Sport-scan daily brief

Pulock quickly adjusted to life in the WHL, scoring 42 points as a rookie to break the franchise mark for 16-year-old defencemen previously held by Wade Redden (39 points).

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's a top-pair NHL defenceman, but as a fallback he's for sure a second-pair D-man," said McCrimmon.

As for the big shot, Pulock says it's part hard work and part genetic.

"When we went to the rink as kids I took a lot of shots. I might have inherited some of it. My dad played junior in Dauphin and they tell me he could shoot it, too," Pulock.

Any playful banter in the house over who had the better shot?

"Nope. He doesn't bring it up. Which makes me think I have the better shot," said Pulock with a laugh.

Pulock may have a lot more fans after an NHL team and its supporters latch on to him today, but he won't forget the folks in Grandview, a town of 800 people located 45 kilometres west of Dauphin.

"The support I've been given from the people at home in Grandview, they've been great to me. I wish I could have brought them all with me," said Pulock.

While all of Grandview won't be in the Prudential Center today when the NHL Draft gets underway, many local folks will be gathered to watch one of their favourite sons go through a moment of a lifetime.

The Grandview Kinsmen Community Centre will be full of his friends and neighbours.

"There will be more than 200 of us," said Grand Plains minor hockey volunteer Jeff Legaarden via telephone. "If you know the Pulock family, you know what great people they are. And if you know Ryan, you know what a respectful young man he is. He's great with people of all ages. Whether it's the two-year-old kids hanging around at the rink for the first time or their 85-year-old grandparents that are there to watch them, Ryan has time for all of them. And a way with all of them. It's not too often that a Parkland kid has the chance to get drafted, let alone go in the first round. It doesn't matter if it's the first or second round, it'll be pretty wild when they call his name. We're proud of Ryan as a community."

Pulock said he's ready for the moment.

"I'm feeling good. Getting a little excited. This is what all kids think of when they're skating on the rink or just dreaming about hockey," he said. "This is the first step towards playing in the NHL."

As for where he gets drafted, Pulock says it doesn't matter, but admits there would a something a little special about hearing one team call his name.

"I just want to play in the NHL one day and whatever team it may be, I'm going to be thrilled by it," he said. "Being from Manitoba and playing all of my hockey in Manitoba, Winnipeg would be pretty cool. Any team will make me happy but the Jets would be special and unique for obvious reasons."

The Jets, eh? We all understand hockey is a business and they'll have to do what is best for the team when their number comes up. Pulock is ranked a little deeper in the first round than Winnipeg's pick at 13th.

So it's an unlikely scenario.

But part of the package teams look for is the quality of the person. It's not just about the best player and I can tell you this, the Jets couldn't draft a better person.

Not this year. Not any year.

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 06.30.2013

683095 Winnipeg Jets

Jets' Enstrom victimized in robbery, beating

Ed Tait

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Toby Enstrom probably wishes he could put 2013 in the rear-view mirror.

The Jets became aware of the incident Saturday morning.

"We've done some digging through our team security," said Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff Saturday at his media conference in advance of Sunday's NHL Draft in Newark.

Minor cut

"Apparently Toby was out for dinner with his family and went to pick up the cheque and went to the ATM to get some money and was robbed by three people. Supposedly, to the best of our knowledge, those people have been apprehended by police. Toby is fine. He received a minor cut above the eye. He's putting it behind him."

Cheveldayoff spoke Jets' security and later Saturday to Enstrom himself and was assured Enstrom was OK.

Enstrom is coming off a frustrating campaign with the Jets in which he appeared in only 22 games because of injuries. But he remains a key cog in the team's defensive corps and, before being injured, was leading NHL defencemen in scoring.

The Jets are breathing a sigh of relief the assault left Enstrom with just minor injuries.

"They're like your kids and when they go away for the summer you're always worried about different things like that," said Cheveldayoff.

"Toby's such a good guy, and to have it happen to him is unfortunate, but it just goes to show you're never safe and you always have to be on guard."

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 06.30.2013

683096 Winnipeg Jets

Time for Jets' scouts to relax

Ed Tait

Now the question is, will director of amateur scouting Marcel Comeau and the scouting staff hear 10 different names called out by his boss Kevin Cheveldayoff, or will some of them be moved?

WINNIPEG PICKS

Round 1: 13th

Round 2: 43rd, 59th, 61st

Round 3: 74th, 91st

Round 4: 104th

Round 5: 134th

Round 6: None (164th traded to Pittsburgh for Eric Tangradi)

Round 7: 190th, 194th

Prepared

"My staff, I told them to be prepared in the event we don't use them," said Cheveldayoff.

