It’s no secret how we felt about the Alexander Command pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. It just wasn’t the pick we were looking for there. Tynan Lawrence, Viggo Bjorck, and Wyatt Cullen were already off the board. Guys like Oscar Hemming, Nikita Klepov, and Ethan Belchetz were popular mock draft choices for the Devils, but Sunny Mehta decided to make Command his first pick in the big chair.
For the Devils, it was definitely a position of need. Tom Fitzgerald had largely ignored the position, and many understood that Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier solidified the top-two centers long term, but Dawson Mercer’s failure to play center and Michael McLeod’s arrest removed any possibility of getting value from the position from its draft picks. If only the Devils took Logan Cooley in 2022, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Fast forward to today, and Command is already out of the organization. He was a centerpiece of the Connor Hellebuyck trade a little over two weeks ago. And now, the Winnipeg Jets are laying a foundation to eventually bring Command to North America.
The Devils moved Alexander Command, but that's not a choice that's expected to hurt them
That’s what Command told Hockey Sverige on Friday. He’s looking forward to what Winnipeg has to offer. He’s had “a lot of good conversations” already. He’s reuniting with his old pal Viggo Björck, at least in theory. Now let’s talk about why this is great for the New Jersey Devils, too.
Sunny Mehta didn’t pay this price because he was bored. The Devils have spent years being one very good goalie away from being a real problem, and Hellebuyck is a Vezina-caliber answer to that question. You don’t get that without giving up something that hurts, and a recent first-rounder with real upside hurts. That’s what a legitimate price looks like.
Let’s be honest about the Command part of it. By his own account, he lost his way a bit this fall, getting away from the aggressive two-way game that made him a top-12 pick. The article goes into detail about how he’s “self-critical,” he’s playing most of his minutes with Örebro’s U20s, and he’s on the fourth line at the World Juniors camp.
None of that is a crime for an 18-year-old, but it isn’t the type of spotlight Devils fans would have wanted from a guy they took with a top-15 pick. The Devils turned a prospect who is still finding himself into a goalie who already found an MVP in his trophy case and a gold medal around his neck.
The most Devils thing about this whole story is that the kid is out here saying all the right things. Command doesn’t even have an NHL contract yet, and he told the reporter the Jets’ plans are mostly between them and his agent. Winnipeg has a reputation for bringing Swedes over early, so he might be in North America sooner than anyone expects. Good for him. Hopefully he becomes a player.
Just not our player. We’ve got a goalie to start, and a season to win.
Wish the kid well, and then watch Hellebuyck stop a breakaway.
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