The Winnipeg Jets are now exactly three weeks away from opening their 2026-27 NHL season at home against the Boston Bruins. The Jets are also just 44 days away from hosting the Montreal Canadiens at Princess Auto Stadium for the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic, with tickets for all games of the 2026-27 season on sale now. The long days of the NHL off-season are almost over, as we’re now eight days away from pre-season games.

With the conclusion of the “goals and expectations” series last week, it’s time we turn to Jets news as we prepare for the NHL pre-season. Before the main club hits the ice on September 19th against the Oilers, Jets prospects are preparing for the upcoming 2026 Prospect Challenge. This Friday morning at the Hockey For All Centre there was two groups of Jets veterans on the ice for informal skates before the prospects.

Adam Lowry joined the main group after skating on his own earlier in the week, and Nino Niederreiter made his first appearance at these informal skates. There were a total of fifteen skaters on the ice, and some notable names that weren’t skating were Gabriel Vilardi, Morgan Barron, Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov. Connor Hellebuyck remained absent, but the team remains optimistic that he’ll join them for training camp despite his ongoing trade request.

Elias Salomonsson was skating on his own, as he gets closer to returning from his off-season shoulder surgery. There was one other group of skaters that hit the ice before the prospects which included many of the Jets depth players, including Haydn Fleury, Parker Ford, and Jack St. Ivany.

Earlier this week the Jets announced their roster for this weekend’s 2026 Prospect Challenge in Quebec, and they were all on the ice today except for 2025 3rd round pick Owen Martin, who is currently dealing with an ankle injury. The skaters got to focus some of their time on the ice with some powerplay practice, and the top unit included 2026 8th overall pick Viggo Bjork.

Among the 14 forwards, 7 defencemen, and 2 goals on this prospects roster, Viggo Bjork will be the one with the most eyes on him for the two weekend games. At this mini-tournament, Bjork will be the second most highly touted prospect on the ice behind Maple Leafs 1st overall pick Gavin McKenna. The Jets top forward pairing was a trio of prospects that Jets fans should be familiar with by now, namely Kieron Walton, Brayden Yager, and Colby Barlow. The “top” defence pairing was Lukas Gustafsson and Garrett Brown, and the starting goalie for the first game might be 2026 3rd round pick Samuel Hrenak.

We’ll need to wait until tomorrow for the official projected lineups, but overall this group of prospects looks better (and well rounded) than recent seasons. The four teams (Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators) will each play two games at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau, Quebec this weekend. The full Jets 2026 prospect challenge can be found here. Below is the full 2026 Prospect Challenge schedule, with times listed in CT.

Montreal vs. Winnipeg – Sat, Sept. 12 – 12:00 pm

Toronto vs. Ottawa – Sat, Sept. 12 – 5:00 pm

Winnipeg vs. Toronto – Sun, Sept. 13 – 12:00 pm

Montreal vs. Ottawa – Sun, Sept. 13 – 5:00 pm

The 2026 NHL off-season is almost done, with pre-season games starting in one week. All 32 teams are now back on the ice getting ready for the 2026-27 season. Stay tuned here on Daily Faceoff Winnipeg for the latest news on the Jets, as well as a variety of different articles leading up to the Jets first pre-season game on September 19th.

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