"They're all good about it. When the phone rings and you're on there with someone and (Jets' scouts) hear a third- or a fourth- or a fifth- (round pick), they're not paying attention as much.

"They hear second or they hear first and it's like they have to strain their neck a little bit.

"They're invested in making this organization better. They're the ones, on the amateur side, they don't get to watch the Jets play 82 times. They're out on the rinks, they're out pounding the pavement, going through the snowstorms to try and find that player that is going to put us over the top. That needs to be respected.

"We're very focussed on working to keep our RFAs and working to build through the draft to develop an organization that is strong and has lots of depth. It starts right here."

The Jets have their first-round pick, 13th overall, and three in the second round -- their own at 43rd, a compensatory pick at 59 for not signing 2008 first-rounder Daultan Leveille and the 61st choice as part of the deal that sent Johnny Oduya to Chicago at the trade deadline in 2012.

"It's been a lot of work, but this is a day you look forward to," said Comeau. "Right now everybody's got a smile on their face, all the work we've put in is just around the corner and we're going to get something for it.

"We're all in this together, we all want to see this team get better as soon as we can, so whatever pieces we can add is all for the good as far as I'm concerned. Our job is to acquire assets for management to manage."

Hailed

Comeau, like a lot of NHL types, figures there are at least five players who are NHL-ready right now.

"It's really good," Comeau said. "There's going to be some really good players who go in the second round, and as you go deeper into the draft, players (will) need more development time and have a couple more warts than some of the guys who went in front of them.

"There's a lot of scouts saying this (draft) is the best in quite awhile."

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 06.30.2013

683097 Winnipeg Jets

Chevy looking to move up

Ed Tait

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- There was a moment Saturday when the tall and the short of the 2013 NHL Draft -- both literally and figuratively -- was on display in a hotel lobby, with the diminutive Max Domi spotted walking alongside mammoth defenceman Samuel Morin.

Upstairs conference rooms were buzzing as four NHL teams -- the Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames -- are all sharing space in the same hotel, all conducting last-minute player interviews, all sharing chatter and gossip in the hours before today's draft.

"Right now the happiest people are the phone companies, there's no question about it," said Jets' GM Kevin Cheveldayoff with a grin. "There's lots of GMs with cellphones attached to their ear.

"It's unpredictable. Each draft seems to take on its own life and certainly there's lots of new factors that come into play on this one. At some point in time I imagine some trades will start to happen. Will they happen today, tomorrow on the floor or after the draft... people have mentioned compliance buyouts... there's lots of different nuances and complexities."

The Jets, who hold the 13th pick in the first round, three more in the second and 10 overall, conducted interviews with 88 players at the draft combine earlier this month and planned to chat again with 10-12 players this weekend. Sources say the last three interviews Jets conducted Saturday included Domi, Morin and Curtis Lazar of the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings.

Other prospects spotted Saturday at the Jets' hotel included Ottawa 67s centre Sean Monahan, Valeri Nichushkin of the KHL's Chelyaninsk, both of whom are now expected to be plucked before Winnipeg picks at 13... unless the Jets make a deal to move up in the first round.

"We're trying," Cheveldayoff admitted. "It's different for different teams to try and move up. Sitting at 13, depending on where you want to go, sometimes it's a roster player (being asked for) and you have to decide whether you have that ability to move a roster player to move into that situation, and sometimes it's pick. A lot of times the teams you are talking to don't want to commit until they know who's there for them. If it's a player (available) that they like, then all your work is for naught.

"Similarly, teams below us are making the calls and the requisite overtures and you set your prices from those things. You're here to re-stock and stock your teams with young talent and future building blocks for your organization."

And it's here where the Jets must weigh filling the current holes on their roster vs. stockpiling young talent. Cheveldayoff has key restricted free agents to re-sign, such as Blake Wheeler and Zach Bogosian, and nine unrestricted free agents -- a good half dozen of which are likely to leave -- that leave some significant question marks on the depth chart.

There has been talk about compliance buyouts and the usual assortment of trade rumours -- the speculation swirling even more so this year because of the drop in the salary cap that has handcuffed teams pushed up against it.

"There's lots of conversation and it goes in both directions, players that we've asked about, players (of their own) that have been asked about us," said Cheveldayoff. "Obviously at the draft here, draft picks are en vogue part of the conversation. You make certain calls to different teams depending on their situations and where they are in the draft, about maybe potentially moving up and seeing what that price is, what their appetite is and when they are going to do it or if they are going to do it."

