Winnipeg Jets prospect Jacob Julien is headed to the Memorial Cup with the London Knights

With the Stanley Cup playoffs deep into round 2, and the Winnipeg Jets off-season questions beginning to swirl, I thought I would take a step back for today and check out how one of the Jets prospects is doing in his junior league. It’s playoff hockey season around a lot of the world’s hockey leagues this time of the year. One of the leagues which you may be familiar with, the Canadian Hockey League, is preparing for it’s annual Memorial Cup tournament in just a few weeks. Jets prospect Jacob Julien will be headed off to this historic tournament with his London Knights from the Ontario Hockey League.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Memorial Cup, it’s the Canadian Hockey League’s Championship tournament that is held every year during Memorial Day weekend. There are 4 teams, a host team, the Ontario Hockey League champion, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion and the Western Hockey League champion. This season the host of the tournament is the Saginaw Spirit, a team who finished with an impressive record of 50-16-2 but were eliminated in the OHL’s Western conference finals to the London Knights. Representing the QMJHL is the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who swept the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4-0 in the QMJHL championships after going 48-14-5 in the regular season. Representing the WHL is the Moose Jaw Warriors, who won their 1st WHL title with a 4-0 sweep over the Portland Winterhawks after a very solid 44-21-3 season. Last but not least, the London Knights will be representing the OHL after sweeping the Oshawa Generals 4-0 in the OHL championship after a league best 50-14-4 season.

One member of the London Knights is Jets prospect Jacob Julien. The 19-year old from London, Ontario just completed a very successful 2nd season with the Knights, scoring 29 goals and adding 48 assists for 78 points in 67 games. Julien has also been contributing to the Knights successful playoff run, scoring 9 goals and adding 9 assists for 18 points in 18 games. The 2023 5th round, 146th overall pick hasn’t signed his entry level contract with the Jets yet, but it’s only a matter of time before that happens seeing the success he’s having with the Knights this season.

While Julien is very likely still be a few years away from being a member of the Winnipeg Jets, he’s a big, 6’4″ and smart offence-first centre who continues to develop his all-around game. If you want to learn about Julien’s game, you can check out what scouts have to say on Elite Prospects. To summarize, Julien is a player who best showcases his persistence. He’s the type of player that you will see going into battles and making sure he’s in the right position at all times. His numbers show that he has some real upside on offence, but it’s really his defence that drives his game. Julien’s overall skills makes him someone who could be a perfect future fit for the Winnipeg Jets if he continues to develop the way he has over the past 2 seasons.

If you want to check out Julien in action in the Memorial Cup, below is the schedule for the London Knights. The round robin runs from May 24th till May 29th before the tie breaker (if required) on May 30th, the semi-final on May 31st and the Memorial Cup Finals on June 2nd.

May 25th @ 3:00pm CT: London Knights vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs

May 27th @ 6:30pm CT: London Knights vs. Moose Jaw Warriors

May 29th @ 6:30pm CT: London Knights vs. Saginaw Spirit

Jacob Julien will look to help the London Knights win their 3rd Memorial Cup title, with their previous victories coming in 2005 and 2016.