The Winnipeg Jets used the final round of the 2026 NHL Draft to make a selection that reached well beyond the usual hockey conversation. With their seventh-round pick, they took Edmonton Oil Kings defenseman Noa Ta'amu, a moment that made him the first player of Samoan descent ever drafted into the NHL.
That alone made the pick stand out, but the Jets also added a young defenseman with a very clear physical identity. Ta'amu, the son of former NFL player Ed Ta'amu, checks in at six-foot-two and 227 pounds, a frame that fits the classic mold of a stay-at-home blueliner. He uses that size to knock attackers off their routes, win pucks and make the defensive zone miserable for opposing forwards.
His numbers at the junior level don’t jump off the page in the scoring column - 18 points in 105 games over the past two seasons - but there is more to the profile than offense. Ta'amu finished that stretch at plus-33, a sign of how much he has already been able to tilt things in the right direction when he’s on the ice. Some scouting outlets have also pointed to an unexpected layer in his game: he’s apparently quicker than a player of his size might suggest.
At 18, Ta'amu is still at the beginning of the road. For Winnipeg, the next step is development in the WHL, where he’ll keep working on adding offensive touch to a game already built on strength and disruption. If that comes together, the Jets may have landed more than a late-round defender - they may have found a player with a chance to push for a spot down the line.
Ta'amu’s selection also fit into a draft weekend that featured another notable story of hockey’s expanding reach. Earlier, the Ottawa Senators used the 32nd overall pick on Jaxon Cover, the Cayman Islands native who first came to the sport after years as an inline skater and grew into a naturally gifted player.