BlueAndWhite
Registered User
by Burton Cummings
The Winnipeg Free Press was granted a sit down interview with Jets General Manager Keith Fernandes after the first half of the 2012 HFNHL draft.
BC: "So, all in all, how would you categorize your first HFNHL draft ?"
KF: "Well, no other general managers threatened to quit. So I think, we did quite well.......no one threatened to quit right ?"
BC: "No, no, no....well, not publically anyway."
KF: "..."
BC: "Let's talk about the Tavares trade. Why make that move ?"
KF: "Let me start by saying that John Tavares is a very special young man and a tremendous hockey player and a great person. It was an immense pleasure to have him as part of the Jets organization, even if it was for such a short time. We believe and still believe that Tavares is going to firmly be a top ten/top five player for the next decade. If we didn't, we would have traded him for Steven Stamkos, in what was essentially a straight up deal.
To take a step back, when you look at our current roster, the roster of our minor league affiliate, our prospects player in junior, you notice that there just isn't much there. There's very little depth, and very little talent that projects to be HFNHL calibre. This immense void of talent (across all positions) was there when I took over as GM and I think some will argue I may have exacerbated the situation with a few of my trades this year. After having a year to study and observe the sim (as an aside, I think that's nearly not enough), I don't think having just elite talent at a few positions is what drives success. At the same time, I think a solid team top to bottom but bereft of high-end talent is not going to do well either.
So our challenge, my challenge was to remedy the situation and essentially build a winner from scratch. Doing that takes time and patience. And perhaps patience was a trait that I was lacking when I made my three large deals this year. Anyway ......
So when we seriously looked at our timeframe for when we expect the team to be a perennial contender and our existing players and assets, there were some tough choices to be made."
BC: "Sorry to interject, but the Tavares deal ..."
KF: "Ok, so our tough decision was, do we hold on to Tavares and hope that we can draft depth around him and when or if we eventually get to that point, what is his situation like in terms of his frustration level, injury risk, his contract, his play, etc. Or, do we capitalize on this asset and replenish the system and spread the risk and potential over several young players ?
And after discussing the deal with Rich Epstein, we felt that the package of players and picks we received, instantly gave us depth and talent.
BC: "What was the key to the deal, from your side of things?"
KF: "I think getting the 3rd overall selection in the 2012 HFNHL draft was the key. We had indication that Yakupov and Grigorenko were going to go 1 and 2, so we felt we could get the player we coveted in Galchenyuk at #3. Galchenyuk is a player we've had a chance to view in person a few times (last year) and each time we came away impressed. On our board, he was right up there with Yakupov.
The question we asked ourselves was do we see ourselves competing for the HFNHL Cup with a player of Galchenyuk's potential as our #1C? The answer amongst our staff was unanimously, yes. Alex's potential isn't as high as Tavares but we felt the additional prospects we received makes our overall team stronger going forward.
BC: "Can you talk a little bit about the other pieces of the trade?"
KF: "Sure, well we also sent Max Lapierre to the Devils. Lappy is a great team player and one of those role players that every team needs, in order to win. We felt comfortable that we could get a suitable replacement either via free agency or via one of our graduating prospects.
As for the newest Winnipeg Jets, we really like Emerson Etem. Speed and a goal scorer's touch. He might be ready to play this year, but we project his potential as a first line player.
Jarred Tinordi is an intriguing prospect, a big one. He's got some more developing to do, but we think with time, he could be a second pairing d-man.
Jason Zucker is another player with lots of speed to burn. He's going to need some time on the farm but it would surprise us to see him play in the bigs this year. He projects to be a good third line winger.
We also additionally received Montreal's first round pick in the 2012 draft and the Blue Jacket's first round pick in the 2013 draft.
With the Habs's pick, we took d-man Brady Skeji. He's another player that can skate really well, and handles the puck with ease. He could stand to be a bit more physical with his size but we feel that is something that will develop over time.
The Blue Jacket's pick will probably be 20th overall or later in what appears to be a very strong 2013 draft, so it is a very valuable asset (either to keep or trade up) for a club like ours.
