The Columbus Blue Jackets wrapped up the 2025 National Hockey League Draft by selecting four players during rounds two through seven on Saturday. During the two-day draft, the Blue Jackets used their six selections to select two forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender.
Columbus acquired a third-round selection, 76th overall, from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for their 2025 fourth-round pick (109th overall) and fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. With the 76th pick, the Blue Jackets selected 18-year-old Farjestad BK defenseman Malte Vass. The 6-2, 184-pound blueliner made his professional debut with Farjestad BK in the Swedish Hockey League in 2024-25, skating in five contests for the club. He has registered 2-10-12 with 59 PIM in 50 career games over two seasons in the Swedish Hockey League’s J20 Nationell as well as collecting a combined 11-20-31 with 65 PIM in 42 games between the J18 Nationell and J18 Region leagues with Farjestad since 2022-23. The Karlstad, Sweden native won silver medals with Sweden at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championships and 2024 World Junior A Challenge, while also earning a bronze medal at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
In the fifth round with the 160th overall pick, the Blue Jackets selected center Owen Griffin, 18, from the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League. The 5-10, 172-pound center has recorded 23-34-57 with 46 PIM in 123 career contests over two seasons with Oshawa since making his OHL debut in 2023-24. He posted 22-29-51 and 33 PIM in 62 regular season games with the Generals in 2024-25. He has added 17-17-34 with 15 PIM and a +8 plus/minus rating in 42 career OHL playoff appearances, including leading the league in postseason goals and finishing sixth in points in 2025 with 16-13-29 in 21 contests. The Markham, Ontario native won a gold medal with Canada at the 2024 U17 World Hockey Challenge, posting 1-2-3 in eight games played.
With the 173rd overall pick in the sixth round, Columbus selected defenseman Victor Hedin Raftheim, 17, from Brynas IF in Sweden’s junior league (Nationell). A native of Stockholm, Sweden, he registered 1-3-4 with 22 PIM in 34 J20 Nationell contests in 2024-25. The 6-4, 190-pound blueliner has added 3-17-20 with 16 PIM in 69 career games played in the J18 Nationell and Region leagues for Brynas, SDE HF and Sollentuna HC since making his debut in 2022-23.
The Blue Jackets traded both of their 2025 seventh round selections (205th and 218th overall) to the Seattle Kraken for the 198th overall pick in the seventh round and selected Sherwood Park Crusaders center Jeremy Loranger, 18, from the British Columbia Hockey League. The 5-9, 161-pound center led the league in assists (tied), points and points-per-game and ranked second in goals with 40-65-105, 26 PIM and 1.94 points-per-game in 54 contests with Sherwood Park during his lone season in the BCHL 2024-25. The Trois-Rivieres, Quebec native added 8-6-14 in eight playoff games for the Crusaders in the BCHL. He is committed to play at the University of Nebraska-Omaha for the 2025-26 season.
Blue Jackets Draft Recap: Rd 1 (14) – Jackson Smith, D (Tri-City/WHL)… Rd 1 (20) – Pyotr Andreyanov, G (Krasnaya Armiya/MHL)… Rd 3 (76) – Malte Vass, D (Farjestad/SHL)… Rd 5 (160) – Owen Griffin, C (Oshawa/OHL)… Rd 6 (173) – Victor Hedin Raftheim, D (Brynas/SHL)… Rd 7 (198) – Jeremy Loranger, C (Sherwood/BCHL)
