The Winnipeg Jets didn't do as well as last year at the NHL Draft Lottery, when they moved up four spots from sixth to second and selected Patrik Laine.
Well, the hockey gods (or simply odds) didn't shine on the Jets this time around, as they wound up selecting thirteenth, while the New Jersey Devils walked away with the greatest prize this year. Following the Devils will be the Philadelphia Flyers, moving up from thirteenth, at second and the Dallas Stars who will select third, moving up from their original spot at number eight.
In reality, the Jets only dropped one spot from their original points-based position from all the non-playoff teams, but it still stings a bit, especially after all the hype and hope from last year's surprising move up the ladder.
The top selections for June, according to the Hockey News, will be Nolan Patrick from the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Brandon Wheat Kings; Nico Hischier from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's (QMJHL) Halifax Mooseheads; Miro Heiskanen from the Finland junior league, HIFK U20; Gabriel Vilardi from the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Windsor Spitfires and Cody Glass of the WHL's Portland Winter Hawks round out the projected top five.
There already have been multiple mock drafts, now that the non-playoff teams and their draft positions have been established and the majority of them have the Jets picking Kristian Vesalainen of the Swedish champion (and Europe's 2017 Champions Hockey League winners) Frolunda Indians.
Of course, trades can change everything. Do the Jets trade away their first-round pick to say the Los Angeles Kings and perhaps Connor Hellebuyck for Ben Bishop? Or do the Jets continue their plan of draft and develop? They will most certainly do the latter, but if a deal can be made, I'm sure the Kings wouldn't exactly mind having the 11th and 13th picks in the first round.
Either way, Patrik Laine was not the God-send many Jets fans (including myself) thought he was. At least not yet. He is only 18 after all; but that didn't stop me and many others from putting him in the savior category, unfairly or not.
I don't think a pick at thirteen will do anything for the Jets short-term anyway, barring a "jewel-in-the-rough" find a la, Pavel Datsuk or Patrick Roy, who were, astonishingly, late-round finds. Datsuk was an all together late-rounder; being selected 26th in the 6th round by the Detroit Red Wings. Yes. Pavel Datsuk, Mr. Puck On A String himself, was drafted by the Red Wings 171st overall in 1998. Roy in the third round, 51st overall.
So, it can and does happen.
It's just that it happens every six or seven years, so don't get your hopes up. Even the players, and the lucky teams that drafted them were taking a chance. But, that's what the whole draft process is, so...
So, will the Jets keep their 13th, first-round pick, or trade it away? They can trade down in the first round or trade up in the successive rounds?
Chevy seems to know what he's doing, so I'll leave it to him. Who else are we going to hinge our hopes on? He doesn't seem to worried about the season-ending, seven-game winning streak that did the exact opposite from last year when somehow winning the last four games actually improved their chances and the result was Laine.
