Jarmo Kekalainen went all-in two years ago.
The general manager of Blue Jackets gave up draft picks and held onto pending free agents at the 2019 close of trading to get a deep playoff run, and the end result was Columbus only got three picks in the 2019 NHL draft and four picks had in 2020.
The approach changed in 2021. Kekalainen sold on time and traded with David Savard, Nick Foligno and Riley Nash to begin the asset recovery and pipeline rebuilding process. The Blue Jackets landed in the 2021 draft with nine picks, including six between rounds three through seven.
“We had a few thin years here because we decided to do it two years ago and spent a few picks expanding our line-up and fighting for the Stanley Cup,” said Kekalainen on Saturday after the draft was finalized. “Now we’ve gone the other direction in a timely manner and reclaimed some assets that we can use to replenish the cabinets on the prospect’s side. I think our depth map is now full.”
In the first round on Friday, Columbus Strikers Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger and defenders Corson Ceulemans picked up.
On Saturday the Blue Jackets elected defender Stanislav Svozil (# 69), defender Guillaume Richard (# 101), defender Nikolai Makarov (# 132), striker James Malatesta (# 133), striker Ben Boyd (# 165) and striker Martin Rysavy (# 197).
Video: Blue Jackets fans react to Cole Sillinger’s selection
“We have a lot of different ingredients,” said Kekalainen. “We have some depth in our defense. We have some tenacity, we have some energy, we have some courage and most of all we have some character. But we also added some high-end skills.”
Choosing Svozil at the start of the third round is a win for Columbus, as Svozil was used in many rankings for the end of the first round or at the beginning of the second round.
Svozil made his debut in the Czech men’s league at the age of only 16 and has played 41 games for Kometa Brno this season, making him Rookie of the Year. In his draft year, Svozil continued to play most of the time against men, playing as deputy captain for the Czech Republic in the U18 World Cup and for his country in the U20 World Junior Championships.
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Amateur Scouting Director Ville Siren admitted that the Blue Jackets were pleasantly surprised when Svozil was available in 69th place overall.
“I like his two-way game,” said Siren. “He takes command at crucial moments of the game. He’s not afraid to play. He’s a good skater and a good puck mover.”
Richard and Makarov also add to the Blue Jackets’ defensive depth chart, with Richard upgrading the offensive and adding Makarov as a 6-4, 234-pound defensive defender height.
“(Richard is) a smart defender,” said amateur scout Stephane Leblanc. “He’s got good skills. He’s good with the puck. He’s a very good puck mover. He kicks hard. Physically he has to get stronger, like many of the 17 year olds we’re going to design, but we see a lot Potential in its (hockey) sense. “
After selecting highly skilled players in Johnson and Sillinger in the first round, the Jackets tended to move forward in grit and size in the final rounds. Both Kekalainen and Leblanc spoke about the importance of balancing the ratio of big, brave players with smaller, more experienced athletes.
Malatesta is the smallest player Columbus picked at just 5-9, but scouting reports suggest that his size doesn’t stop him from playing a quick game.
“James Malatesta is playing at a breakneck pace”, Elite Prospects wrote in their draft guide.
“He doesn’t know any other way. His engine has been in top gear for years, but he decided that he liked it that way.”
The other two strikers, Boyd and Rysavy, each stand 6-3 and weigh just over 200 pounds. Boyd scored 10 points in 35 games for the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders that year, while Rysavy scored nine points in 19 games in the Czech second division league.
Round six and seventh picks rarely make it to the NHL, but Kekalainen believes Boyd and Rysavy could defy the odds.
“Without skill you can’t win, and without courage and tenacity you can’t win,” said Kekalainen. “You can see the ingredients of the top teams in the league, there’s always a good mix of them. I think we’ve always had big teams and teams with courage and we lost some of that on the moves we made.” in the near past.”
The Jackets were one of the few teams that didn’t move up or down in draft order on Saturday. They were happy with the number of picks they had and the players available to them in these slots and everything worked pretty much according to plan.
Nine picks helped, a clear deviation from the last two drafts.
“Things don’t always go as you planned, but it seemed like the last two days the guys we put in and who we hoped would be there,” Leblanc said . “It doesn’t always work that way. We had a lot of tips that help and we were happy with the guys we got in the rounds.”
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