It would be shocking if the Jets used their first-round pick to grab a goaltender and there are some young defensive prospects in the system, including last year's first-rounder, Jacob Trouba. The Jets have some serious needs, both with the big club and in their system, along the right side, and so the consensus from draft watchers is they will likely go with a forward with their first pick.

"I do have several No. 1 priorities," said Cheveldayoff. "We're a team that's made it well known that we'd like to find some things on the right side, on the right wing, but we're looking to enhance any position.

"There is some unpredictability. I can only go back to last year and think about the excitement that was beginning to brew at our table when it looked like Jacob Trouba was going to potentially be there for us. When that came to fruition, you almost wanted to run up to the podium and make sure it is your turn.

"To say that (a player) will ever be there when you're in your meetings and then you catch yourself and say, 'Well, you never know...' especially when you are getting into that realm.

"Scouting is an art, not a science, and like many artists, they all have different styles. Every scouting director is going to look at different things. That's what makes for the most intriguing part of the draft: the unpredictability."

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 06.30.2013

683098 Winnipeg Jets

Cheveldayoff focused on priorities as buzz builds at NHL Draft

Ed Tait

06/29/2013 9:23 PM

Upstairs conference rooms were buzzing as four NHL teams — the Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames — are all sharing space in the same hotel, all conducting last-minute player interviews, all sharing chatter and gossip in the hours before today’s draft.

"Right now the happiest people are the phone companies, there’s no question about it," said Jets’ GM Kevin Cheveldayoff with a grin. "There’s lots of GMs with cellphones attached to their ear.

"It’s unpredictable. Each draft seems to take on its own life and certainly there’s lots of new factors that come into play on this one. At some point in time I imagine some trades will start to happen. Will they happen today, tomorrow on the floor or after the draft... people have mentioned compliance buyouts... there’s lots of different nuances and complexities."

The Jets, who hold the 13th pick in the first round, three more in the second and 10 overall, conducted interviews with 88 players at the draft combine earlier this month and planned to chat again with 10-12 players this weekend. Sources say the last three interviews Jets conducted Saturday included Domi, Morin and Curtis Lazar of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings.

Other prospects spotted Saturday at the Jets’ hotel included Ottawa 67s centre Sean Monahan, Valeri Nichushkin of the KHL’s Chelyaninsk, both of whom are now expected to be plucked before Winnipeg picks at 13... unless the Jets make a deal to move up in the first round.

"We’re trying," Cheveldayoff admitted. "It’s different for different teams to try and move up. Sitting at 13, depending on where you want to go, sometimes it’s a roster player (being asked for) and you have to decide whether you have that ability to move a roster player to move into that situation, and sometimes it’s a pick. A lot of times the teams you are talking to don’t want to commit until they know who’s there for them. If it’s a player (available) that they like, then all your work is for naught.

"Similarly, teams below us are making the calls and the requisite overtures and you set your prices from those things. You’re here to re-stock and stock your teams with young talent and future building blocks for your organization."

And it’s here where the Jets must weigh filling the current holes on their roster vs. stockpiling young talent. Cheveldayoff has key restricted free agents to re-sign, such as Blake Wheeler and Zach Bogosian, and nine unrestricted free agents — a good half-dozen of which are likely to leave — that leave some significant question marks on the depth chart.

There has been talk about compliance buyouts and the usual assortment of trade rumours — the speculation swirling even more so this year because of the drop in the salary cap that has handcuffed teams pushed up against it.

"There’s lots of conversation and it goes in both directions, players that we’ve asked about, players (of their own) that have been asked about us," said Cheveldayoff. "Obviously at the draft here, draft picks are en vogue part of the conversation. You make certain calls to different teams depending on their situations and where they are in the draft, about maybe potentially moving up and seeing what that price is, what their appetite is and when they are going to do it or if they are going to do it."

It would be shocking if the Jets used their first-round pick to grab a goaltender and there are some young defensive prospects in the system, including last year’s first-rounder, Jacob Trouba. The Jets have some serious needs, both with the big club and in their system, along the right side, and so the consensus from draft watchers is they will likely go with a forward with their first pick.

"I do have several No. 1 priorities," said Cheveldayoff. "We’re a team that’s made it well-known that we’d like to find some things on the right side, on the right wing, but we’re looking to enhance any position.

"There is some unpredictability. I can only go back to last year and think about the excitement that was beginning to brew at our table when it looked like Jacob Trouba was going to potentially be there for us. When that came to fruition, you almost wanted to run up to the podium and make sure it is your turn.

"To say that (a player) will ever be there when you’re in your meetings and then you catch yourself and say, ‘Well, you never know...’ especially when you are getting into that realm.

