LIVE from Montreal: The Blue Jackets NHL Draft live blog

One of the biggest events of the NHL's offseason calendar is here, as the
2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft
began Thursday night and continues Friday at Centre Bell in Montreal.
Columbus went into the draft looking to add pieces to its reload, and the Blue Jackets held three top picks -- Nos. 6, 12 and 44 -- among their six selections as the event begins. Defensemen
David Jiricek
and
Denton Mateychuk
were chosen in the opening round, with the second round to begin Friday at 11 a.m.
Follow along below for updates as the two-day event unfolds.

2:!5 p.m.:Welcome, James Fisher! The Blue Jackets have selected the American wing with the No. 203rd overall pick in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Fisher is one of the first high schoolers chosen by the Jackets in quite some time, as the Wilmington, Mass., native is slated to play at Northeastern University next season. He stands 6-2, 170 and is ranked the No. 99 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
Columbus is now likely done for the day after making seven selections.
1:17 p.m.:Welcome, Sergei Ivanov! The Blue Jackets have selected the Russian goalie with the No. 138 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Columbus moved up to select Ivanov, acquiring a fifth-round pick from San Jose in exchange for a fifth-round pick a year from now. Ivanov isn't listed by NHL Central Scouting among European goalies, but The Daily Faceoff's Chris Peters had him No. 100 in his overall rankings. The SKA St. Petersburg goalie stands 5-11, 180, and had excellent numbers (14-7-4/2.17/.928) last year with SKA's junior team.
It had been widely thought the Jackets would target a young goalie to add to the mix, and now they have their man thanks to a trade.
Columbus now has made four picks for the day, with the team's remaining choice a seventh-rounder at 203 overall.
12:59 p.m.:One can never predict the future, but with Columbus currently not holding a choice until the seventh round, we can take a breath and think about where things stand.
The Blue Jackets entered with five picks in the top 109 of the draft and used them all, picking up two highly regarded defensemen in David Jiricek and Denton Mateychuk, added one of the top centers on the board in the second round in Luca Del Bel Belluz, then picked a pair of intriguing wingers in the wildly skilled Jordan Dumais and the mountainous Kirill Dolzhenkov.
Time will tell how this finishes up, but so far the Jackets have attacked a few different areas and done well, bringing in a good mix of size, sill and predictable talent.
12:48 p.m.:Welcome, Kirill Dolzhenkov! The Blue Jackets have selected the Russian wing with the No. 109 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
The first thing that stands out is Dolzhenkov is a massive winger, with NHL Central Scouting (which ranks him 22nd among European skaters) listing him at 6-foot-6, 234 pounds. Dolzhenkov is currently in the CSKA Moscow system, as he posted a 14-14-28 line in 33 games last year with Krasnaya Armiya, the junior team for CSKA. He's not all size, though, as he is reported to have an excellent shot and scored a lacrosse goal last season.

