Lottery heartbreak on Tuesday pushed Winnipeg down to the eighth pick, likely snatching local star Carson Carels away from his hometown team before the draft even begins.
On Tuesday night, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets watched in shock as Mats Sundin, John Chayka and the Toronto Maple Leafs' brass earned the No. 1 selection in the coming 2026 NHL Draft.
Moving up from the fifth-best odds to landing the right to draft Gavin McKenna first overall this June, Toronto surpassed four clubs with higher odds at that coveted first overall selection.
Then came the kicker.
Vancouver, which hoped it would at least have the opportunity to remain second overall, at worst, after putting up an historically disappointing season, sat back as San Jose jumped all the way up to the No. 2 pick from their ninth-ranked seeding.
This forced all teams from No. 1 to 8 and not named the Toronto Maple Leafs down another selection, meaning the Jets, who were originally supposed to be selecting seventh overall, would now be picking from the eighth spot this June.
Photo by Timothy Ludwig/USA Today It's not the first time that teams have swept in from significantly outside the Top 3 to earn the first or second pick. New York chose Matthew Schaefer first overall last year in a 10-place jump, while Winnipeg also had some lottery luck of its own back in 2016 to draft Patrik Laine.
This time, however, the move down to No. 8 likely spells the end of the storybook for what local Manitobans are hoping would be quite the ending for defenceman Carson Carels.
Looked upon by most professionals as a top-five pick this year, some figured the Jets would still be able to obtain the Cypress River product's talents at the seventh pick. This move to eighth likely solidifies Winnipeg's seat outside the Carels sweepstakes.
Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing nearly 200 pounds, the Pilot Mound CSSHL alum is expected to be one of the top-three blueliners selected on June 26 in Buffalo. He has a real shot at being the first, too.
In 58 games for the Prince George Cougars, Carels had 20 goals and 73 points, while producing 66 penalty minutes and a plus-23 rating. He put up another 10 points in 10 postseason games for the Cougars this spring.
Despite likely not being an option for Cheveldayoff next month, there is no real guarantee that the Jets would have selected Carels even if he was available, all things considered.
Winnipeg's track record on the draft floor has been anything but inspiring over the past number of years.
Of the last three drafts, just one player Winnipeg has selected has skated in NHL games - Thomas Milic, who played in three games thanks to Connor Hellebuyck's early-season injury this past fall.
Since Winnipeg selected Laine in 2016, the only first round lineup regular is Cole Perfetti. And even he was selected with fellow Winnipegger Seth Jarvis - who by most accounts is a far better player than Perfetti - still available and on the board.
Other Jets first round selections since Laine include Kristian Vesalainen, Ville Heinola, Chaz Lucius, Rutger McGroarty, Brad Lambert, Colby Barlow and Sascha Boumedienne. The latter half still has time to prove their worth, but the former have not panned out.
Over the years, it has also sort of become a theme that Winnipeg shies away from taking local products, with last year's third round selection Owen Martin being the exception.
Carson Lambos, Owen Pickering, Carson Bjarnason, Daemon Hunt, Jett Woo, Calen Addison, Joel Hofer, Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar each saw their hometown team pass them over in the past 10 years.
Despite Carels' availability likely not an option at pick No. 8, Winnipeg should still have plenty of opportunity to restock the cupboard as a host of blue chip defensive and offensive prospects should be left up for grabs.
The eighth overall selection will be the highest pick the Jets have had since taking Laine. And with a number of recent draft failures on their hands, the time is now to wipe that slate clean and prove that the on-ice failure of 2025-26 was not for nothing.