Laine or Puljujarvi?

A few months ago most Winnipeg Jets fans would have responded to that question with, “No thanks, I've already eaten.”

Today they know full well it has nothing to do with Scandinavian menu items and everything to do with the Jets' future.

One of the two Finnish players – the enthusiastic and gifted Patrick Laine or the gifted and enthusiastic Jesse Puljujarvi – will almost certainly be the Jets' top pick in the NHL draft, come June in Buffalo.

That became clear when the Jets beat the odds to move up from sixth to second in Saturday's draft lottery.

“We really were the winners of the lottery,” Mark Hillier, the Jets director of amateur scouting, was saying from his home in St. John's, Tuesday. “A little clarity is good. There's still going to be lots of debate picking at No. 2. I don't think it's a slam dunk. But there will be less debate picking at No. 2 then there would be at No. 6.

“In the top-3 it's narrowed down quite a bit.”

The Jets have to assume American Auston Matthews will go to Toronto with the first pick.

“You keep your ear to the ground and hear the rumours out there about what other people are thinking,” Hillier said. “But there are lots of surprises, and you have to be ready for the surprises.”

After the Leafs it'll be up to the Jets, and a choice between two Finns remarkably similar in position and ability.

Both are big, right-shooting wingers, although Laine played the left side this past season.

Both can score and make plays, Laine the more pure shooter and dynamic scorer.

Both can skate, although Puljujarvi has a better stride, at this point. Probably a more complete game, too.

“There are a lot of similarities, but they both bring certain things that are a little different to the table as well,” Hillier said. “And whatever teams drafts them, whatever needs they have, they'll both probably find a spot in the NHL next year.”

With players as skilled and productive as these two are, the tiebreaker could very well be an issue of character.

A pretty buttoned-down organization playing in a pretty buttoned-down town, the Jets will dig deep into both players' backgrounds in an attempt to flesh out even subtle differences in the makeup of the teenagers.

Discussions of character will be a big part of five days of meetings designed to finalize the Jets draft list, here, next week. The meetings will involve the entire scouting and management team, a group of some 15 people.

Area scouts have already interviewed both Laine and Puljujarvi. Management will get its own face-to-face time with them at the pre-draft combine in Buffalo.

And the probing won't end there.

“We'll go back and talk to as many people as we can and get to know them off the ice just as well as know them on the ice,” Hillier said. “We'll talk to former teammates, to current teammates, to trainers, coaches – anywhere we have an in. We have some people that are close to the organization in Finland.

“We won't leave any stone unturned in finding anything and everything about these players.”

They already know Laine raised some questions about his character two years ago, when he was kicked off the Finnish team at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament after giving his coach the finger and threatening to kill him following a loss.

Laine later apologized and vowed to grow up, which it appears he has.

Puljujarvi has no such obvious blemishes, showing what he's made of when he went straight from elimination in the Finnish pro league to the World Under-18's in Grand Forks last month – and led his team to the gold medal.

“A guy that's played in the pro league all season long and then joining an under-18 team shows a lot about his character,” Hillier said. “It took him a couple of games to get going, but then his leadership took over. He was the best player in the last couple of games and then scored three goals in the final. He was a big part of that team winning the gold medal.”

How much of a role does that, and Laine's incident in 2014, play with an organization like the Jets?

We'll probably find out on draft day.