders, 1 defenseman and a right wing. The team needs help at every position so this year’s draft will at least begin to address their many shortcomings.

One common trait among their draft choices was size. A major shortcoming throughout the Jets’ roster, GM Kevin Chevaldayoff obviously had hoped to address that in the draft. While they didn’t pick up anyone of the Zdeno Chara or Milan Lucic molds, their draft choices were all above 6 feet tall, save for right wing Scott Kosmachuk who is 5’11”. Two players, goalie Connor Hellebuyck, from the NAHL, and Jacob Trouba who played in the USHL, are 6’4” and 6’2”, respectively. All six of their draft choices have plenty of filling out to do, however, with the possible exception of Lukas Sutter of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades who weights in at a solid 215 pounds on a 6 foot frame.

Another noticeable characteristic of the picks Winnipeg made is their birth certificates. All six players are from North America, 3 each from Canada and the United States, which was consistent with the league as a whole since 47% of the players picked were Canadian and 27% hailed from the United States.

Players were selected from 5 different leagues, 2 coming from the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades.

The following is a summary of the Jets picks in the 2012 NHL draft:

ROUND	PICK	OVERALL	TEAM	PLAYER	POSITION	COUNTRY	HT	WT	AMATEUR LEAGUE	AMATEUR TEAM
1	9	9	WPG	JACOB TROUBA	D	USA	6’2”	187	USHL	USA U-18
2	9	39	WPG	LUKAS SUTTER	C	USA	6’0”	215	WHL	SASKATOON
3	9	70	WPG	SCOTT KOSMACHUK	RW	CAN	5’11”	185	OHL	GUELPH
5	9	130	WPG	CONNOR HELLEBUYCK	G	USA	6’4”	185	NAHL	ODESSA
6	9	160	WPG	RYAN OLSEN	C	CAN	6’1”	187	WHL	SASKATOON
7	9	190	WPG	JAMIE PHILLIPS	G	CAN	6’1”	170	OJHL	TORONTO JC

Sources:    http://nahl.com/; http://www.ushl.com/; http://www.nhl.com/; http://jets.nhl.com/