DRAFT OVERVIEW: The Blue Jackets are ready ... are you?

The offseason is marching forward, with the 2018 NHL Draft right around the corner in Dallas this month.
Columbus has the 18th pick, but the draft is the first place on the NHL calendar when teams begin trading players and picks, or players for picks, or as we saw last year, players and picks in blockbuster deals like the one that brought Artemi Panarin to the Blue Jackets.
This year, anything is possible again for Columbus.
VISIT 2018 NHL DRAFT CENTRAL
There is a pool of special talent atop the group of eligible players in this draft and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said the Blue Jackets' scouting staff will be prepared to take any of them.
"There's a lot of talk, obviously, going in there," he told a group of prospective season-ticket holders this month. "I've been with Ottawa. When I worked for Ottawa, we had the 21st pick in the draft. The morning of the draft, we had second overall and 21st pick overall. So, things can change quickly too. Our scouts are going to be ready … they're ready, wherever we're picking - whether we pick 18th or 10th or third, or 10th and 18th. They're going to be ready with their list and that's what we're going to follow."
No matter what the Jackets do, it should be interesting to follow and will again have an impact on the future of the organization. Here's an overview to help frame the event with an eye on Columbus:

WHERE, WHEN, HOW TO WATCH ...
The 2018 NHL Draft will be held in Dallas at American Airlines Center, with the first round held Friday, June 22 and the remaining six rounds completed Saturday.
In the U.S., the first round will be televised at 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN and rounds 2-7 will be broadcast Saturday at 11 a.m. on NHL Network. In Canada, Sportsnet and TVA Sports will broadcast each day, beginning at the same times.
You can also watch via live streaming on the NBC Sports app and NBCSports.com.

BLUE JACKETS' PICKS
Columbus has five picks entering the draft: first round (No. 18), second round (No. 49), third round (No. 80), sixth round (No. 173) and seventh round (No. 204).
The Blue Jackets didn't have a first-round pick last season, after including their 2017 first-round selection and 2019 second-round pick in a package used to persuade the Vegas Golden Knights to take David Clarkson's contract plus center William Karlsson in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
The Jackets' most recent first-round pick was used to take center Pierre-Luc Dubois third overall in 2016.
WHY IS COLUMBUS TWO PICKS SHY OF SEVEN?
The Blue Jackets traded their fourth-round pick to the Nashville Predators on Feb. 25 in exchange for veteran center Mark Letestu and included their fifth-round pick in the blockbuster trade last year that brought Panarin to Columbus.
The Jackets sent forward Brandon Saad, goalie Anton Forsberg and their 2018 fifth-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Panarin, forward Tyler Motte and Chicago's sixth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, which was held in Chicago's United Center.
Motte had five points (three goals, two assists) in 31 games before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 26 for veteran forward Thomas Vanek. That deal, along with the trade for Letestu and another for defenseman Ian Cole, were key moves that helped the Blue Jackets set a franchise record by qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Also, Kekalainen used Chicago's sixth-round pick last year to select Swedish forward Jonathan Davidsson, who's coming off a breakout season in the Swedish Hockey League and is expected to compete for an NHL roster spot in 2018-19.
Meet the projected Top 6 draft-eligible prospects
THE TOP 10
Here is the draft order for the top 10 picks:
CREAM OF THE CROP
Scouts are unanimous that Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is the clear-cut No. 1 talent in the field. Dahlin is considered a generational-type talent who could immediately help a franchise make a quick turnaround.
Compared to legendary Swedish defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, Dahlin had 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 41 games for Frolunda in the SHL and will almost certainly be selected by the Buffalo Sabres with the first overall pick. He is seen as the defense version of superstar centers Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.

