Blue Jackets have done well in last five NHL drafts

Drafts are like recruiting classes in football -- everyone likes their haul at the time, but to truly rank the success, you have to come back a few years later to see how things pan out.
So let's just do that.
As this year's NHL draft nears -- the two-day event will start Oct. 6 with the first round and end a day later -- this seems like as good a time as any to go back and look at how the last five drafts turned out for Jarmo Kekalainen and company.

Kekalainen has been the team's general manager for each of the past seven drafts, and while some of the people who assist him when it comes to scouting and ranking players have changed over the years, there has been a true run of continuity in the CBJ front office.
And by and large, the results have been good -- exemplary, even, when it comes to unearthing late-round gems.
So without further ado, here's a look back at the last five Blue Jackets drafts and how they look five years, four years, three years, two years and one year later.

2019

Blue Jackets picks: 3
Players still tied to the organization: 3
NHL players to this point: 0
Of course, it's far too early to truly judge how this draft haul turned out. But considering the CBJ had just three picks, the lowest of any team in a year in the modern NHL draft era, the early returns have been pretty solid.
Because of a number of trades including those at the 2019 trade deadline at which the team famously went "all in," Columbus trekked to Vancouver with just two picks at its disposal, a third-rounder and a seventh-rounder.
All efforts to move up into the first round came and went, and on day two, Kekalainen acquired an extra pick when he flipped the third-round choice to Florida for a pair of fourth-round selections. There, the CBJ took Swedish defenseman Eric Hjorth before adding Russian forward Dmitri Voronkov. Finally, in round seven, the Blue Jackets chose OHL forward Tyler Angle.
All three had varying levels of success a year ago. Hjorth was coming off a knee injury that had cost him most of the previous season, but in 2019-20 he came to North America and showed some real offensive flair with Sarnia of the OHL. Angle made a big leap in scoring production at that level as well, but Voronkov could be the true stud.
The big, physical forward had an impressive season a year ago, cementing full-time playing time with one of the top teams in the KHL, Ak Bars Kazan, and impressing scouts with his scoring touch at the World Junior Championships. He's pledged to stay with Kazan until 2023 but looks like he'll be an NHL-ready talent by that time.

2018

Blue Jackets picks: 6
Players still tied to the organization: 6
NHL players to this point: 1
It will be fascinating to see where this draft class ends up, as it has a lot of potential to be one of the better hauls in franchise history.
The first-round pick has already made the NHL, as Liam Foudy debuted with a pair of regular-season games this year before playing in all 10 Stanley Cup Playoffs games the Blue Jackets took part in this summer. He rarely looked out of place, and though he has just a single goal and two assists in those 12 games, Foudy's skating ability and growing offensive skills make him someone who seems ticketed to make the lineup in Columbus next year at age 20.
From there, there are a number of intriguing prospects who have continued to have success at their respective levels. That's especially true of second-round pick Kirill Marchenko, who like Voronkov has already established himself as a KHL regular, with Marchenko doing so with traditional power SKA St. Petersburg. He set SKA scoring records for a teenager a year ago and appears to have a tremendous amount of offensive upside, though he is contracted to stay in his native country for at least the next two years.
Third-round pick Markus Karlberg is an offensively skilled winger who has piled up points at the junior level but is still looking to have senior-level success in his native Sweden. Meanwhile, sixth-round defenseman Tim Berni has been a solid player in his native Switzerland for both club and country and is expected to make his AHL debut this upcoming season.
Fellow sixth-round pick Veini Vehvilainen has already made the jump across the pond, as the goalie dominated the Finnish Liiga for two straight seasons before an impressive first year with the Cleveland Monsters a year ago. And seventh-round pick Trey Fix-Wolansky also got his feet wet with the Monsters last year, overcoming an early-season injury to show his skill can play at the pro level with 26 points in 42 games. Though he lacks ideal size, Fix-Wolansky could be an offensive contributor down the road.