BC: "And with your own selection at #7.."
KF: "We selected Morgan Reilly, who we felt was the second best defenseman available in the draft. He's nowhere near NHL ready (esp. after his injury) but his skating and offensive instincts are off the charts. Despite being labelled as a dynamic offensive player, we feel that his defensive acumen is actually quite high. He's a bit undersized but we aren't shy about valuing talent over size, see: Ryan Ellis."
BC: "So with your next selection ...you made your second trade of the day"
KF: "Yes, we traded up from 23rd overall to get the 16th overall pick. In hindsight, the player we wanted might have been available at 23, but we auto lists defaulting to CSS rankings, we couldn't take the chance.
Malcolm Subban is a tremendous athlete and a very good goalie. He's impressed us every time we've seen him play. He's got a lot to learn, mainly because he's only been playing this position for 6 years, but his desire and compete level is what we look for in all our players. He was the #1 goalie on our board."
BC: "And with your fifth first round pick of the day, you select another defenseman."
KF: "A lot of the qualities I attributed to Subban, also apply to Dalton Thrower. Great competitor and fearless. I think we'll try to get him to room with Brady at rookie camp. If Dalton was 2 inches taller, he would have been a consensus top 15 pick in our opinion."
BC: "And with your last pick of the first day of the draft, you went with a forward after taking 3 d-men and a goalie."
KF: "Some will view Martin Frk as a high risk, high reward pick and they probably are right. He has very good offensive instincts, a great shot and he isn't afraid to get his nose dirty. We had him pegged as a first round talent, and if it wasn't for his injury issues this year, he might have been a high first round pick. Martin needs to work on his conditioning, attitude and skating but his offensive talents are too much to ignore."
BC: "So with all the trades and draft picks, what is your overall outlook for the team heading into this season and going forward."
KF: "I think the answer is that we are a work in progress, the picture will become clearer after we deal with signing some of our existing free agents and then after the summer UFA season. I thought this interview was about our draft.."
BC: "Ok..well thanks for your time Mr. Fernandes"
KF: "Not a problem."
The Winnipeg Free Press was granted a sit down interview with Jets General Manager Keith Fernandes after the first half of the 2012 HFNHL draft.
BC: "So, all in all, how would you categorize your first HFNHL draft ?"
KF: "Well, no other general managers threatened to quit. So I think, we did quite well.......no one threatened to quit right ?"
BC: "No, no, no....well, not publically anyway."
KF: "..."
BC: "Let's talk about the Tavares trade. Why make that move ?"
KF: "Let me start by saying that John Tavares is a very special young man and a tremendous hockey player and a great person. It was an immense pleasure to have him as part of the Jets organization, even if it was for such a short time. We believe and still believe that Tavares is going to firmly be a top ten/top five player for the next decade. If we didn't, we would have traded him for Steven Stamkos, in what was essentially a straight up deal.
To take a step back, when you look at our current roster, the roster of our minor league affiliate, our prospects player in junior, you notice that there just isn't much there. There's very little depth, and very little talent that projects to be HFNHL calibre. This immense void of talent (across all positions) was there when I took over as GM and I think some will argue I may have exacerbated the situation with a few of my trades this year. After having a year to study and observe the sim (as an aside, I think that's nearly not enough), I don't think having just elite talent at a few positions is what drives success. At the same time, I think a solid team top to bottom but bereft of high-end talent is not going to do well either.
So our challenge, my challenge was to remedy the situation and essentially build a winner from scratch. Doing that takes time and patience. And perhaps patience was a trait that I was lacking when I made my three large deals this year. Anyway ......
So when we seriously looked at our timeframe for when we expect the team to be a perennial contender and our existing players and assets, there were some tough choices to be made."
BC: "Sorry to interject, but the Tavares deal ..."
KF: "Ok, so our tough decision was, do we hold on to Tavares and hope that we can draft depth around him and when or if we eventually get to that point, what is his situation like in terms of his frustration level, injury risk, his contract, his play, etc. Or, do we capitalize on this asset and replenish the system and spread the risk and potential over several young players ?
