From prospects to pros: Blue Jackets built through years of drafts

In an alternate universe, the NHL draft would begin tonight in Montreal, and the Blue Jackets would be picking in the No. 31 spot after hoisting the Stanley Cup earlier in June.

OK, that's a bit more perfect world than an alternate universe, but we can dream about what might have happened had things progressed normally in a non-coronavirus world. But instead, the NHL is working toward a return to play right now, with the draft postponed until after the resumed season, though the league will stage its draft lottery tonight at 8 p.m.

But in the spirit of the draft, we decided to look back a little bit at how this Blue Jackets team was built. Most CBJ fans know this team has been put together through a "draft and develop" philosophy, with 22 players who skated for the Blue Jackets this year having been drafted by the organization.

Now seemed like a good time to look back at those drafts, going back a dozen years, to see what those players and CBJ executives were saying at the time those players were picked. All quotes in this story were given at the time of the draft, forecasting how this sustained era of CBJ success came together.

2008: Cam Atkinson (sixth round, pick No. 157):The Blue Jackets thought they picked a franchise cornerstone winger in the first round when Nikita Filatov was chosen sixth overall, but instead the high-scoring sniper the team wanted was selected more than 150 picks later.

Atkinson was just a small but talented forward headed to Boston College at the time, having completed his prep career with 26 goals in 28 games at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut. He made his NHL debut in 2011-12 and has gone on to score 198 goals in union blue, including a franchise-record-tying 41 a year ago. Here's what the CBJ bio of Atkinson said at the time:

In round six, Columbus used the 157th pick to select right wing Cameron Atkinson. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound native of Riverside, Connecticut notched 26-37-63 and 10 penalty minutes in 28 games with Avon Old Farms (Conn.) High School and will play at Boston College in 2008-09.

2009: David Savard (fourth round, pick No. 94):Much like the year before, then-general manager Scott Howson thought he took a franchise cornerstone in the first round but actually found him later. Coming off the first playoff appearance in franchise history, Columbus took John Moore 21st overall in the first round, but they found a mainstay a few rounds later in Savard.

The burly defenseman was 10th among QMJHL defensemen in scoring when he was taken from Moncton of the junior league, but his calling card in the NHL has become his hard work and defensive ability below the hashmarks. Those skills have allowed Savard to play in 557 games, most among defensemen in franchise history. (Moore, meanwhile, was traded early in his CBJ career but carved out a solid career as well with 532 NHL games of his own.)

Here's the CBJ press release from Savard's draft year:

The Blue Jackets selected defenseman David Savard with the 94th pick in the fourth round. The St. Hyacinthe, Quebec native tallied 9-35-44, 33 penalty minutes and a +29 plus/minus rating in 68 games in 2008-09 with Moncton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He led the club in plus/minus rating and was second among Wildcats defensemen in scoring (tied for 10th among QMJHL defensemen). He added 5-5-10 and 10 penalty minutes in 10 playoff games to rank second on the team in playoff scoring.

2011: Boone Jenner (second round, pick No. 37):Columbus didn't have a first-round draft pick for the first time in franchise history -- it went to Philadelphia just ahead of the draft in the Jeff Carter deal -- but the team did get another key piece of the puzzle early in the second when Jenner came off the board.

The gritty but high-scoring center from Oshawa was expected to become a dependable NHL regular, as he was coming off a season in which he'd have 66 points in 63 games (he'd go on to have 45 goals his final year of juniors).

"We didn't expect him to be available at 37," Howson said. "He was certainly a mid-first round pick in our book. But it happens every draft, somebody slides."

"We were actually going to trade the pick and move back to acquire a later second and a third. In our analysis last night, the only player we weren't going to move back on was Boone Jenner. He was there, so we made the pick."

Jenner has gone on to play 489 NHL games -- currently ninth in CBJ history -- and post 113 goals and 223 points to this point. At the time, he foreshadowed becoming one of the longest-tenured players in franchise history with his draft-day comments.

"When my name was called my heart was racing, it was a dream come true," Jenner said. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time, I'm really happy to be where I am. I'm looking forward to a career with Columbus."

2012: Ryan Murray (first round, pick No. 2); Joonas Korpisalo (third round, pick No. 62); Josh Anderson (fourth round, pick No. 95):Here's where the bulk of the CBJ building really begins. This was the last draft of the Howson era, and he found three notable names in this trio.

Columbus didn't get the first overall pick at the draft lottery, but that turned out to be a bit of a blessing as Nail Yakupov turned out to be the rare No. 1 choice who washed out of the league. The Blue Jackets went the safe route at the No. 2 pick with Murray, who has proved to be a high-level defensemen in the league when he can stay healthy with 110 points and a plus-13 rating in 347 games.