2017

Blue Jackets picks: 7
Players still tied to the organization: 5
NHL players to this point: 3
The Blue Jackets had three 20-year-olds earn important minutes this year.
One is Foudy, who spent most of his season in juniors but did make his pro cameo this season. The other two were taken in the '17 draft, as French forward Alexandre Texier and Swedish forward Emil Bemstrom were with the Blue Jackets for the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign.
Texier was the team's top pick in that draft as he was taken in the second round when Columbus traded up to get the skilled centerman. Blue Jackets fans already know what he's about, as Texier is coming off a postseason showing this summer in which he proved a back injury that cost him half of the campaign wouldn't keep him down. He has a 7-7-14 line in 38 NHL regular-season games but is one of the key building blocks for the Blue Jackets franchise.
The same could be said of Bemstrom, whom Columbus took in the fourth round in what looks like a steal. Bemstrom led the Swedish League in goal-scoring at age 19 then came over to Columbus to post a 10-10-20 line in 56 games this year. He still has some polish to put on his game, but his quick release and improved play throughout the year make him an intriguing option up front.
The best of the bunch still could be the team's third-round pick in that year's draft, goaltender Daniil Tarasov. For all the riches the Blue Jackets have at the position, Tarasov might be the best prospect of the bunch, as the Russian who showed well last year for Ässät in Finland has excellent size and athleticism that will serve him well as he continues to develop.
Fifth-round pick Kale Howarth (forward, UConn) and seventh-round pick Robbie Stucker (defenseman, Minnesota) continue to develop at the college level. A pair of sixth-round picks are no longer with the organization, as Swedish forward Jonathan Davidsson was traded to Ottawa at the 2019 deadline and Ohio State forward Carson Meyer has reached free agency, though he could still sign an AHL deal.

2016

Blue Jackets picks: 5
Players still tied to the organization: 4
NHL players to this point: 4
It was another small draft crop as Columbus had just five picks, but the fact that four already have made it to the NHL level is impressive.
That starts at the top, where the top pick, Pierre-Luc Dubois, looks like a star in the making. Already the team's No. 1 center, Dubois hasn't missed an NHL game over the past three years, totaling a 65-93-158 line in 234 games, making him fifth among all scorers from that draft. The fact that he was taken third overall, ahead of presumed No. 3 pick Jesse Puljujarvi, is one of the
top draft picks in franchise history
.
Columbus also appears to have found a winner in second-round pick Andrew Peeke, who made the most of his rookie year this past season when he made his NHL debut. A 21-year-old right-shot defenseman, Peeke showed he can play at the top level when he totaled a goal and three points in 22 games. He also has the poise needed to play the position, and while the biggest concern about Peeke's game as he's matured is a lack of offensive upside, he scored five goals in 29 AHL games and showcased a good first pass with the Jackets.
After that, it remains to be seen what will come out of the draft, though getting two NHL regulars is really the baseline of success out of any year's picks. Third-round choice Vitaly Abramov has been traded to Ottawa, where he made his NHL debut and scored his first goal this past season, while seventh-round pick Calvin Thurkauf joined the Jackets as injured mounted and played three games.
Sixth-round pick Peter Thome could be an interesting follow as well, as the North Dakota goalie has had trouble finding consistent playing time at the college level but posted a 1.37 goals-against average this year. He boasts good size and is still refining his game after coming to it late.

2015

Blue Jackets picks: 9
Players still tied to the organization: 6
NHL players to this point: 6
All things considered, this might go down as the best draft in CBJ history.
Columbus had the stated goal of improving its defense in the draft and did just that, finding three NHL regulars on the blue line in first-round pick Zach Werenski, sixth-round choice Vladislav Gavrikov and seventh-rounder Markus Nutivaara. In addition, late first-round selection Gabriel Carlsson has played for the team in each of the last four seasons.
Talk about rebuilding the blue line!
In all seriousness, though, it's hard to do much better than this in a draft, even one in which you have nine picks. It all starts with Werenski, who CBJ fans know as one of the top defensemen in the league, someone who has already made an NHL All-Star Game appearance, who led the league in scoring from the blue line with 20 goals this past season, and who just finished eighth in the Norris Trophy voting. Simply put, the 22-year-old is an elite player after four seasons at the NHL level.
Gavrikov and Nutivaara were excellent late-round picks, as well. After tremendous success in his native Russia, Gavrikov had an impressive debut season at the NHL level this year, amassing 18 points while playing on a shutdown pair with David Savard. Meanwhile, Nutivaara just completed his fourth season with the Blue Jackets and has played in almost twice as many games as the rest of the players taken in that seventh round combined.
Carlsson, meanwhile, is still just 23 but has suited up in parts of the last four seasons. While he has played just 23 games at the NHL level, he spent much of this year with the team as the extra defenseman and earned praise from head coach John Tortorella for his development.
Columbus also got a fifth NHL player out of the draft as well in second-round pick Kevin Stenlund. The big Swedish center is coming off a season in which he played 32 games and will look to increase that total going forward.
The sixth player from the draft to see NHL playing time is third-round pick Keegan Kolesar, who debuted against Columbus this year with Vegas after being traded to the Golden Knights at the 2017 draft.
Among other picks, second-rounder Paul Bittner is yet to make his NHL debut but has become a regular with Cleveland, though his offensive game hasn't blossomed at the pro level. Meanwhile, a pair of defensemen taken in the fifth round -- Sam Ruopp and Veeti Vainio -- are no longer with the organization.