With the Ducks being eliminated it means all the Blue Jackets draft picks have been decided.
As we begin to ramp up our draft coverage here at Buckeye State Hockey, I thought I would take some time to remind everyone what picks the Blue Jackets have and how they came about them.
Round 1 – Pick 8 (CBJ)
This pick is the Blue Jackets own pick. This draft is deep especially at the top and the CBJ can expect to get a very good player at eight. A player that under normal circumstances wouldn’t be available.
Round 2 – Pick 34 (TOR) Pick 38 (CBJ) Pick 58 (ANA)
The Toronto pick was acquired from LA in the Marion Gaborik trade. LA got the pick from Toronto in the Jonathan Bernier trade. This is a very valuable pick. It’s almost like another first round pick as it’s likely a first round caliber player falls.
CBJ’s own pick at 38 is the one I think mostly likely to be traded. Teams who trade away a first round pick will be looking to get into draft. Jarmo in the past has shown he is not afraid to move down as he did in 2013 when he traded pick 44 (Tristan Jarry) for pick 50 (Dillion Heatherington) and 89 (Oliver Bjorkstrand) which I think worked out nicely for the system.
The Ducks pick was acquired in the James Wisniewski trade. Keep in mind the pick is 58 rather than the expected 57. There will be 31 picks in the second round as the Hawks receive pick 54 as compensation for not signing 2010 24th pick Kevin Hayes.
Third Round – Pick 68 (PHI), Pick 69 (CBJ)
These are the seventh and eighth picks in the third round but again fall to pick 68 and 69 due to the comp pick mentioned above.
The Philly pick was acquired in the Steve Mason trade.
Jarmo has options and can be flexible with these picks. He has no threat for the most part of someone stealing his player. He could leverage one of these picks to try and secure a later pick in the third and a fourth round pick.
Round 4 – None
This is why I think we could see a trade of one of the two third round picks. Not that fourth round picks are super valuable but ideally you don’t want to sit out a round without picking a player.
Columbus’ pick was traded to Philly as part of the Scott Hartnell trade.
Round 5 – Pick 129 (CBJ), Pick 141 (MIN)
Again Jarmo has done well to secure multiple picks in a round.
The Minnesota 5th came in the Jordan Leopold trade.
Round 6 – Pick 159 (CBJ)
Their own pick. This late in the drafts odds are heavily stacked against getting a good player. But remember Cam Atkinson was a 6th round pick so anything is possible.
Round 7 – Pick 189 (CBJ)
Again their own pick.
Of note Columbus had a conditional 7th from the Maple Leafs which they got in the Matt Frattin trade.
The condition was unknown to my knowledge until recently. The condition was whether Columbus kept Jerry D’Amigo or not. Once he re-signed with the Jackets and assigned to Springfield the condition was not met and the pick returned to the Leafs.
Draft is going to be very exciting with 10 picks. I expect we will be seeing/hearing a lot of rumours around the Blue Jackets as they either pick players or try and move up and down in the draft.
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