Illegal Curve Hockey: Winnipeg Jets

We heard from Jets captain Adam Lowry as he spoke about the impact on his hockey club from having future Hall of Famer Jonathan Toews join the mix this last season.

Jonathan Toews met with the media following his retirement from the NHL, reflecting on a remarkable 16-season career that concluded with a return to his hometown Winnipeg Jets. The Winnipeg native discussed his decision to step away from the game after a career that included three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals and a future place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Jets held a formal media availability to celebrate the career of future Hall of Famer Jonathan Toews who was officially announcing his retirement. We heard from Sr. Director of Hockey Communications Scott Brown as well as from Toews and team co-owner Mark Chipman. 

Shane Malloy of Hockey Prospect Radio joined us on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show to discuss the 2026 NHL Draft and what options could be available to the Winnipeg Jets with the 8th overall pick. We break down some of the top prospects in the class, potential fits for Winnipeg, and what the Jets should be looking for on draft day.

Topics:

1) General sense on the 2026 Draft class.

2) What can he say about Viggo Björck (1:19)

3) What would a team be getting in Ethan Belchetz (3:20)

4) What's his perspective on Daxon Rudolph (5:40)

5) Why would Tynan Lawrence be a good pick 8th overall? (6:56)

6) Thoughts on Manitoba product Carson Carels (9:20)

7) Alberts Šmits as potentially most NHL ready draft pick (10:40)

8) Prospect timelines getting to the NHL (13:54)

9) Why is he high on Alexander Command? (16:29)

10) What is his assessment of Malte Gustafsson? (22:48)

11) What stands out to him about Ryan Lin? (25:04)

12) CHL players going to college before turning pro (29:30)

On today's Illegal Curve Hockey Show, we discussed the latest Connor Hellebuyck speculation, debated whether the Jets should keep the 8th overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, and examined whether the organization needs to commit to a clear direction rather than straddling the line between competing and retooling. We also touched on the Stanley Cup Final and looked ahead to the NHL Draft and the key storylines Jets fans should be watching.

Guests:

Christian Aumell of 680 CJOB at 27:32

Shane Malloy of Hockey Prospects Radio at 1:22:50

Two hours of hockey talk on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show as we continue to discuss all things Jets including the talk about Shane Doan potentially joining front office, chat about the impact of Manitobans in the Stanley Cup Final, continue our focus on the NHL Draft and more.

Guests:

Sean Reynolds of Sportsnet at 28:52

Former NHLer Mike Commodore at 1:27:09

Two hours of hockey talk on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show as we continue to discuss all things Jets, reflect on the NHL playoffs, discuss the success of Winnipeg players at the World Championship, chat about next month's NHL Draft and more. 

Guests:

Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press at 32:20

Jeff Marek of The Sheet on Daily Faceoff at 1:25:33

TSN’s Director of Scouting Craig Button shared his insight on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show, ahead of next month's Draft with some thoughts on players Winnipeg could draft with the eighth overall pick. He also shared thoughts about whether they might trade it to fill an immediate need on this hockey club. Plenty of good insight from the affable analyst.

Topics:

1) How deep is the 1st round? (:25)

2) Carson Carels/move to UND (3:00)

3) Viggo Björck (8:34)

4) If Jets should trade 8th overall pick (11:21)

5) Daxon Rudolph (15:41)

6) Alberts Šmits (17:54)

7) Diamonds in the rough (20:05)

8) Timelines for prospects (23:26)

Two hours of hockey talk covering all the latest with the Winnipeg Jets news including next month's draft and a look at Cole Perfetti's next contract. We also looked at how Jets players were doing at the World Championship. We touched on the latest doing with the Moose with Tyrel Bauer winning the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award as AHL Man of the Year as well as Samuel Fagemo heading over to the SHL. And we looked at what's happening in the NHL Playoffs.

Guests:

Jets team reporter Jamie Thomas at 25:46

TSN's Director of Scouting Craig Button at 1:35:42

For as much as Moose defenceman Tyrel Bauer does for his teammates on the ice, he does so much in the community and he was recognized by his teammates during their end of season awards and now by the AHL as he was named the winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award as AHL Man of the Year.

He follows in the skates of former Moose captain Jimmy Oligny who won the award in 2023 which means two winners of this award in the last four seasons. The only other player to win it was Jimmy Roy who did so in 2003.

We caught up with him this afternoon to discuss his being awarded this honour by the AHL.