Winnipeg Jets select centre Chaz Lucius with No. 18 pick in NHL entry draft
Chaz Lucius wasn't shy about mentioning his admiration of Jets star Mark Scheifele in his pre-draft interview with Winnipeg
The honesty obviously worked -- Winnipeg selected to select Lucius 18th overall in the NHL entry draft on Friday.
The six-foot-one, 185-pound centre is excited about the chance to work and train alongside a player he's long admired.
"I really look up to up to Mark Scheifele. He's a guy I try to model my game after," Lucius said. "It's pretty cool that now that I've been drafted by the Jets and to have him in as an idol of mine. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity there and I'll keep watching his games."
Lucius comes to Winnipeg from the U.S. National Team Development Program where he tallied 20 points (13 goals, 7 assists) in 13 games after recovering from a knee injury last season.
The adversity he faced probably helped the dynamic forward land with the Jets, said Winnipeg's general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff.
"We're real excited. I think it's a good value pick where we got it," he said. "A really skilled player, a really good character player."
Lucius was the No. 12-ranked North American skater and is set to play at the University of Minnesota next fall.
He's looking forward, though, to eventually joining the Jets' ranks.
"(Winnipeg's) a really fun team to watch, fast paced," he said. "There's a really bright future for the Winnipeg Jets and I'm just looking forward to being a part of it.
The draft is being held virtually for the second year in a row, so Cheveldayoff announced the selection via video from the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg finished the regular season third in the North Division with a 30-23-3 record and swept the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. The Jets struggled in round two, however, and were ousted by the Montreal Canadiens in a four-game series.
The Jets will have three more picks to make (No. 50, 82, 146) when the draft resumes with the second round on Saturday.
Winnipeg took centre Cole Perfetti 10th overall in the 2020 draft.
The 19-year-old from Whitby, Ont., spent last season with the Jets' American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, and registered 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 32 games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.