After filling an organizational need with the selection of Finnish left-shot defenceman Ville Heinola in Friday’s first round of the 2019 NHL entry draft, Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and his scouting staff bolstered their future depth at a variety of positions with their four picks on Day 2.
The Jets took right-shot defenceman Simon Lundmark of Sweden with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the draft, held in Vancouver. Lundmark, who stands six-foot-two and weighs 197 pounds, had three assists in 28 games during his second season with Linkoping HC of the Swedish Hockey League.
The Jets did not have a pick in the third round, and in Round 4 they added a left-handed centre in six-foot-two, 180-pound pivot Henri Nikkanen, who scored two goals in nine games with Jukurit of the Finnish SM Liiga.
With the 134th and 144th selections in Round 5, Winnipeg took a pair of players from the BC Hockey League in centre Harrison Blaisdell of the Chilliwack Chiefs and goalie Logan Neaton of the Prince George Spruce Kings.
Blaisdell, the son of former NHL player Mike Blaisdell, sniped 33 goals and added 25 assists for 58 points in 51 games with Chilliwack. Mitchell Clinton of Jets TV reported that the five-foot-11, 181-pound Abbotsford, B.C., native is committed to play at at the University of North Dakota this coming season.
Neaton is a 20-year-old, six-foot-three, 190-pound netminder from Brighton, Mich. He made 47 appearances for Prince George and went 32-8-5 with a 1.92 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and five shutouts for the National Junior A runners up.
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