And after discussing the deal with Rich Epstein, we felt that the package of players and picks we received, instantly gave us depth and talent.
BC: "What was the key to the deal, from your side of things?"
KF: "I think getting the 3rd overall selection in the 2012 HFNHL draft was the key. We had indication that Yakupov and Grigorenko were going to go 1 and 2, so we felt we could get the player we coveted in Galchenyuk at #3. Galchenyuk is a player we've had a chance to view in person a few times (last year) and each time we came away impressed. On our board, he was right up there with Yakupov.
The question we asked ourselves was do we see ourselves competing for the HFNHL Cup with a player of Galchenyuk's potential as our #1C? The answer amongst our staff was unanimously, yes. Alex's potential isn't as high as Tavares but we felt the additional prospects we received makes our overall team stronger going forward.
BC: "Can you talk a little bit about the other pieces of the trade?"
KF: "Sure, well we also sent Max Lapierre to the Devils. Lappy is a great team player and one of those role players that every team needs, in order to win. We felt comfortable that we could get a suitable replacement either via free agency or via one of our graduating prospects.
As for the newest Winnipeg Jets, we really like Emerson Etem. Speed and a goal scorer's touch. He might be ready to play this year, but we project his potential as a first line player.
Jarred Tinordi is an intriguing prospect, a big one. He's got some more developing to do, but we think with time, he could be a second pairing d-man.
Jason Zucker is another player with lots of speed to burn. He's going to need some time on the farm but it would surprise us to see him play in the bigs this year. He projects to be a good third line winger.
We also additionally received Montreal's first round pick in the 2012 draft and the Blue Jacket's first round pick in the 2013 draft.
With the Habs's pick, we took d-man Brady Skeji. He's another player that can skate really well, and handles the puck with ease. He could stand to be a bit more physical with his size but we feel that is something that will develop over time.
The Blue Jacket's pick will probably be 20th overall or later in what appears to be a very strong 2013 draft, so it is a very valuable asset (either to keep or trade up) for a club like ours.
BC: "And with your own selection at #7.."
KF: "We selected Morgan Reilly, who we felt was the second best defenseman available in the draft. He's nowhere near NHL ready (esp. after his injury) but his skating and offensive instincts are off the charts. Despite being labelled as a dynamic offensive player, we feel that his defensive acumen is actually quite high. He's a bit undersized but we aren't shy about valuing talent over size, see: Ryan Ellis."
BC: "So with your next selection ...you made your second trade of the day"
KF: "Yes, we traded up from 23rd overall to get the 16th overall pick. In hindsight, the player we wanted might have been available at 23, but we auto lists defaulting to CSS rankings, we couldn't take the chance.
Malcolm Subban is a tremendous athlete and a very good goalie. He's impressed us every time we've seen him play. He's got a lot to learn, mainly because he's only been playing this position for 6 years, but his desire and compete level is what we look for in all our players. He was the #1 goalie on our board."
BC: "And with your fifth first round pick of the day, you select another defenseman."
KF: "A lot of the qualities I attributed to Subban, also apply to Dalton Thrower. Great competitor and fearless. I think we'll try to get him to room with Brady at rookie camp. If Dalton was 2 inches taller, he would have been a consensus top 15 pick in our opinion."
BC: "And with your last pick of the first day of the draft, you went with a forward after taking 3 d-men and a goalie."
KF: "Some will view Martin Frk as a high risk, high reward pick and they probably are right. He has very good offensive instincts, a great shot and he isn't afraid to get his nose dirty. We had him pegged as a first round talent, and if it wasn't for his injury issues this year, he might have been a high first round pick. Martin needs to work on his conditioning, attitude and skating but his offensive talents are too much to ignore."
BC: "So with all the trades and draft picks, what is your overall outlook for the team heading into this season and going forward."
KF: "I think the answer is that we are a work in progress, the picture will become clearer after we deal with signing some of our existing free agents and then after the summer UFA season. I thought this interview was about our draft.."
BC: "Ok..well thanks for your time Mr. Fernandes"
KF: "Not a problem."
