The five best draft picks in Blue Jackets history

With the NHL draft just two weeks away from today -- yes, really -- we figured now would be a good time to look back on the best draft picks in CBJ history.
It sounds easy enough. Just look back, find the early picks that domainted, the lower-round picks who had great careers and call it a day. But that would be a bit too easy, so to make this a bit tougher, we're going to trim the list to only five selections.

Yes, a draft pick has to truly be a great one to make a list this short, as Columbus has taken part in 20 drafts -- and chosen 162 players -- over the past two decades of hockey. We are also limiting this to players the franchise actually selected, so while a draft pick included in a trade might be pretty well-used if it acquires a high-level NHL player, it's not actually a pick that was selected by the team so it won't count.
With the rules established, here are the top five -- in reverse chronological order.

2016: Pierre-Luc Dubois (round one, third overall, Cape Breton, QMJHL)

The Blue Jackets drafted a franchise necessity, a No. 1 center at third overall in the 2016 draft.
But that's what you're supposed to do when you pick that high, right?
It's true, but the special circumstances surrounding general manager Jarmo Kekalainen's choice of Dubois make this one of the best picks in franchise history. As most CBJ fans know, the Blue Jackets finished with the fourth-worst record in the NHL the previous season but moved up a spot in the lottery to third.
Considering most NHL observers considered there to be three elite players at the top of the draft -- the top three were thought to be American standout Auston Matthews followed by Finnish forward sensations Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi -- it was considered a boon for the Jackets to move up that one spot.
Kekalainen didn't confirm to conventional wisdom, however. It seemed pretty set in stone that Matthews would go No. 1 overall to Toronto while Winnipeg would follow and select Laine, and come draft night, things did play out that way.
With Puljujarvi still available, Kekalainen and the CBJ delegation strode to the podium in Buffalo and the Blue Jackets announced the pick of Dubois, a big, competitive center from Cape Breton of the QMJHL.
Dubois was no slouch coming off a 42-goal, 99-point season for the Screaming Eagles, but it was still a stunning pick to the live crowd in what was then known as the First Niagara Center, hockey followers across the world and a CBJ fan base back in Columbus that didn't quite know what to think.
Of course, it's worked out for the Blue Jackets. Dubois has never missed a game in a three-year NHL career and has become the team's No. 1 center while posting a 65-93-158 line in 234 games. He sits both fifth in goals and points among members of his draft class behind only Matthews, Laine, Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk (sixth overall) and Chicago's Alex DeBrincat (39th overall) in both categories.
Puljujarvi will always be compared to Dubois, especially as early struggles -- a 17-20-37 line in 139 games -- prompted a return home to Finland. But he is coming off a 24-goal, 53-point season with Kärpät of the Liiga and seems like someone who could return to the NHL at some point with a matured game and renewed confidence.

2015: Markus Nutivaara (round seven, 189th overall, Kärpät, Finland)

OK, this one could have gone also to the team's sixth-round pick in that year's draft, as fellow CBJ defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov looks like he'll make these back-to-back late-round picks land among the best in franchise history as far as value goes.
But for now, we'll give the edge to Nutivaara simply because of how hard it is to find gems this late in the draft. How hard? Of the other 29 players taken in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, only three have made it to the NHL, combining for 144 games, eight goals and 34 points.
On his own, Nutivaara has dwarfed all of those numbers, as the Blue Jackets defenseman has played in 244 games and netted 17 goals, 43 assists and 60 points in his four-year.
Talk about value!
While injuries caught up with him a bit this year, Nutivaara reamins a pretty solid piece of the franchise's plans going forward if he posts a bounce-back year, though it will be interesting to see how things go forward because of the obvious depth on the CBJ back end. For now, though, this was an absolute home-run pick given lack of success for the players around Nutivaara.
Though personally, we're a bit partial to someone taken 19 picks later -- that's where Edmonton selected Czech goalie Miroslav Svoboda.

