Battalion Breakdown: Looking at Liam Foudy's season

Battalion Breakdown is a closer look at the Blue Jackets' season on a player-by-player basis. Today, BlueJackets.com continues the series by looking at Liam Foudy and his impact on the team's season.

Number: 19
Age:20
Birth date: Feb. 4, 2000
Birthplace: Scarborough, Ont.
Height, weight: 6-2, 182
Stats:2 GP, 0-1-1, 0.1 point shares, 65.00 xGF% at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick
Contract: Signed through 2021-22 season (Two years remaining before RFA status)
Going into this year's set of Battalion Breakdowns, the general rule was that a player must have suited up for at least 20 games and still be on the CBJ roster at the end of the season in order to qualify for the series.
That meant 25 players qualified, which seemed like a fair number to do in a season in which injuries forced the Blue Jackets to dress 36 different players, a number of them for 10 games or fewer.
But the series just seemed like it would be incomplete without one player who didn't fit those qualifications, and that player is Foudy.
While the young speedster suited up in just two regular-season games, he did skate in all 10 postseason games, and it's pretty clear the 2018 first-round pick is a big part of the team's plans going forward in the immediate future.
Entering the season: Foudy was expected to have a chance to make the opening night roster after an excellent 2018-19 season with London of the OHL. Foudy showed good offensive instincts with the Knights a season ago, tallying 36 goals and finishing with 68 points in 62 regular-season games before adding 12 points in 11 playoff games. He then headed to Cleveland of the AHL for that team's postseason, netting two goals in eight games and showing he belonged in the pro game. It would take a strong camp to make him an option at either center or wing for the Blue Jackets, but he was at least on the radar.
Season recap: Instead of getting the chance to show his stuff in training camp, though, Foudy suffered a shoulder injury in the Blue Jackets' final game of the annual NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., immediately ahead of training camp.
With rehab taking him into the start of the season, there was no chance for Foudy to make the roster, so once healthy he returned to London as he was too young to play at the AHL level during the regular season. There, it was clear he was as impressive as anyone at that level, as he racked up a 28-40-68 line in 45 games with the Knights and also won gold with Team Canada's team at the annual World Junior Championships.
It looked to Columbus like Foudy was ready to contribute by the winter, especially as injuries added up, but because he was returned full-time to juniors he could only play for the Blue Jackets when there wasn't a conflict with his games in London. In addition, he could only suit up in the NHL until the beginning of March per the stipulations of the player agreement between the league and the Canadian junior ranks.
That meant he could only skate in two games during the regular season, including his NHL debut Feb. 10 vs. Tampa Bay. He was held without a point in that contest but impressed head coach John Tortorella enough to return for a Feb. 13 game in Buffalo, not far from his childhood home in Ontario, and he notched his first NHL point in the game with an assist.
Foudy then returned to the team as it prepared to enter the playoff bubble, and it was clear Tortorella was enamored with the youngster's speed and poise as the Jackets headed into the postseason.
"The biggest thing with him -- and I've talked to him quite a bit about it already in the first four or five days here -- we just want him to move his legs at all times," Tortorella said. "I have been concentrating a lot with him offensively. I think if he keeps his legs moving and not look to make a play right away when he gets the puck -- when he starts looking to make a play, he stops skating.
"I want to see him beat people. I want to see him carry the puck more and then maybe plays will work off of that. … For me, for him, to give him the biggest opportunity to crack the lineup is to show us that speed all the time."
Foudy did just that during the postseason, looking threatening throughout the opening series vs. Toronto then notching the clinching goal in the deciding game vs. the Maple Leafs. In all, Foudy ended the postseason with a goal and an assist in 10 games.

Top Moment

Foudy was in the right place at the right time to score his first NHL goal in Game 5 of the series vs. Toronto. With Columbus holding a 1-0 lead as the third period ticked under nine minutes to go in the deciding game of the series, Foudy chased down a dump-in off the stick of Nyquist. The rest of the Blue Jackets went for a line change, but so did the Maple Leafs, leaving Foudy alone with the puck in the corner. As Foudy advanced on goalie Frederik Andersen, defenseman Martin Marincin was caught in no-man's land, and Foudy quickly looked off the netminder before banking in a shot from a sharp angle.
"It was amazing," Foudy said. "Growing up, being a huge Leafs fan, always rooting for them, to be able to come and play this series against them and beat them and score my first NHL goal, it's something I'll never forget. It's a special moment."

Highlights

Video: All the best from Foudy's first campaign.

By the numbers

18:03: Foudy saw his playing time in the two regular season games jump from 10:23 in his debut vs. Tampa Bay to 18:03 against Buffalo a game later, a nod to the trust Tortorella already had in his young forward.
2: Foudy's goal vs. Toronto made it two seasons in a row that a CBJ player scored a playoff goal before notching a regular-season tally in his career, as Dean Kukan did the same in the playoffs the year before with his tally in Game 5 of the Boston series.
3: Foudy is one of three CBJ forwards to suit up for the team at 20 years old last season, joining Emil Bemstrom and Alexandre Texier.