The Winnipeg Jets got Alexander Command, Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws, and two draft picks from the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 23, 2026, in the trade that sent Connor Hellebuyck the other way. For Winnipeg, it was a sweeping move that mixed immediate NHL help with future value, and it put Command at the center of one of the day’s biggest transactions.
Command is 18 and was New Jersey’s first-round pick, 12th overall, in the 2026 NHL Draft. He had already played six games for Orebro HK in the Swedish League this season, along with six games for Orebro HK’s junior team, where he posted 12 points, including seven goals and five assists, and 10 penalty minutes. He also won gold with Sweden at the 2026 World U-18 Championships, finishing that event with seven points in seven games.
That is what makes his inclusion stand out. The Devils did not move a marginal prospect for help at the top of the roster. They put a recent first-round pick into a package that also included Mercer, Bjugstad, Daws, New Jersey’s second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft, and its seventh-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. In other words, they paid for Hellebuyck with both present-tense NHL players and a player they had only just taken in the first round.
The rest of the return shows how wide the deal reached across the lineup. Mercer had played 10 games for New Jersey this season and had four assists. Daws had appeared in four games, going 2-2-0 with a 2.78 goals-against average and a.874 save percentage. Bjugstad had played 61 games for New Jersey and the St. Louis Blues in 2025-26, finishing with nine points, including six goals and three assists.
For the Jets, the trade was more than a roster swap. It was a statement that they were willing to turn one of the league’s biggest names into a return that could help now and later. What remains unanswered is how Winnipeg plans to use Command, whose profile is still built more on promise than on proven pro experience.
