Winnipeg Jets hockey is unofficially back tonight at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, BC. The Young Stars Classic (hosted by the Vancouver Canucks) takes places starting today and runs until Monday (September 16th) night. This tournament has been a fairly re-occurring yearly tradition that serves as a showcase for the prospects from the Canucks, Flames, Oilers and of course the Jets.

The Jets will take on the Flames tonight at 6:00 pm CT, and the game will be livestreamed for free on WinnipegJets.com. Tomorrow, the Jets young stars have a day off, before playing the Canucks on Sunday at 4:00 PM CT, before concluding this mini tournament on Monday afternoon at 2:00 PM CT against the Oilers. You can view the full event details, including the schedule and rosters for all 4 teams HERE, which includes other fun events happening at the arena this weekend.

The Jets young stars, coached by Manitoba Moose head coach Mark Morrison, have been practicing for the last few days in preparation for tonight’s game against the Flames young stars. The team of prospects had to take 2 flights and a bus ride to arrive at the rink in Penticton on Thursday afternoon, where they started getting ready for the upcoming 3 games.

While coming up with lines for a team like this can be a little difficult, the Jets have experimented with a few combinations before their final full skate and practice this morning. According to insiders in attendance, there was a focus put on special teams, especially the power play. The lineup for tonight’s game has been all but confirmed from the practice lines, and they go as follows.

He – Lambert – Barlow

Walton – Zhilkin – Torgersson

Julien – Yager – Chibrikov

Loponen – Nikkanen – Levis

Anhorn – Salomonsson

Kuzmin – Barteayx

Sword – Mayo

Milic – DiVincentiis (Milic starting)

At first glance of this lineup, there’s some intriguing combinations that will be fun to watch for tonight. Starting with the forwards, you have the newly drafted Kevin He (109th overall in 2024) alongside potentially THE top prospect for the Jets in Brad Lambert, and another top 5 prospect in Colby Barlow. All eyes will be on Brad Lambert, who appears to be the consensus “best” player on this Jets young stars roster.

The 3rd line is another line that I’ll be watching closely, as it features Memorial Cup finalist Jacob Julien, the newly acquired Brayden Yager (part of the McGroarty trade) and another promising prospect in Nikita Chibrikov. This line has speed and skill written all over it, and I think this line will be fun to watch if it remains the same throughout this tournament.

Looking at the defence, the only name that really jumps out at me is Elias Salomonsson. The 2nd round pick in 2022 has been climbing up the list of Jets top prospects as of lately, and seems to be the next promising member of the Jets blue line. Salomonsson will be paired with 25-year old Dylan Anhorn out of St. Cloud State University, who will be serving as one of the assistant captains for this tournament, with the other assistant being Brad Lambert (there’s no primary captain).

Both goalies for the Jets appear to be on the right path in terms of development. Goalies typically take a while to develop into NHL regulars, but both Milic and DiVincentiis are looking to secure the backup role behind Hellebuyck down the road. You might remember Milic’s performance at the U-20 World Juniors with team Canada, where Milic dazzled with a 1.76 goals against average and had a save percentage of .932%. Let’s see if Milic can bring that special level of play in this short tournament.

The head coach for the Jets this weekend Mark Morrison summarized this event, saying that “this tournament is hard because it’s the first time that they really have game time experience after the summer. But they need to show [everyone] how to play the right way and how to play hard”.  It’s a fun time of the hockey calendar year as the off-season winds down and the preparations for the 2024-25 season begins. Even if we’re still just over 3 weeks away until the real NHL action begins, a tournament with young stars like this one will be great for curing the wait for the upcoming hockey season. I’ll be watching the Jets Young Stars Classic games on WinnipegJets.com this weekend and will make sure to break down the results and observations from the tournament.