Columbus now has made three of its four scheduled picks for the day, with the team's remaining choice at seventh-rounder at 203 overall.
12:23 p.m.:Welcome, Jordan Dumais! The Blue Jackets have selected the Canadian wing with the No. 96 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
The Quebec native had one of the top seasons in the QMJHL this year, placing third in the league with 109 points on 39 goals and 70 assists. He's been described by some as a potential steal of the draft for his offensive ability.
Columbus' next pick as of right now is coming up soon, with the Jackets picking at No. 109 overall in the fourth round.
11:48 a.m.:A cool moment here in Centre Bell as Mississauga teammates Owen Beck and Luca Del Bel Belluz were taken in the first half of the second round of the draft, Beck No. 33 overall to Montreal and Del Bel Belluz 44th to Columbus.
After Del Bel Belluz finished his chat with CBJ media, he walked into Beck's media scrum with Montreal writers. Del Bel Belluz entered as Beck was talking about his Steelheads teammate, and Del Bel Belluz jumped up on stage after the answer to give Beck a hug.
Del Bel Belluz added he could barely sleep last night -- and couldn't eat this morning -- because of the nerves of the draft. Now, he has a professional home.
11:29 a.m.:Welcome, Luca Del Bel Belluz! The Blue Jackets have selected the Canadian center with the No. 44 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Del Bel Belluz is a solid choice who moved all the way up to No. 8 in the NHL Central Scouting rankings of North American players at the end of the season. A teammate of CBJ 2020 draft pick Ole Bjorgvik-Holm in Mississauga, he racked up the points this past year with the Steelheads by posting a 30-46-76 line in 68 games.
Columbus' next pick as of right now is its third-round choice at No. 96 overall.
8:35 a.m.:Good morning, Blue Jackets fans!
Day two of the 2022 NHL Draft is here, and Columbus begins the day with four picks in the remaining six rounds, including choices in the second (44th), third (96th), fourth (109th) and seventh (203rd) rounds.
The second day of the draft is about finding gems who will help out in the years down the road, but it will be interesting to see what direction Columbus goes after
taking a pair of defensemen
on day one. It also wouldn't be a surprise to see the Jackets grab a goaltender to add to the pipeline, and day two is always full of trades as well.
Stay tuned!
10:16 p.m., Thursday: Never say never, but the Blue Jackets could be done for the night. As the draft meanders toward the end of the first round -- at this moment, 25 of the 32 picks have been done -- Columbus would require a trade to move back into the opening round.
As of right now, the Blue Jackets select next with the No. 44 overall choice in the draft, which will be 12 picks into the second round, which will begin Friday morning at 11 a.m.
We'll talk to CBJ general manager Jarmo Kekalainen when the first round is over; in the meantime, check out the stories on Jiricek and Mateychuk linked below.
8:45 p.m., Thursday:Welcome, Denton Mateychuk! The Blue Jackets have selected the Canadian defenseman with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Just 17 years old, Mateychuk is a defenseman with offensive ability, tying for fifth in the WHL in points among blueliners. Mateychuk posted a 13-51-64 line in 65 games in his first full WHL campaign and added 10 points in 10 postseason games.
Learn more about him here.
Columbus' next pick as of right now is its second-round choice at No. 44 overall.
8:06 p.m., Thursday:Welcome, David Jiricek! The Blue Jackets have selected the Czech defenseman with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Jiricek was thought by many throughout the process to be a potential top-five pick, as the big right-shot defenseman with a physical nature and some offensive skill played for his home country at the highest level this past year as well as at the IIHF World Juniors and World Championships.
Learn more about him here.
Columbus is back on the board with the 12th overall selection coming up soon.
7:59 p.m., Thursday:The Blue Jackets are about to be on the clock. After Montreal took Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovsky at No. 1 overall, New Jersey followed with Slovak defenseman Simon Nemec at No. 2, Arizona took American center Shane Wright at No. 3, Seattle chose Canadian center Shane Wright at No. 4 and Philadelphia selected American center/wing Cutter Gauthier at No. 5.
Columbus will now have a chance to make its choice at sixth overall. Here we go.
7:25 p.m., Thursday:Montreal has made its choice. The Canadiens have selected Slovak wing Juraj Slafkovsky of Finnish club TPS with the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, kicking off what might be a rollicking first round full of mayhem -- or at least more trades and surprises than usual.
It was a bit of a surprise pick as Canadian center Shane Wright was expected to be the No. 1 choice throughout much of the process, but Slafkovsky's impressive showings at the Winter Olympics and World Championships made the big wing the top pick.
Where will things go from here? That's the big question.
7:02 p.m., Thursday: Roll call is complete and the draft is beginning here in Montreal.
Columbus won't have to wait long to pick, as the host Canadiens will begin the draft with the first overall choice then be followed by New Jersey, Arizona, Seattle and Philadelphia before Columbus picks at No. 6 -- though any trades certainly could shake that up.
Stay tuned, CBJ fans. It's about to get wild.
6:35 p.m., Thursday:We're getting close to festivities getting under way at 7 p.m. Eastern, with the draft's first round to be televised on ESPN, a live radio show on 97.1 The Fan, and a draft party at PiNS Mechanical Co. at Easton.
It will be a big night for the Blue Jackets no matter how you slice it, as Columbus enters holding Chicago's first-round pick (No. 6 overall) as well as its own choice at 12th. That gives the Jackets options in what analsysts have described could be one of the craziest drafts in recent years.
We'll have updates throughout all seven rounds as the event goes on. Stay tuned.