"Scouting is an art, not a science, and like many artists, they all have different styles. Every scouting director is going to look at different things. That’s what makes for the most intriguing part of the draft: the unpredictability."

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 06.30.2013

683099 Winnipeg Jets

Jets' Enstrom robbed, assaulted in Sweden

Ed Tait

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Toby Enstrom probably wishes he could put 2013 permanently in the rear-view mirror.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman was robbed and assaulted in his hometown of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden Friday night but is recovering with only minor injuries. Swedish website SportExpressen.se first reported the 28-year-old defenceman was beaten by three men and robbed.

The Jets became aware of the incident Saturday morning.

"We’ve done some digging through our team security," said Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff Saturday at his media conference in advance of Sunday’s NHL Draft in Newark.

"Apparently Toby was out for dinner with his family and went to pick up the cheque and went to the ATM to get some money and was robbed by three people. Supposedly, to the best of our knowledge, those people have been apprehended by police. Toby is fine. He received a minor cut above the eye. He’s putting it behind him."

Cheveldayoff spoke to Jets’ security and later Saturday to Enstrom himself and was assured Enstrom was OK.

Enstrom is coming off a frustrating campaign with the Jets in which he appeared in only 22 games because of injuries. But he remains a key cog in the team’s defensive corps and, before being injured, was leading all NHL defencemen in scoring.

The Jets are breathing a sigh of relief the assault left Enstrom with just minor injuries.

"They’re like your kids and when they go away for the summer you’re always worried about different things like that," said Cheveldayoff.

"Toby’s such a good guy and to have it happen to him is unfortunate, but it just goes to show you’re never safe and you always have to be on guard."

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 06.30.2013

683100 Winnipeg Jets

Jets gear up for future

Ken Wiebe

June 29, 2013 11:48 PM CDT

NEW YORK CITY -- It's down to a matter of when the Winnipeg Jets will make their first pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and ultimately, who it's going to be.

Going into what is likely to be an incredibly long day, cramming seven rounds into Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the Jets hold 10 selections, including six in the first three rounds in what is being called the deepest draft in recent memory.

Currently holding the 13th overall selection, Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff reiterated hat he's interested in moving up in the draft but based on reports, the price tag right is still pretty high right now.

"Ultimately, you're here to restock and stock your teams with young talent and future building blocks for your organization. That is really the first and foremost topic on our minds," said Cheveldayoff. "We spent a lot of time with our scouts, our scouts have spent the whole year putting their hearts and souls into the list. It's an exciting time for them and it's an exciting time for the organization."

Cheveldayoff said it's important to keep an open mind and be able to adjust on the fly, exploring all options.

With that in mind, the Jets brought in Ottawa 67s centre Sean Monahan in for a second interview on Saturday afternoon and he's projected to be picked between fifth and eighth.

The Jets brought roughly 12 players back for second interviews this week after meeting with 88 guys at the NHL combine in Toronto.

One of the interesting dynamics at play is the fact the Jets hold three second-round picks.

Whether the Jets hold onto all three picks or end up sacrificing one for a player that can help them win now is one of the more intriguing storylines to follow going into Sunday.

"It certainly creates a great deal more conversation pieces, it gives you a lot more opportunity to get into the game, if you want to get into the game," said Cheveldayoff. "But there's still so many different things that come into play, when you even go to use one of those pieces for a player. You have to make sure that you keep one eye always looking at where you're at right now and where you need to be in the future."

Jets director of amateur scouting Marcel Comeau made it clear that the fact the organization has only selected North American players during the past two drafts since the NHL returned to Winnipeg is merely a coincidence.

"It really is," said Comeau, noting the scouting staff took a few extra trips overseas this year. "There's obviously some high-end players over there. We wanted to make sure we had some good viewings on those players.

"We have nothing against drafting European players. We have some of those players in prominent spots on our list this year, so it's just one of those things. Certainly no bias on our part."

Winnipeg Sun LOADED 06.30.2013

683101 Winnipeg Jets

Jets ready to pick up ‘building blocks’ in 2013 NHL Entry Draft

Ken Wiebe

Saturday, June 29, 2013 12:21 PM CDT

JERSEY CITY, N.J - The Winnipeg Jets are huddling up one last time to put the finishing touches on their draft list.

Going into Sunday’s draft with 10 picks, including six in the first three rounds, it’s now a question of whether the Jets are going to use them all or package one (or some) of them in a deal to help them win right now.

“We plan things accordingly,” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said on Saturday afternoon at the hotel where the team is meeting. “Ultimately, you’re here to restock and stock your teams with young talent and future building blocks for your organization and that is really the first and foremost topic on our minds.