After CBJProspects posted his Mock Draft the other day, I figured I should get around to posting the final version of mine. Inspired by his full draft, I picked two full rounds, followed by the remainder of the Blue Jackets picks, and ten bonus players I wouldn’t mind seeing picked by the Jackets. Still no shake-up at the top for me, as I have been pretty set on how I view the top few players for some time now. For comparison, you can check out v1.0 and v2.0. Enjoy!
ROUND 1
| Pick | Team | Player | Upside | Downside | Ht/Wt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edmonton | Nail Yakupov | RW | All Star winger, deadly shooter, good playmaker, has a physical edge | Size and injuries are a concern | 5’10, 189 |
| 2 | Columbus | Alex Galchenyuk | C | Top line center with good two way play | May not have elite offensive skills, knee injury | 6’0, 198 |
| 3 | Montreal | Mikhail Grigorenko | C | All Star center with good scoring and playmaking skills | Effort and consistency have been a problem, huge upside but huge risk | 6’3, 200 |
| 4 | NY Islanders | Mathew Dumba | D | Top powerplay defenseman with a physical edge | Decision making needs work | 6’0, 183 |
| 5 | Toronto | Ryan Murray | D | Smooth skating top pairing defenseman | Has limited offensive upside and not very physical | 6’0, 201 |
| 6 | Anaheim | Filip Forsberg | LW | Top line power forward | Skating needs a lot of work to play first line minutes | 6’2, 181 |
| 7 | Minnesota | Jacob Trouba | D | Excellent two way second pairing defenseman | Decision making and discipline are a concern | 6’2, 198 |
| 8 | Carolina | Griffin Reinhart | D | Physical shutdown defenseman, second pair at even strength | Consistency is an issue, limited offensive upside | 6’4, 207 |
| 9 | Winnipeg | Teuvo Teravainen | LW | First line playmaking winger | Needs to get significantly bigger to handle the NHL | 5’11, 165 |
| 10 | Tampa Bay | Morgan Rielly | D | Top pp defenseman, second pair at even strength | Defensive play is suspect, missed most of season with a knee injury | 6’0, 190 |
| 11 | Washington | Radek Faksa | C | Second line power forward | Like Forsberg, his skating needs work | 6’3, 202 |
| 12 | Buffalo | Zemgus Girgensons | C | Physical second line center | Offensive ability may be limited | 6’2, 198 |
| 13 | Dallas | Cody Ceci | D | Solid two way second pair defenseman | Doesn’t have high end offensive or defensive ability, not very physical | 6’2, 207 |
| 14 | Calgary | Sebastien Collberg | RW | Skilled second line winger with playmaking ability | Needs to improve strength, consistency and defensive zone play | 5’11, 176 |
| 15 | Ottawa | Olli Maata | D | Stay at home second pair defenseman with a good first pass | Skating needs improvement and has limited offensive skills | 6’2, 202 |
| 16 | Washington | Brendan Gaunce | C | Second or third line center, with good size and good all around game | Could improve physicality, skating needs work, can improve puck skills | 6’2, 215 |
| 17 | San Jose | Pontus Aberg | LW | Creative, two way second liner with a good shot | Needs to get bigger, passing needs work | 5’11, 194 |
| 18 | Chicago | Hampus Lindholm | D | Great skating, two way defender | Offensive and defensive upside are question marks, needs to bulk up | 6’2, 196 |
| 19 | Tampa Bay | Matt Finn | D | Hard working second pair, two way defenseman | Could get bigger, skating needs to get better, puck skills need work | 6’0, 195 |
| 20 | Philadelphia | Derrick Pouliot | D | Second pairing puck moving defenseman | Undersized, suspect defensively, and can be careless with the puck | 5’11, 186 |
| 21 | Buffalo | Tomas Hertl | C | Offensively skilled second liner with decent grit | A poor skater and questionable defensively | 6’2, 198 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh | Brady Skjei | D | Good skating, two way second pair defenseman | Is inconsistent, not physical, and may be limited offensively | 6’3, 200 |
| 23 | Florida | Stefan Matteau | C | Hard working, intelligent two way second/third liner | May not have the offensive skill to play top six | 6’2, 210 |
| 24 | Boston | Tom Wilson | RW | Bruising power forward, probably on the 3rd line, chance of 2nd | Skating needs a lot of work, puck skills are limited | 6’4, 203 |
| 25 | St. Louis | Scott Laughton | C | Strong, gritty two way center with a little offensive punch | Probably not a top six player, needs to bulk up | 6’0, 177 |
| 26 | Vancouver | Scott Kosmachuk | RW | Hard working, physical second liner with some offensive punch | May not have top six skill, size may decrease impact of physical play | 6’0, 185 |
| 27 | Phoenix | Slater Koekkek | D | Big, solid 2nd pair defenseman with decent puck skills | Decision making with the puck, skating needs a little work | 6’2, 184 |
| 28 | NY Rangers | Mike Matheson | D | Good skater, offensive minded second pair defenseman | Needs to add size and improve skill to be an NHLer | 6’1, 178 |