After Dahlin, the talent remains excellent.
Forwards Andrei Svechnikov, Brady Tkachuk and Filip Zadina, along with defensemen Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson and Adam Boqvist are all expected to be selected in the top 10 picks.
Svechnikov, the younger brother of Red Wings rookie forward Evgeny Svechnikov, had 40 goals and 72 points for Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League this past season. Tkachuk, a power forward, is the son of former NHL power forward Keith Tkachuk and brother of Calgary Flames power forward Matthew Tkachuk. He had eight goals and 31 points as a freshman for Boston University. Zadina had 44 goals and 82 points for Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Bouchard, ranked fourth among North American skaters, had 87 points on 25 goals and 62 assists for the OHL's London Knights, Dobson had 69 points (17 goals, 52 assists) for Acadie-Bathurst of the QMJHL and Boqvist had 24 points (14 goals, 10 assists) in 25 games for Brynas in Sweden's top junior league.
THE NEXT 10
Here is the draft order for picks 11-20:
BEST OF THE REST
It's impossible to project how the first 17 picks will play out, but the Blue Jackets are confident they will still have solid options to add a quality player with the 18th pick - assuming they keep it.
"I think it's a fairly good draft, but time will tell," said Ville Siren, the Blue Jackets' head of amateur scouting. "As we feel right now, we feel this draft is deeper than some of the other ones. We know there could be some special players."
The seven players mentioned above should all be gone by the time the clock starts for the 18th pick, along with undersized defenseman Quinn Hughes (Michigan, NCAA), forward Oliver Wahlstrom (U.S. National Team Development Program), Russian forward Vitali Kravtsov (Chelyabinsk, KHL) and Finnish forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi(Assat, Liigue).
That still leaves plenty of projectable talent expected to be around in the middle of the first round, including Russian forward Grigori Denisenko (Yaroslavl, junior), Swedish center Isac Lundestrom (Lulea, SHL), Finnish center Rasmus Kupari (Karpat, Liigue), German-born forward Dominik Bokk (Vaxjo, Swedish juniors), Canadian centers Joseph Veleno (Drummondville, QMJHL) and Barrett Hayton (Sault St. Marie, OHL), Canadian forward Serron Noel (Oshawa, OHL) and Swedish defenseman Rasmus Sandin, who was Hayton's teammate with Sault St. Marie.
"I think we will get a good player, if we keep that pick or whatever happens," Siren said. "As it is now, there will still be a good player available at 18."

JARMO'S GREATEST HITS
Kekalainen was hired by the Blue Jackets on Feb. 13, 2013, less than a month after the 2012-13 NHL season began. His first draft as an NHL general manager was a big one, with three first-round picks in 2013 and five picks in the first three rounds.
Looking back, that draft was impressive.
All five picks in the those first three rounds made it to the NHL, including current Blue Jackets center Alexander Wennberg (No. 14 overall) and forward Oliver Bjorkstrand (third round, No. 89). Also selected were forwards Kerby Rychel (No. 19) and Marko Dano (No. 27), along with defenseman Dillon Heatherington (second round, No. 50).
Rychel is now with the Montreal Canadiens, Dano was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 and is now with the Winnipeg Jets and Heatherington made his NHL debut against the Blue Jackets with the Dallas Stars this past season.
Other draft notables who've made it to the NHL in Kekalainen's tenure as Blue Jackets GM include forward Sonny Milano (2014, first round, No. 16), defenseman Zach Werenski (2015, first round, No. 8), defenseman Gabriel Carlsson (2015, first round, No. 29), defenseman Markus Nutivaara (2015, seventh round, No. 189) and center Pierre-Luc Dubois (2016 first round, No. 3).
Expected to compete for an NHL spot within the next two years are Davidsson (2017, sixth round, No. 170), center Alexandre Texier (2017, second round, No. 45), forward Vitali Abramov (2016, third round, No. 65), defenseman Andrew Peeke (2016, second round, No. 34), center Kevin Stenlund (2015, second round, No. 58) and goalie Elvis Merzlikins (2014, third round, No. 76).
THE FINAL 11
Here is the draft order for picks 21-31:
WHAT'S IN A NAME?

What better way to wrap up a draft overview than by having a little fun with names?
As chosen by yours truly (

), here are the 10 best names of draft-eligible players ranked by NHL Central Scouting, in descending order:
Click here for full breakdowns
10) Angus Crookshank, LW, Langley, British Columbia Hockey League
9) Samuel Bitten, C, Ottawa, OHL
8) Wyatt Wylie, D, Everett, WHL
7) Jan Sir, C, Liberec, Czech juniors
6) Jon Gruden, C, U.S. Under-18, NTDP
5) Blade Jenkins, LW, Saginaw, OHL
4) Filip Zadina, RW, Halifax, QMJHL
3) Bode Wilde, D, U.S. Under-18, NTDP
2) Sampo Ranta, LW, Sioux City, USHL
1) Jett Woo, D, Moose Jaw, WHL
Honorable mention: Alexis Gravel, G, Halifax; Dominik Bokk, RW, Vaxjo Jr.; Oliver Wahlstrom, RW, U.S. NTDP; Nando Eggenberger, Davos, Swiss League; Jared Moe, G, Waterloo, USHL