It’s been a frustrating slog.
Since the Blue Jackets’ inaugural season in 2000-01, they’ve qualified for the NHL’s postseason only six times and advanced past the first round once, with a memorable upset of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019.
Outside of those meager accomplishments, the Blue Jackets have lived a largely miserable NHL existence. It didn’t have to be this way. Like most sports franchises, the finger of blame can’t be pointed at just one facet of the operation.
The Jackets struggled through their first 22 seasons due to a hodgepodge of reasons, and they own a wistful draft record of what could’ve been had the only three general managers in franchise history ― Doug McLean (1998-07), Scott Howson (2007-13) and Jarmo Kekalainen (2013-present) ― called out names just a little differently in several drafts.
Perfect GMs and scouting departments don’t exist, which means all can review picks they’d love to do over. Hindsight just stings a little more in Columbus, especially with another big draft coming.
Here are six Blue Jackets drafts that could’ve significantly altered their trajectory for the better:
Columbus Blue Jackets got Rick Nash in 2002, could’ve done a lot more
After failing with the majority of his first 22 combined picks in 2000 and 2001, McLean struck gold in 2002 with a slick trade to move into the No. 1 slot. He used it to select Rick Nash, a power forward from Ontario whose No. 61 now swings from the rafters inside Nationwide Arena.
Imagine if there were a No. 2 banner hanging next to it with the last name “Keith” on it.
Perhaps the Blue Jackets might not have struggled as much through their early history had they selected defenseman Duncan Keith instead of center Joakim Lindstrom in the second round (41st overall).
More: Sweet 61: A reverse 16 plus superstition gave Blue Jackets’ Rick Nash his iconic number
Keith was taken by the Chicago Blackhawks 13 picks later (54th) and may have his number retired inside United Center. He became a three-time winner of the Stanley Cup (2010, 2013 and 2015) for the Blackhawks and has won both the Norris Trophy (2010) as the NHL’s top defenseman and Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP (2015).
Two other future NHL defensemen were also taken in the second round. Trevor Daley went 43rd to the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche selected Johnny Boychuk with the 61st pick. Both won the Stanley Cup in their careers.
Columbus Blue Jackets stumbled in loaded 2003 draft
The 2003 draft was one of the deepest in modern league history.
A whopping 61 of the first 70 players taken in that draft played an NHL game and the majority played a lot more than one game. Every player in the 30-pick first round made it to the NHL, including the Blue Jackets’ pick at fourth overall.
McLean selected Russian forward Nikolai Zherdev, who played 421 games in the NHL before a fast lifestyle and nonchalance for winning drove him back to Europe. Zherdev played 284 games over four years in Columbus while totaling 76 goals, 105 assists, 181 points and a -52 plus/minus rating. Fittingly, he was traded along with forward Dan Fritsche in 2008 to the New York Rangers in a deal that brought defensemen Christian Backman and Fedor Tyutin to Columbus.
Fritsche, from the Cleveland suburb of Parma, was the Blue Jackets’ second-round pick in 2003. He was selected three picks before the Nashville Predators grabbed towering defenseman Shea Weber, a future star with a grisly disposition and booming slap shot.
Also available when Fritsche was selected were goalie Corey Crawford (Blackhawks, No. 52), center David Backes (Blues, No. 62) and goalie Jimmy Howard (Red Wings, No. 64). Crawford won the Stanley Cup twice in Chicago (2013, 2015), Backes played for the Cup in 2019 with the Boston Bruins and Howard logged 543 games in a 14-year career spent with Detroit.
Columbus Blue Jackets passed on Anze Kopitar in 2005
One of the Blue Jackets’ biggest draft misses happened in 2005, when McLean ignored the pleas of his scouting staff to select center Gilbert Brule of the Western Hockey League sixth overall instead of a big, skilled center from Slovenia.
Anybody care to envision what Anze Kopitar, a two-time winner of the Stanley Cup as the Los Angeles Kings’ top center, could’ve done as Nash’s center in Columbus?
Nash spent most of his Blue Jackets career playing for teams that desperately lacked a center like Kopita, who’s been a powerful two-way force for 17 years. Kopitar has logged 1,292 games, all for the Kings, compiling a career stat line of 393 goals, 748 assists and 1,141 points while averaging 20:59 and winning 53.4% of his 22,791 faceoffs.
Imagine what his and Nash’s career numbers could’ve looked like had he become the Blue Jackets’ top center in 2005. Does Nash’s infamous trade request even happen?
That wasn’t the only sting the Blue Jackets received in the 2005 draft. Despite landing two solid future NHL defensemen with Adam McQuaid (No. 55) late in the second round and Kris Russell (No.67) early in the third, Columbus didn’t get a lot out of either pick.
Scott Howson traded McQuaid’s rights to the Boston Bruins shortly after taking over as GM in May 2007 and dealt Russell to the St. Louis Blues in 2011, after the undersized shot-blocker played the first four years of his career in Columbus.
It got even worse after Howson traded the 2007 fifth-round pick he got for McQuaid to the Dallas Stars, who used it to select future star forward Jamie Benn. McLane also passed up a future hall-of-fame defenseman to take McQuaid, leaving Kris Letang on the board for the Pittsburgh Penguins to take with the first pick of the third round (No. 62).
