Hello all! Filing from Traverse City with another of my regularly recurring annual posts – a quick player-by-player rundown of the Jackets from up in Traverse City. I usually do everyone, but most of the invites only made it into one game so I don’t have much of a take on them. Instead, we’ll focus (mainly) on the players with contracts with the Blue Jackets:
22-Sonny Milano: I’ll admit, I can’t say much about Sonny up in Traverse. He was good, just seemed to always make one too many moves. His off-season work on his size and strength definitely shows and he looked much stronger on-ice. He’s rounding out his game and his forecheck was particularly noticeable.
21-Kerby Rychel: One of the Jackets top forwards up here and doing what you’d expect from Kerby – scoring goals, throwing checks, and taking a leadership role serving as an alternate captain. His intensity is a real asset to his game – he can make a serious case to join the big club this season.
34-Josh Anderson: Josh played mostly on the third line and did what he was supposed to do – be a physical presence along with chipping in a goal here and there. Even though he wasn’t on the scoresheet quite as much as last year’s tournament, his game shows only progress.
57-Paul Bittner: Honestly, I didn’t notice Paul much other than on the power play when he did most of his damage but its his first time up here. Next year he should be one of the go-to guys.
28-Oliver Bjorkstrand: “The Great Dane” was just that – leading scorer for the tournament and a candidate for MVP (if they did it). Oliver is probably gonna make it hard on the CBJ brain trust and could be one of the last cuts.
85-Keegan Kolesar: Keegan was a fourth liner up here but he still threw some big hits especially one on St Louis’ Liam Dunda. Did most of the work on a Oliver Bjorkstrand goal.
50-Nick Moutrey: Switched to center up here (I thought he was only a wing). Nick was the team’s 2nd line center and was a solid dude. Truly a beast up here throwing his weight around long and chipping in a few goals.
79-Julien Pelletier: I don’t know what to make of Julien Pelletier. He played in only two games (the only draft pick to not play in three) and he really wasn’t noticeable. I know he’s a bottom six guy and he’s top six style forward so that’s got to make the path ahead interesting.
75-Peter Quenneville: I’m still a fan of his play and I hope he lands somewhere. Peter was his usual smart hard and accurate shooting self playing mostly on the fourth line.
64-Dante Salituro: One of the two invites I’ll be talking about here. I liked Dante but I wanted to see more of him (he only played two games). He picked up a point in each game, showed great energy and I was pleased to see him get an invite to CBJ camp. Well deserved.
88-Kole Sherwood: On the fourth line for most of the tournament but you could tell he wanted a goal near the end. It seemed to me Kole handled the change of pace up here well and I’ll be curious to see him in an NHL exhibition.
49-TJ Tynan: The captain of this year’s team and I hope this was a coming out party of sorts for TJ. I know he led Springfield in scoring but TJ was way more noticeable up here compared to last year. TJ is like Alex Aleardi – an invite from a few years ago – in that he played like the Energizer Bunny – all “go go go.” He was second in scoring on the team and in the tournament and it was great to watch him on any offensive or defensive faceoff directing traffic.
63-Daniel Zaar: Making his North American debut, Daniel was good but I’ll admit I was waiting for him to unleash that lethal shot of his and unfortunately, it didn’t happen. I was surprised to see Daniel killing penalties but I’m not sure if he actually was on a PK or coach Bednar was just rotating guys. In any case, he was strong in that role as well.
37-Dillon Heatherington: One of the Jackets top dmen up here, and, at least to me, Dillon seemed more physical especially in the early games. I know he’s Lake Erie-bound, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Dillon get a long look in camp.
82-Olivier LeBlanc: I liked Olivier a lot up here and he can play any game you want. Want him to be physical? He will including when he laid a big hit on Rangers’ Ryan Gropp. Want him to be an offensive dman? He can do that too and is normally paired with a larger d partner. I know hes a long shot, but hopefully a good start in Cape Breton will make Hockey Canada take notice.
36-Michael Paliotta: Basically see Dillon Heatherington above. Michael was very impressive in his CBJ debut playing physical scoring with a big shot from the point. His on-ice poise and leadership really centered the team when he was playing. He has the ability to control play and has zero hesitancy calling for the puck and directing traffic. Like Tynan, Paliotta was one of the most vocal players on the ice.
86-Sam Ruopp: Sam was the only pick from the 2015 draft I questioned but after seeing him live, I was pleasantly surprised. Ruopp skated the puck up well and played a solid D game along with being part of the melee at the end of the Detroit game.
78-Blake Siebenaler: Blake was good up here – probably playing his best game of the tournament in the championship game.
87-Veeti Vainio: Kind of a wild card entering the tournament, but you can see why he’s seen as high risk, high reward pick – for every good play you had a “could you never do that again, Veeti” moment. Sadly Veeti’s tournament ended early when he suffered a wrist injury as shared by Jarmo Kekalainen during Blue Jackets’ media day.
66-Oleg Yevenko: Ok, I, like most, when I saw Yevenko was coming up said “goon” and yes. he did demolish a Minnesota player in the Jackets only fight of the tournament but aside from that, I would say Yevenko was one of the Jackets top dmen up here. He moved way better than expected for 6’7” and seemed to have a good sense of play. Other than a big hit, what I wanted to see from Oleg was what could he do if he put some force into a shot instead of just a snap shot. Like Dante, I was pleased to see Yevenko get an invite to CBJ camp. Kid earned it for sure.
70-Joonas Korpisalo: When Anton Forsberg didn’t come up here, Joonas became the Jackets workhorse in net and he played in three of the four games. His game was very solid other than one puckhandling snafu. To any Lake Erie fans reading this, I expect to hear a chorus of cheers for the 21-year-old Finn after a nice save because he made quite a few up here.
There you have it folks! I’ll be back soon with my CHL Preview and then the weeks in review will commence.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
