Viggo Björck is leaving the SHL to pursue NHL opportunities with the Winnipeg Jets. He shared his plans with Djurgården late last week, receiving their blessing, and is expected to sign his entry-level contract with Winnipeg shortly.Björck is not only expected to make the Jets’ roster. He’s going to be given every opportunity to start the season as Winnipeg’s second-line centre. Winnipeg’s commitment to the 18-year-old is nearly unprecedented, reflecting a partial shift in Jets philosophy and extreme belief in Björck’s NHL ability.Will it be worth it? And why do the Jets believe Björck is ready for the opportunity?To answer these questions, one must understand the scope of the challenge ahead of him. Björck is a tremendous prospect with elite hockey sense, but his NHL transition will come with growing pains. The NHL’s 84-game schedule will be more physically demanding than anything he’s experienced before. His opponents will be bigger, stronger, and faster than what he’s used to in the SHL. And the game itself will be different.NHL offer sheets are just businessSean Gentille and Sean McIndoeThe narrow NHL ice creates new angles that will modify the reads Björck needs to make. When an NHL player gets beat in the corner, the race to the front of the net is so short compared to the SHL so as to seem instantaneous to most players. During one drill at development camp, Björck cut too wide and bounced off the sideboards, caught off guard by the narrow NHL ice.The transition will take time. Just don’t expect an AHL assignment or even a loan back to the SHL. Winnipeg is betting on Björck to arrive as a No. 2 centre while Mark Scheifele is still a viable No. 1 — a development that would have several positive effects if he’s up to the task.Chaining multiple “ifs” together is never a safe bet but Björck’s arrival could snap a lot of things into place for Winnipeg if he’s ready. The Jets’ secondary scoring was non-existent last season, apart from a surge from Cole Perfetti, Adam Lowry, and Gabriel Vilardi. If Björck and Perfetti can win their minutes as two-thirds of a secondary scoring line, it will help Winnipeg take a confident step back toward the playoffs as long as Scheifele and Lowry deliver, too.The other ripple effect comes with respect to Connor Hellebuyck. The Jets and Sabres have had multiple trade conversations, but Josh Norris gained trade protection on July 1 and Buffalo may not be as willing to move Ryan McLeod. If Björck can play the role of second line centre, then Winnipeg can shift its priorities for a Hellebuyck trade from centre to wing.LWCRWKyle ConnorMark ScheifeleGabriel VilardiCole PerfettiViggo BjörckTBDNino NiederreiterAdam LowryAlex IafalloIsak RosénMorgan BarronBrad LambertCole KoepkeVladislav NamestnikovLDRDJosh MorrisseyDylan DeMeloDylan SambergNeal PionkMario FerraroElias SalomonssonHaydn FleuryGStuart SkinnerTBDSimply writing Björck’s name down in a depth chart doesn’t automatically mean he can handle the job, but Winnipeg wouldn’t be making this bet if it didn’t hold Björck in uniquely high esteem. The Jets were unwilling to promise NHL playing time to Rutger McGroarty, kept Brad Lambert in the AHL to the point that Lambert asked to be traded, and wrote off Elias Salomonsson’s odds of being NHL-ready prior to the start of last season. Winnipeg has been vindicated in some of those decisions — Lambert and McGroarty were not blue-chip prospects with obvious NHL readiness — but the Jets are deviating from their track record.But why wouldn’t they send Björck back to the SHL or commit him to the Moose this season?Part of their reasoning is heard in the bleeped-out “F—ing rights!” in Winnipeg’s behind-the-scenes draft feature. Part of it was made clear when Jets director of amateur scouting, Mark Hillier, called Björck “one of the most exciting draft picks I’ve ever had.”