| 29 | New Jersey | Malcolm Subban | G | Starting goalie, quick pads and glove, solid rebound control | Inconsistency and injury concerns | 6’1, 188 |
| 30 | Los Angeles | Ludvik Bystrom | D | Intelligent, mobile, second pair defenseman | Not physical, offensive skills need improvement | 6’1, 208 |
ROUND 2
| Pick | Team | Player | Ht/Wt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Columbus | Martin Frk | RW | 6’0, 204 |
| 32 | Edmonton | Dalton Thrower | D | 5’11, 189 |
| 33 | Montreal | Ville Pokka | D | 6’0, 196 |
| 34 | NY Islanders | Colton Sissons | C | 6’1, 189 |
| 35 | Toronto | Nic Kerdiles | LW | 6’2, 201 |
| 36 | Anaheim | Damon Severson | D | 6’2, 200 |
| 37 | Nashville | Phil Giuseppe | LW | 6’0, 176 |
| 38 | Carolina | Anton Slepyshev | LW | 6’2, 187 |
| 39 | Winnipeg | Tanner Pearson | LW | 6’0, 198 |
| 40 | Tampa Bay | Andrei Vasilevski | G | 6’3, 204 |
| 41 | Colorado | Tim Bozon | LW | 6’0, 183 |
| 42 | Buffalo | Jordan Schmaltz | D | 6’2, 189 |
| 43 | Dallas | Cristoval Nieves | C | 6’3, 184 |
| 44 | Buffalo | Daniil Zharkov | LW | 6’3, 197 |
| 45 | Columbus | Oscar Dansk | G | 6’2, 186 |
| 46 | Minnesota | Mikko Vainonen | D | 6’3, 205 |
| 47 | Carolina | Jarrod Maidens | LW | 6’0, 178 |
| 48 | Chicago | Mike Winther | C | 5’11, 175 |
| 49 | Detroit | Andreas Athanasiou | LW | 6’0, 179 |
| 50 | Nashville | Patrick Sieloff | D | 6.0, 198 |
| 51 | Montreal | Mark Jankowski | C | 6’2, 170 |
| 52 | Pittsburgh | Troy Bourke | LW | 5’10, 156 |
| 53 | Florida | Chandler Stephenson | LW | 5’10, 192 |
| 54 | Washington | Nikolai Prokhorkin | LW | 6’2, 191 |
| 55 | San Jose | Brady Vail | C | 6’0, 195 |
| 56 | St. Louis | Gemel Smith | C | 5’10, 160 |
| 57 | Vancouver | Dane Fox | C | 6’0, 185 |
| 58 | Phoenix | Erik Karlsson | C | 6’0, 162 |
| 59 | NY Rangers | Lukas Sutter | C | 6’0, 207 |
| 60 | New Jersey | Tomas Hyka | RW | 5’11, 160 |
| 61 | Dallas | Calle Andersson | D | 6’2, 208 |
Remaining Blue Jackets Picks
| Pick | Player | Pos | Statistics & Ranking | Team | Ht/Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | Jake McCabe | D | 26 GP, 3 G, 9 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 47th among North American Skaters | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) | 6’0, 195 |
| 95 | Chris Calnan | RW | 38 GP, 37 G, 37 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 69th among North American Skaters | Nobles/Cape Cod (Mass Prep/AAA), Committed to Boston College | 6’2, 188 |
| 117 | Nick Ebert | D | 66 GP, 6 G, 33 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 96th among North American Skaters | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) | 6’0, 195 |
| 152 | Collin Olson | G | 34 GP, 2.50 GAA, .898 SV%; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 21st among North American Goaltenders | USA U-18, Committed to Ohio State | 6’4, 197 |
| 182 | Ryan Rupert | C | 63 PGP, 17 G, 31 A, 120 PIM; Unranked by NHL Central Scouting | London Knights (OHL) | 5’10, 180 |
Additional Players I Like
| Player | Pos | Statistics & Ranking | Team | Ht/Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Whitney | G | 36 GP, 2.74 GAA, .896 SV%; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 2nd among North American Goaltenders | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) | 6’5, 193 |
| Brock McGinn | LW | 33 GP, 12 G, 7 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 49th among North American Skaters | Guelph Storm (OHL) | 5’11, 174 |
| Brian Hart | RW | 29 GP, 32 G, 36 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 54th among North American Skaters | Phillips Exeter (Prep), Committed to Harvard | 6’2, 216 |
| Matia Marcanuonti | C | 24 GP, 9 G, 5 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 59th among North American Skaters | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) | 6’0, 194 |
| Henrik Samuelsson | RW | 62 GP, 15 G, 24 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 75th among North American Skaters | Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)/Modo/Modo Jr./Modo U18 | 6’2, 211 |
| Mathew Campagna | C | 45 GP, 8 G, 23 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 158th among North American Skaters | Sudbury Wolves (OHL) | 5’11, 178 |
| Gianluca Curcuruto | D | 63 GP, 3 G, 13 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 160th among North American Skaters | Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds (OHL) | 6’0, 195 |
| Alex Gudbranson | D | 50 GP, 2 G, 7 A; NHL Central Scouting Rank: 161st among North American Skaters | Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) | 6’2, 206 |
| Seth Griffith | C | 68 GP, 45 G, 40 A: Unranked by NHL Central Scouting | London Knights (OHL) | 5’11, 180 |
| Matt Rupert | LW | 48 GP, 12 G, 23 A: Unranked by NHL Central Scouting | London Knights (OHL) | 5’10, 180 |
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