Draft experts weigh in on who might be available at 18th overall

With the 2023 NHL Draft two weeks away, winnipegjets.com reached out to three draft experts for their thoughts on what Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Jets will do when they get to the podium to make their first selection at 18. Keep in mind, things could change before the draft begins on June 28th and the Jets have their first, third, fifth and seventh round picks along with the Rangers fifth round selection.

Sam Cosentino (Sportsnet): "It's going to be depending on who is left, and I think if you have a (Tom) Willander there, an Axel Sandin Pellikka there, even (Oliver) Bonk but to a lesser extent for me. If those other two options are available, I would keep the pick. Now if it came down to Bonk being there at 18, I'd be amenable to moving a pick to acquiring a second-round pick cause Winnipeg doesn't have that this year and a later first round selection. So, I would definitely consider a drop back because now I'm looking at a forward group (of prospects) that extends quite a ways into the first round and that's what I would consider.

Chris Peters (NHL Draft and Prospects Analyst, FloHockey): The thing about predicting this first round is you have to figure out where (Matvei) Michkov goes first, how many defencemen go early. There might be two or three that might go possibly before they (the Jets) pick. The way my mock draft shook out, (USNTDP forward) Gabe Perreault was still on the board. I think the reason he would still be there is he's not a big guy (5'11, 165), his skating is only ok but an elite offensive mind. Really special. Obviously, the Jets have had some pretty good success at drafting those (types of players). The way things could shake out and all three defencemen (David Reinbacher, Tom Willander and Axel Sandin Pellikka) are off the board, you can focus on forwards, and he would be the best one available at that point of the draft. If you are looking for size, you could go with a guy like (Oshawa Generals centre) Calum Ritchie could be there.

Ryan Kennedy (The Hockey News): When I look at the Jets system right now, the top half is all forwards right now, Lucius, McGroarty and Lambert. For me it feels like it's going to be a defenceman, at least that would make the most sense at this point. Unless somebody falls that they have to have but I would think names like (Tri-City's) Lukas Dragicevic, (London's) Oliver Bonk would be very intriguing, I'm very high on him. Having seen him play and seen his path, I think he could be a great pro, maybe in even a Jaccob Slavin mode. He has the smarts, he's got size, he's mobile. He can give you offence, the Knights already trust him. Then of course, you have a couple of Russian wild cards. (Mikhail) Gulyayev is more that new school defenceman and Dmitri Simashev, here's a player where he didn't produce early on and then he went to a different team and all of a sudden, he's producing really well. He's really mobile and has amazing size (6'4, 201).