The Blue Jackets are in a very interesting position this upcoming June. The middle of the first round is not an ideal spot to be. All the top 10 talents are gone and even if someone was to fall out of the top 10 they are usually scooped up by pick 12 or 13. It’s also early enough in the draft that teams aren’t willing to take big reaches.

Recent players taken at pick 18 are a mixed bag. Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Tuch and Thomas Chabot are a few of the successes. Mark McNeill, Mirco Mueller and Logan Stanley are some of the misses. That’s the nature of the draft even in the first round not every player is going to work out.

Back to Stanley, the Jets traded up from pick 22 to 18 in order to select him. To move up four spots the Jets gave up pick 22 and 36 for 18 and 79. Trading back always seems to work out better than trading up. The Flyers who traded with the Jets ended up getting German Rubstov at 22 and Pascal Laberge at 36, two pretty good prospects.

The best example of trading back in recent years was the Leafs in 2015. The Leafs entered the draft with pick 4 and 24. They drafted at 4 but traded 24. First they traded with the Flyers picking up pick 29 and 61. They then flipped 29 to the Jackets for 34 and 68. The Leafs moved down 10 spots, still got a good player in Travis Dermott at 34, and ended up with an additional second and third.

Due to trades the Jackets have been short on picks each of the past two seasons. They have only made 12 picks the last two drafts and enter this draft again without a full slate of picks. They do not have their fourth, trading it to Nashville for Mark Letestu, or a fifth, which they dealt to Chicago in Artemi Panarin trade. Trading down would be a nice way to get a few of those picks back.

It’s all going to depend on who is available, if one of those third tier defencemen is on the board like an Evan Bouchard or Bode Wilde I think you have to stay and make the pick. If not maybe you look to trade down and try to land a Rasmus Sandin towards the end of the first round and pick up and extra pick later on.

The Jackets always seem to be aggressive on the draft floor. It doesn’t always come to fruition but they have options and they are going to explore them all.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

Join the Discussion: » 10 Comments » Post New Comment

» Blue Jackets extend John Tortorella

» Blue Jackets extend Hockey Operations Staff

» Thoughts on the Blue Jackets Traverse City roster

» How the Blue Jackets can get more national coverage

» Just how bad is the Blue Jackets prospect system?