Cam Atkinson saved a rough Columbus Blue Jackets draft class
Howson fell for the same mirage in 2008 that got McLean five years earlier.
A tantalizing Russian winger was available with the sixth pick, so he selected Nikita Filatov and watched him become a major bust. Filatov played only 53 games in the NHL and three of his four seasons with the Jackets, finishing with a 6-8-14 career stat line. Filatov became more famous in Columbus for once telling his coaches in AHL Springfield, “Filly don’t do rebounds” than for anything he did on the ice.
Future star defenseman Erik Karlsson was selected by the Ottawa Senators nine picks after Filatov in the first round and Howson left another all-star defenseman on the table in the second round.
He took Cody Goloubef 37th and the stout blue-liner played 160 games during an eight-year career (96 with Columbus). Nashville took Roman Josi 38th and watched him develop into a perennial all-star and Norris Trophy winner (2020). Josi has played 827 games for the Predators and has become their top defenseman, notching 158-443-601 with a +73 rating.
Howson did take diminutive forward Cam Atkinson in the sixth round (157th overall) and he became a household name in Columbus.
Columbus Blue Jackets’ miscalculations on Sonny Milano were costly
Based solely on skill, it’s understandable why the Blue Jackets took Sonny Milano 16th overall in 2014.
Milano’s hand-eye coordination is off the charts and he’s able to do things with the puck that only a small number of players can pull off. The problem is the rest of Milano’s game, which lacked on the defensive side and didn’t mesh with a team-oriented system during his years with the Blue Jackets.
Another problem when it comes to Milano is the fact he was taken ahead of several NHL impact players, including Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak. The Blue Jackets certainly weren’t the only team that missed on Pastrnak, but he was available.
Pastrnak lasted nine more picks until the Bruins took him 25th, but he wasn’t the only NHL regular the Blue Jackets passed over for Milano. They also left power forward Alex Tuch for the Minnesota Wild at No. 18, center Nick Schultz for the Chicago Blackhawks at No. 20 and center Jared McCann for the Vancouver Canucks at No. 24.
There were also near misses in the third and fourth rounds that could’ve given the Blue Jackets a boost.
Kekalainen took defenseman Blake Siebenaler as the second of back-to-back picks in the third (No. 77), which was one pick after he’d selected goalie Elvis Merzlikins (No. 76) and two ahead of the Lightning taking star center Brayden Point (No. 79). Siebenaler didn’t make it to the NHL and Merzlikins is trying to rebound from two poor seasons as the Blue Jackets’ main goalie.
Columbus took left wing Julien Pelletier in the fourth round (No. 107) and he also failed to make it.
Five players drafted after him in that round became NHL regulars: Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews (New York Islanders, No. 108), Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson (Predators, No. 112), Bruins forward Danton Heinen (No. 116), Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting (Arizona Coyotes, No. 117) and Rangers star goalie Igor Shesterkin (No. 118).
Randomness with players developing into NHL regulars or stars increases significantly as rounds and pick numbers go up, so that must be factored into picks outside the top 10 in the draft. That said, it might be nice to have Shesterkin between the pipes at Nationwide Arena with Point centering Pastrnak on the Blue Jackets’ top line.
Columbus Blue Jackets missed two skilled forwards in 2016
All that Kekalainen needs to do to corner the market that topped the 2016 draft is to orchestrate a trade for Toronto star center Auston Matthews.
The two guys drafted behind Matthews that year, Patrik Laine and Pierre-Luc Dubois, have already logged time on the Blue Jackets’ top line. That includes Laine holding that role currently after he was traded to Columbus for Dubois in 2021.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets experimenting with Patrik Laine at center
The biggest “miss” that year, however, was early in the second round for Columbus. The Blue Jackets took defenseman Andrew Peeke 34th overall, a big rear guard, over two skill forwards with perceived flaws that kept them out of the first round.
Jordan Kyrou went 35th to the St. Louis Blues, where he’s become a fixture on the top line, and forward Alex DeBrincat became a star after going 39th to the Blackhawks. DeBrincat was traded at last year’s draft to the Ottawa Senators and might be on the move again as a coveted scorer who’s got one year left until unrestricted free agency.
Imagine if the Blue Jackets had drafted Kyrou or DeBrincat and played either of them with Dubois and Artemi Panarin preceding the dynamic Russian winger’s 2019 departure.
The third round in 2016 was also interesting from a Columbus perspective. The Jackets selected speedy Russian forward Vitaly Abramov 65th overall, which was one spot ahead of where the Calgary Flames took Adam Fox ― a skilled defenseman who’s already won the Norris Trophy (2021) with the Rangers.
Fox forced his way into free agency by not signing with Calgary after four years of college. He signed with the big market Rangers instead, which could’ve happened to the Blue Jackets had they selected him. In fact, defenseman Mike Reilly did the same thing in 2015 ― signing with his hometown Wild after Howson selected him for the Blue Jackets in 2011 (fourth round, No. 98).
bhedger@dispatch.com
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 6 drafts that could’ve helped the Blue Jackets avoid losing fate
