The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NHL Draft Rounds 2-7.

The Winnipeg Jets’ buildup to the draft included Connor Hellebuyck trade talks, the possibility of a trade up to No. 4 and the potential to deliver fireworks from the draft floor. They got their fireworks in the old-fashioned way, with Viggo Björck and a trade they decided not to make.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said when Björck, the dynamic and tenacious Swedish centreman from Djurgårdens IF, fell to Winnipeg at No. 8, he had to change his plans.

“We had a potential trade engineered to move back,” Cheveldayoff said. “We had that in the can in case we needed, but (when Björck was available) that team called and I couldn’t answer quick enough to tell them no.”

Björck is renowned for his hockey sense, shiftiness and offensive skill. His commitment to winning battles — on the faceoff dot, on the walls and in one-on-one situations all over the ice — is something the Jets sorely need in their prospect pool. But it is Björck’s character that Winnipeg’s scouts are banking on.

Viggo Bjorck goes to the Winnipeg Jets at No. 8

The Athletic Hockey Show

“He’s one of those guys that when you go to scout him and you watch him play, you become a fan. You’re not a scout anymore,” Cheveldayoff said. “You’re watching him, you’re entertained, you’re wondering who this player is that the puck is on his stick all the time. Making dynamic plays, always in the right spot defensively. And then you meet him … you can’t forget (the) interview.”

We’ve heard Cheveldayoff express his delight over unexpected players falling to Winnipeg several times over the years. Some cynicism should be allowed. But elements of Björck’s character jumped out immediately in his post-draft Zoom call. As other prospects cited Nikita Kucherov or Patrick Kane as their idol, he talked about modeling his game after Sidney Crosby. And whereas most other top prospects will tell you in their post-draft daze that it’s a “dream come true,” Björck pumped the brakes, saying that it’s simply part of a more ambitious goal.

“Getting to the NHL is your dream,” Björck said. “This is a good step on the way.”

Björck immediately becomes Winnipeg’s top prospect. There’s no player quite as offensively talented and defensively committed in the prospect pool.

His obsession with improvement is Mark Scheifele coded. With Djurgårdens, Björck was lauded by star teammates such as Anton Frondell for being “hyper serious” about putting in extra work after practice, optimizing his diet and obsessing over good sleep hygiene. But Björck’s all-around game is why Winnipeg did well.

“He’s the youngest player on this team, and he plays like the oldest,” Frondell told The Athletic at the World Juniors. “He’s not the tallest guy, but he’s so strong. When he has the puck, it’s impossible to take it from him. His shot is incredible. On the power play, his hockey sense, his playmaking, it’s special. And he’s all-around, offensive and defensive.”

It’s that last part that will be worth highlighting. The most impressive part about Björck’s game is that he’s so committed to his defense despite possessing the offensive ability of a top-six forward. For Winnipeg, the fact Björck is as good without the puck as he is with it is worth celebrating; the current roster’s top centres are primarily offensive, such as Scheifele, or defensive, such as Adam Lowry.

There will be questions about his size. Can he handle NHL battles? Can he win faceoffs and handle the corners? He did so in May at the World Championships, where he scored six points in eight games and held his own against the likes of Crosby and Scheifele. He even earned his idol’s respect and an autographed stick after a chance encounter. Björck had finished an interview with Swedish television when he turned around and saw Crosby standing behind him.

After a moment of shock and then a friendly greeting with the Canadian legend, Björck decided to shoot his shot.

“I had promised my brother that I would take the chance to ask him for a stick,” Björck said. “So I took my chance. Later on, when we went to the playoffs, (Crosby) left it outside our locker room.”

The invocation of Wilson Björck is useful. Not only was Viggo’s big brother a smaller teenager, but the now 20-year-old Wilson has reached 6 feet, playing centre for Colorado College in the NCAA. Their father, Jesper Björck, played 15 years of professional hockey in Sweden and grew to 6-2. The Jets’ newest draft pick, listed at 5-9, is ahead of where smaller prospects such as Marco Rossi and Zach Benson were at the same age. That’s already a great starting point and a projectable top-six forward. But there’s also the potential for a little bit of late growth.

Björck is unfazed by all of this.

“I play big, even though I’m not the tallest. I try and be smart out there, too, and use my brain a lot.”

Cheveldayoff was more effusive.

“Hockey sense would be selling it short. It is hockey IQ, and it’s very, very high. It’s not only high when it comes to the playmaking side of it, it’s high when he goes into the corner to get a puck and come out with it. … You watch a Mark Scheifele and you can see how he holds players off or how he protects the puck with his body. That kind of sense is what Viggo has when it comes to where to be, how to get there and how to leave with the puck.”

One of the arguments we’ve written about here is that the Jets need to do a better job of identifying, developing and promoting NHL talent. One takeaway from the Carolina Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup win was that, “If a player can help — and if that help shows up in the results — keep an open mind about what helping looks like.” It was impossible to watch Logan Stankoven score 16 points in 19 playoff games and argue the Jets should ignore a smaller centre. Certainly not when he has the competitive streak and all-around bona fides that Björck does.

This is particularly important on a day that began with Cheveldayoff discussing Hellebuyck trade rumors and naming a No. 2 centre as the Jets’ No. 1 need.

The trade market did not provide that player Friday. The Jets and Buffalo Sabres were deep in discussions but didn’t complete a trade. Now that the first round has passed, the asset proposition changes. If the Jets are serious about winning in 2026-27, then they need to bring Hellebuyck back or to get No. 2C as part of his trade return.

Björck won’t fill that hole this season. He will attend development camp in Winnipeg this week, then return to Djurgårdens IF for at least one more year. But the key item in his selection is that he projects to fill the job successfully in the future, with that playoff-ready bit of “dog” in him. The Jets, as fixated on the present moment as they’ve been for so long, don’t have that in their system — not even in Brayden Yager, whose work ethic is similarly laudable but who needs to take a step forward to win an NHL job at 21 years old.

Björck thanked his brother effusively Friday, and it’s easy to see the connection between that gratitude and the work ethic that scouts see as his calling card. It was near Djurgården where Viggo and Wilson Björck battled each other like brothers do on the ice and into the snow, the classic story, little brother versus big brother, Mom and Dad looking on, with nothing but pride on the line.

“(There were) some tough battles, but I think that shapes you as a player and as a person,” he said.

It may explain his work ethic. Perhaps it explains why Viggo, the little brother, used a chance meeting with one of his idols in Crosby to do a nice thing for another idol in the form of his big brother. It is a small detail in a story full of them, with Björck’s character appreciated in Sweden and now by the Jets.