"I'm a two-way defenseman that can jump into the play whenever I can," Murray said upon being drafted. "I like to play offense, as well, but I try to take care of my own end first and foremost."

Howson, meanwhile, was happy to stay at No. 2 and make the pick despite offers to make a trade. (For posterity's sake, the picks that followed were Alex Galchenyuk, Griffin Reinhart and Morgan Rielly.)

"We got a very attractive offer to move off, too, and we just said no," he said. "We got another offer from the same team and we said no again. They kept coming, but we were locked in on Ryan Murray. He was No. 1 on our list and that's the guy we wanted to take."

Korpisalo was chosen coming out of the Jokerit program in his native Finland -- ironically, Howson's soon-to-be replacement, Jarmo Kekalainen, was the GM of Jokerit at the time -- while Anderson was tabbed coming out of a decorated junior program in London.

"I'm a strong two-way player, and I'm real committed to playing hard at both ends of the rink," Anderson said. "I consider myself an unselfish player, and I'll do whatever it takes to help my team win games. I block shots, take a hit to make a play and get the puck out...anything that helps the team, I'll do it."

2013: Alex Wennberg (first round, pick No. 14); Marko Dano (first round, pick No. 27); Oliver Bjorkstrand (third round, pick No. 89):Kekalainen's first draft in charge of the Blue Jackets yielded a bounty of three first-round picks, and the new GM called his shot when Wennberg came up.

"I talked to the team a lot and they said if it comes and I'm still left at 14 then I'd get picked," Wennberg said. "I think it's a great organization and it's a great opportunity for me with the team."

"With Wennberg, we're happy with a kid that certainly has speed," then-president of hockey operations John Davidson said. "He needs to build himself up and get stronger, but the skills are there. He's really rocketed up over the last year. He's a good kid. He knows what he needs to work on. But there's something there and there's a lot of speed when he skates."

Wennberg has played 415 games, 14th in CBJ history, with 201 points. The other first round picks were Kerby Rychel, who played 37 games with the team before being dealt for Scott Harrington, while Dano looked like a budding star early in his Jackets career but bounced around the league after being send to Chicago in the Brandon Saad deal. Dano returned this year and played in three games with the team.

Meanwhile, Bjorkstrand flew a little under the radar but proved to be a shrewd choice. He looks like one of the budding scorers in the league after 21 goals in 45 games this year, and his scoring prowess has been known since his junior days when he scored 113 goals his final two seasons with Portland of the WHL.

"I want to consider my game as an offensive game," he said. "I like to make plays and score goals so mostly offense, but I feel like I'm also a player that can help with the defensive part of the game."

2014: Sonny Milano (first round, pick No. 16); Elvis Merzlikins (third round, pick No. 76):Milano was traded to Anaheim at this year's deadline for Devin Shore, but when he was chosen, the U.S. National Team Development Program standout noted for his offensive abilities was thought to be one of the most talented players in the draft.

"He was very high on our list," Kekalainen said. "He's a very skilled forward, a creative forward also. Our scouts very high on him, as well. He seems like a pretty mature kid physically, too, but I think there's a lot of growing up to and a lot of hard work ahead of him."

"When I heard them call my name, I was so excited," Milano said. "You're a little nervous sitting there, and you want to go to a place where someone wants you. There's a little bit of pressure, but it's fine.

"To be able to play for Columbus ... I lived in Ohio for a year, ad I got to know Columbus pretty well and got to watch some of their games. It's a really good feeling."

Milano had an up-and-down CBJ career, often showing his talent but also often finding consistent ice time hard to find. He finished his Jackets tenure with 22-25-47 line in 125 games.

Merzlikins, meanwhile, was certainly thought of highly by the Blue Jackets given his choice in the third round, as the Latvian prospect who had started to make waves with HC Lugano was chosen but didn't head to North America until this season.

2015: Zach Werenski (first round, No. 8 overall); Gabriel Carlsson (first round, No. 29 overall), Kevin Stenlund (second round, No. 58 overall); Vladislav Gavrikov (sixth round, No. 159 overall); Markus Nutivaara (seventh round, No. 189 overall):One of the Jackets' top drafts ever saw the team completely rebuild its defensive corps while also getting a burgeoning young forward in Stenlund.

Werenski looks like one of the team's core pieces going forward, as the skilled defenseman already owns the team record with 58 goals from the blue line, including an NHL-best 20 this year. At the time of his draft, the University of Michigan product was happy to stay close to his Detroit-area home even if it meant heading to the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

"It's kind of a relief, I guess, and it's the right place I wanted to be picked, so it's perfect," Werenski said. "I wasn't really sure what to expect coming into this, but I'm pretty happy with how it worked out."

