The Winnipeg Jets didn’t have a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft as they traded it to the Montreal Canadiens for Sean Monahan in Feb. 2024 in their attempt to go all-in on a Stanley Cup that fell woefully short.
A second-round pick doesn’t seem like a flashy selection or one that could get a future needle-moving player, but as The Hockey Writers has explored, recent history shows there’s potential to find compelling talent around there.
Related: NHL History Shows Jets Will Get Value With 37th Pick in 2024 Draft
It’s also worth looking at Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff’s second-round track record specifically. He has been the Jets’ GM for their entire 2.0 existence and has chosen 11 players in the second round over 14 drafts to various degrees of success.
The NHL Regulars
Three of those 10 second-rounders are currently regulars on the Jets roster.
Dylan Samberg (43rd overall, 2017) took a while to turn pro, but the organization’s patience paid off. He’s developed into a defensively-sound second-pairing presence after his first two full seasons with the Jets went quite well on the third pairing.
David Gustafsson (60th overall, 2018) has had an up-and-down career due to injuries that have prevented him from cementing a bigger role, but has still played 149 games with the Jets over six seasons in a fourth-line centre or winger role.
Eric Comrie (59th overall, 2013) has made 44 appearances and 41 starts for the Jets over parts of five seasons — with the bulk of his playing time coming in 2024-25 when he had a good season as Jets backup — and has posted a 21-18-2 record, .911 save percentage, 2.68 goals against average, and one shutout in those 24 appearances. He also set a number of Manitoba Moose goaltending records in six American Hockey League (AHL) seasons.
Comrie parlayed his strong 2021-22 into a two-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres in the 2022 offseason, but struggled in his two seasons with the Sabres. He returned to the Jets on a two-year contract in the 2024 offseason when former backup Laurent Brossoit signed with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Fringe Departed
Three of the 10 second-rounders played games for the Jets or Moose but have since departed for other teams.
Nic Petan (43rd overall, 2013) played 108 games and recorded 23 points for the Jets over four seasons but was never able to translate his junior and minor league scoring success to the pro level or find a permanent space in the Jets’ lineup. The team traded the undersized forward to the Toronto Maple Leafs in March, 2018 and he has since bounced between the NHL and AHL with the Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, and New York Rangers organizations. He has played 170 career NHL games and is now playing in the Kontinental Hockey League’s Kazan Ak-bars.
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Jansen Harkins (47th overall, 2015) like Petan, is a high-scoring AHLer who hasn’t found the scoresheet consistently in the NHL. Harkins played 154 games for the Jets in a bottom-six role over four seasons and recorded 27 points before being claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the start of the 2023-24 season. He now plays in the Anaheim Ducks organization.
Daniel Torgersson (40th overall, 2020) was not as productive in his sophomore or third seasons as he was in his rookie pro campaign. In a bottom-six role with the Moose in 2023-24, the Swedish forward had one goal and eight assists for nine points in 52 games, down from 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points in 69 games in 2022-23. The organization placed him on waivers for purpose of terminating his contract in late Dec. 2024 after he had zero points in his first 12 Moose games this season. He is now playing in Finland for Liiga’s JYP.
The Promising Hopefuls and Current Prospects
Three of the 10 second-rounders are current Jets’ prospects with various levels of promise.
Elias Salomonsson (55th overall, 2022) came to North America for the 2024-25 season and played the entire season with the Moose. He spent the bulk of his previous season with the Swedish Hockey League’s Skelleftea AIK, which was his fourth season with the organization overall.
The right-shot defender had two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 31 games and also put up one goal and five assists for six points in 16 playoff games and helped Skelleftea win the championship after losing in the final in 2023. The now 20-year-old also played four games with the Skelleftea junior team, scoring three goals and adding two assists for five points.
Salomonsson also represented Sweden in the 2024 World Juniors and got off to an inauspicious start as he was ejected just 25 seconds into the opening game against Latvia for hitting Emils Veckaktins from behind; he was issued a one-game suspension as a result. After serving his suspension — which made him the most-penalized defender in the tournament — he played a key role on a stingy and stifling Swedish blue line that allowed just 15 goals in seven games (and only nine through the first six games prior to the gold-medal game, which they lost to the U.S.)
Nikita Chibrikov (50th overall, 2021) recorded 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) with the Moose in his first season in North America, good for fourth on the team, and continued to be a top-line forward for them in his sophomore 2024-25. The 22-year-old Russian’s quick adjustment to the North American play-style earned him a call-up to the Jets for their final game of the 2023-24 season. It was a night to remember for Chibrikov as he scored a third-period goal that turned out to be the game winner.
He was also called up for four games in 2024-25, recording two goals and adding an assist for three points.
Simon Lundmark (51st overall, 2019) recently completed his fourth season with the Moose on the blue line. The now-24-year-old suited up for 66 games in 2024-25, recording four goals and 10 assists for 14 points. Through 254 career games, he has 16 goals and 46 assists for 64 points.
The Bust
Lukas Sutter (39th overall, 2012) of the Sutter hockey family is the only notable bust; the selection is seen now as a reach that didn’t pan out as he did not sign with the Jets’ organization. He re-entered the draft two years later and was selected in the seventh round (200th overall) by the New York Islanders, but after 2014-15 was out of professional hockey.
The Next One
Alfons Freij (37th overall, 2024) was Cheveldayoff’s opening selection in Las Vegas in the NHL Entry Draft.
Freij, an offensively-gifted left-handed Swedish defenseman, is a phenomenal skater with serious playmaking upside. The 19-year-old played the 2024-25 season with Bjorkloven IF in the second-tier Swedish Hockey League, where he had two goals and six assists for eight points in 29 games.
Stats accurate up to July 2025.