2008: Cam Atkinson (round six, 157th overall, Avon Old Farms, Connecticut)

Rarely does a team find an All-Star in the sixth round of the NHL draft.
That sounds a bit like a cliché, but it's also deeply true. When Atkinson made his second NHL All-Star Game amid his franchise-record-tying 41-goal season in 2018-19, he was the only player drafted in the sixth round who was taking part.
Just 11 of the other 29 players chosen in 2008 in the sixth round made it to the NHL, and none made a single All-Star Game. While a number have turned in solid careers at the top level -- Jared Spurgeon, Tommy Wingels and Zac Rinaldo among them -- none has had the impact of Atkinson.
The winger chosen by general manager Scott Howson has etched himself into the history of the Blue Jackets franchise, currently placing second all-time in games played (571), goals (198) and points (368) while ranking fourth with 170 assists.
He's also become a fan favorite, someone equally beloved for his goal-scoring exploits on the ice and his community focus, including helping run the Force Network Fund and the Battery Hockey Academy training center.

2003: Marc Methot (round six, 168th overall, London, OHL)

Here's another stat about sixth rounders -- less than 10 percent of those players make it to 500 NHL games played, we found a year ago when researched the drafts from 1999-2008. In fact, so far just two sixth-round picks in CBJ history thus far have made it to that milestone -- Atkinson and Methot.
For his career, Methot carved out a longtime role as a rock-solid defenseman who was particularly strong in his own zone, playing in 624 games over 13 seasons with Columbus, Ottawa and Dallas. Overall, he had 22 goals and 123 points while finishing plus-51 in his career, including a 7-44-51 line in 275 games with the Blue Jackets.
So it's a solid pick by Howson, but what vaults it into being one of the best in franchise history is the July 1, 2012, deal in which Columbus traded him straight up to the Senators for a talented, gritty forward coming into his own.
All Nick Foligno has done since then has become one of the key pillars of the franchise's growth, placing third in CBJ history in games played, goals, assists and points, not to mention serving as the team's longtime captain and a valuable part of the Columbus community.
Now that's how you use a sixth-round pick.

2002: Rick Nash (round one, first overall, London, OHL)

The Blue Jackets moved only in fits and starts in the opening years of the franchise, but one thing they truly got right was moving up to draft Rick Nash with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft.
But it bears remembering that the team didn't own the No. 1 pick going into the draft held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Florida actually held the top pick followed by Atlanta, with Columbus slotted in at No. 3 before the start of the event.
General manager Doug MacLean wasn't going to miss his man, though. Nash, a big, talented goal scorer out of London of the OHL, was the apple of MacLean's eye, so he looked to swing a deal to move up to No. 1, making sure nothing could derail his plans.
It ended up being a bit complicated, but in the end the Blue Jackets gave up essentially nothing to move up. The Blue Jackets and Panthers -- who wanted NHL-ready defenseman Jay Bouwmeester -- swapped selections, with the Panthers being given the option to swap first-round picks in the 2003 draft as well.
That didn't happen as the Panthers ended up with the No. 1 pick again in '03. Atlanta got the prospect -- goaltender Kari Lehtonen -- it wanted at No. 2 overall, the Panthers drafted Bouwmeester third, Columbus got Nash at the top, and no one else was able to trade up to ruin MacLean's day.
Everyone in Columbus is glad it worked out that way, as Nash became the franchise's most enduring on-ice icon during its first 20 years. Now a member of the team's front office, Nash still holds just about every major CBJ record, including games played, goals, assists and points (289-258-547 in 674 games). Lehtonen and Bouwmeester had long careers as well, but the Blue Jackets were the ones who walked away with a franchise-defining player.
Picks also in the running: Emil Bemstrom, fourth round, 2017; Elvis Merzlikins, third round, 2014; Oliver Bjorkstrand, third round, 2013; Joonas Korpisalo, third round, 2012; Josh Anderson, fourth round, 2012; David Savard, fourth round, 2009; Derek Dorsett, seventh round, 2006