Werenski was far from the only piece of the puzzle acquired in this draft, though, one in which the team clearly had a focus on defense. Nutivaara has been a regular on the blue line for the past few seasons, while Gavrikov had a highly successful debut this year and Carlsson has emerged as a potential depth option as well. Those four blueliners combined for 175 games this year for the Blue Jackets.

"It was a really good day for us," Kekalainen said after the draft. "We got a lot of guys from high on our list, and like I said (after day one), we wanted to get defensemen because we were light on that side of the depth chart.

"We got a lot of good defensemen that we had high on our list; we got some size, we got some forwards that have size, so we feel pretty good right now."

2016: Pierre-Luc Dubois (first round, No. 3 overall); Andrew Peeke (second round, No. 34 overall); Calvin Thurkauf (seventh round, No. 185 overall): There's no more high-profile draft pick that Kekalainen has made in his tenure than Dubois, as the CBJ general manager bucked what was seen as conventional wisdom in NHL circles by forgoing the chance to take countryman Jesse Puljujarvi to choose Dubois with the No. 3 pick.

To many, it was a stunner, but Kekalainen said he got the man he wanted with the selection.

"We watched (Dubois) and we followed him around," Kekalainen said. "We did a lot of homework on him. Very seldom (do) you get a player where everything checks, where you are all excited about him on the ice, but then you go through the testing, you go through the psychological testing, you go through the interviews, and everything screamed that, yes, this is our guy."

That proved to be an astute choice, as Dubois has become the team's No. 1 center. In his three seasons, he hasn't missed a game, racking up a 65-93-158 line and providing a physical presence in the middle of the ice.

That ability to do it all is something Dubois promised when selected by the Blue Jackets.

"I'm a big guy. I'm the type of guy that can play any position. I can block shots, I can play power play, I can play PK," Dubois said at the time. "I'm the type of guy that even if I play against the top line of the other team, I can still produce and find a way. I think I'm really creative offensively. I can shoot (and) I can pass the puck."

Columbus picked only five players in that draft but earned a pretty good haul considering Peeke's 22-game debut this year in which the then-USHL product headed to Notre Dame looks like a longterm building block on the blue line. Thurkauf also debuted this year after a solid season with Cleveland of the AHL and will be a depth option at forward for the coming seasons.

2017: Alexandre Texier (second round, No. 45 overall); Emil Bemstrom (fourth round, No. 117 overall): The team's two 20-year-old forwards this year both look like they could be impact players for years to come as both grew into their roles this season as rookies.

Texier has done nothing but impress in his young career, as the young Frenchman -- he was just 17 years old at the time of his draft -- went to Finland and grew his game over two seasons before coming to Columbus. He was the team's top pick in that draft, as Kekalainen sent the team's first-round pick to Vegas then moved up to take Texier.

"We drafted a guy we would have drafted in the first round if we had a late-first-round pick," Kekalainen said. "We felt we got a really good prospect in Alexandre Texier."

Texier was happy to be a Blue Jacket, especially after the team traded 2016 draft pick Keegan Kolesar for the chance to move up and take him.

"I am very excited," Texier said. "It's so fun for me. I am pumped to be part of the Columbus Blue Jackets."

Bemstrom, meanwhile, was a bit of an under-the-radar pick despite an impressive season with Leksands' junior team in his native Sweden in which he had 21 goals in 28 games. He had a 10-10-20 line this year as a CBJ rookie and looked to become more comfortable as the season went on.

2018: Liam Foudy (first round, No. 18 overall):The Blue Jackets drafted London's No. 18 with the 18th overall pick in the 2018 draft, as Foudy was taken thanks to his excellent speed and his impressive play as a youngster in the OHL.

"I think speed's the best part of my game," said Foudy, the son of a former CFL player and an Olympic sprinter. "I use that to the best of my ability and I think I'm a smart hockey player. Those are the two biggest things I have in my game."

Since then, Foudy looks like another key piece of the CBJ puzzle for years to come, including this year when he won a gold medal as a key player on Team Canada's World Juniors team, when he dominated the OHL upon his return, and when he looked the part when he made his two-game cameo with the Blue Jackets this year.

His ability was touted by the Blue Jackets at the time, including by front office member and now assistant GM Basil McRae, who is part of the ownership team for the Knights.

"The only thing I could tell our staff, we watched him all year, he's a good kid [and] he's a hard-working kid … good family," McRae said. "He's a hockey player. He loves the game and he's got a lot of, not only athleticism, but hockey sense."