Winnipeg Jets development camp to welcome 35 players to Hockey For All Centre

The Winnipeg Jets will welcome 17 draft picks and 18 other players to their annual summer development camp which gets underway with the first on ice session Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. at Hockey For All Centre.

Headlining the 35-player roster will be the likes of 2022 first and second round picks Brad Lambert and Elias Salomonsson, 2023 fifth-rounder Jacob Julien who had a breakthrough season for the OHL London Knights this past season, and the four players who were selected last weekend in the 2024 NHL entry draft at Sphere in Las Vegas.

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That group included Swedish defenceman Alfons Freij (2nd round), Niagara Ice Dogs forward Kevin He (4th round), Finnish centre Markus Lopinen (5th round), and Sudbury Wolves centre Kieron Walton (6th round).

Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has confirmed Rutger McGroarty will not be attending camp, along with Manitoba Moose forward Nikita Chibrikov.

McGroarty, the 14th overall pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft, is reportedly unwilling to sign with the Jets over a difference of philosophies on how his professional career should unfold.

Cheveldayoff told reporters on July 1st that Chibrikov won’t be able to participate because of school commitments back in his home country of Russia.

Winnipeg’s 2022 fourth round pick, defenceman Garrett Brown of the University of Denver will attend the camp but won’t take part in any on ice sessions as he’s still recovering from surgery on a lower body injury suffered in late November for the NCAA champs.

Fans might recognize the names of former Winnipeg ICE players Ben Zloty and Graham Sward along with Vlad Namestnikov’s younger brother Max, who just completed his third OHL season by scoring 26 goals and adding 24 assists for 50 points in 68 games with the Guelph Storm.

Undrafted Hockey Manitoba products Gavin Hodnett (Edmonton-WHL), Luke Mistelbacher (Swift Current-WHL) and Nathan Brown (Niverville-MJHL) are also among the 35 rostered players for the camp, which continues through Sunday starting at 9:30 a.m. every day.