The Winnipeg Jets are in dire need of young talent that are ready to be difference-makers at the NHL level. Tony Ferrari explores the best candidates in the team’s prospect pool that can do just that
Video Transcript
All the talk going into the draft, Ryan, was that Viggo Bjorck could step into the NHL
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He’s got that feistiness
He’s small, but he’s, you know, he, he can handle himself
He’s strong
So I don’t have a problem with this
If he has to spend time at the EA, I think that’s gonna be valuable, ’cause you gotta remember, playing in Sweden and versus playing even in the AHL, there’s a world of difference
And it, it’s a different game
And I’ll go back to, like, when William Nylander first came over
Like, they did have him over for half a season in Sweden before coming over to the A, and he’d tell you that playing in the AHL was more beneficial than playing in Sweden because, again, you know, he got checked like he never got checked in Sweden, and he had to learn to play a little bit more on the smaller ice surface
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So I think this is a good decision by the Jets
I think if they’re freaking out in Sweden, like, you’re gonna lose him anyway
You know, whether you had him for one more year or a half a year, doesn’t really matter
Mike Angello, do you agree?
Yeah, if you look back at Nylander, he played two years with the Marlies instead of play- staying in Sweden and playing with Modo, and I think it was, it was im- really important to his development
And if you look at somebody like Constant Linus, who we talked about earlier, who came over at 18 years old, who played in the world championships, the world juniors, and with, in Liga, the challenge of playing in the AHL I think helped in his development
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Now I think everybody thinks he’s a, a, a rookie of the year candidate
So I, I, I don’t think fans in Sweden should have an opinion here
It’s, it’s up to the Winnipeg Jets who drafted him, and if they think the path of him being successful in the NHL is to play half a season or a full season in the American Hockey League, then that’s what they should do
No sympathy for the SHL or the fans in Sweden
So North American-centric we are
