Jets GM Cheveldayoff is back in the Winnipeg hockey news, but this time not for a signing or trade. Cheveldayoff made a TV appearance in Edmonton on TSN during the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. This tournament features the best U-18 players from 8 nations, and is seen as the “starting” tournament of the hockey calendar year for NHL scouts.

Cheveldayoff joined the broadcast during an intermission to talk a bit about the Jets’ strategy for scouting at this tournament, as well as highlighting a few of the upcoming prospects and younger NHL players in the Jets organization.

Even before the NHL season begins, you start hearing names of players that could be the top picks in the 2025 and even 2026 NHL draft. This tournament is one of the 1st international showcases for these players, and it gives the scouts and GMs a chance to watch them play together for their home countries.

Cheveldayoff was asked about what kind of scouts are present at this tournament. Is it the local scouts, the international scouts, the “crossover” scouts, or a mix of all of the scouts? Cheveldayoff said that “we’ll bring in our crossovers and our guys over from Europe as well. Again, it usually works the other direction as well, you know, every other year you’re going back to Europe, so you’re flying your crossover guys… the [ones] who generally see all of the players.” Similar to other IIHF tournaments, the location year-to-year usually alternates between Canada, USA and somewhere in Europe, and this year the tournament is being played at the Edmonton Oilers arena (Rogers Place) in downtown Edmonton.

The conversation then shifted to highlighting some of the current and upcoming Jets young stars. One notable name, who played in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and had a wonderful tournament a few years ago, was Cole Perfetti. Cheveldayoff emphasized that Perfetti has only “scratched the surface” in terms of his ceiling, and that the injuries in his 19 and 20 year old season got him off to a less than ideal start in his career, before a great season last year. Cheveldayoff went on to admit that Perfetti, a still pending restricted free agent, is part of the Jets core that has been around for a few years now, and is someone who he’s hoping to take another big step in terms of development in the 2024-25 season.

Cheveldayoff was then asked about some of the other notable young players in the Jets system who may make some NHL appearances in 2024-25. Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov were praised, and Cheveldayoff said that “the Moose do such a great job for us in development, you know you just look at our team and over the years guys like Adam Lowry, Kyle Connor, they all came through the Moose organization.” It’s fair to say that the team’s AHL affiliate has done a good job over the years in helping the younger players develop and transition smoothly into the NHL.

The conversation on TSN with Cheveldayoff concluded with them asking about what excites Cheveldayoff about this upcoming season. Cheveldayoff noted the new coaching staff led by Scott Arniel, before he reiterated that he’s “looking forward to our younger players [trying to] take a step, whether it’s Logan Stanley, Ville Heinola, Brad Lambert, Chibrikov, [or] Perfetti. Those are the kinds of players that we need to keep growing to push our organization forward”. Although he’s now 26 and has dealt with some injuries in the past, Cheveldayoff remains hopeful on Stanley’s ability to capture the opportunity that presents him, that being ultimately taking a step forward this upcoming season.

Cheveldayoff made one final point which was that the Jets younger players need to “grab the opportunity” that awaits them this season. He appears to believe that the organization has been set up in every way possible to allow these younger players to make their mark and prove themselves as key members of the Jets NHL roster.

The final important Jets off-season move still is pending, as the wait for Cole Perfetti’s contract extension continues. If you want to check out the full conversation with Cheveldayoff, you can catch it HERE on TSN’s official YouTube channel. In need of some hockey action? Canada takes on the USA tonight at 8:30 pm CT in the semi-finals of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton.