The Blue Jackets got very defensive in this year's draft. “We are very pleased with what we were able to accomplish during the course of this year’s draft,” said club General Manager Scott Howson. “We ended up selecting defensemen with four of our six picks, which allowed us to fill an organizational need at that position. We think we added quality young men and good prospects to our organizational roster.”

I already have broken down the 1st round selection John Moore, now let's take a look at the 2nd day selections that you may know less about.

2nd Round Selection-Kevin Lynch - Columbus began the day trading its third (No. 62) and fourth (No. 92) round picks to the New York Islanders in exchange for a second round (No. 56) pick and used it to select United States National Development Team center Kevin Lynch. The Grosse Pointe, Michigan native scored 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points with 54 penalty minutes in 63 games. He also had 5-5-10, six penalty minutes and was +9 in seven games at the World Under-18 Championships, helping Team USA win the gold medal. He has committed to play at the University of Michigan this fall.

I really questioned this selection after the trade to move back up to the 2nd round. I predicted when they made the trade that the Blue Jackets were going to go after Tomas Tatar, a center that's style has been compared to Sergei Samsonov. Instead Don Boyd and Scott Howson went a little off the path and selected Lynch.

Why this caught me off guard was due to Central Scouting who had moved Lynch from 83 in the mid-term ranking back to 100. After some research though, I found out that Lynch's draft stock rose dramatically after the U-18 Championships. As you saw before in this article, Lynch shined with 10 points and a +9 in only 7 games.

As I dug even deeper, I found all I needed to see to know why Howson went and got this kid. Assistant Head Coach from Michigan stated on the MichiganHockey.net web site that, “Kevin Lynch is a really hard-nosed, two-way player,” Pearson said. “He’s the kind of guy you’d like to have on your team. He’ll play the same whether you’re playing at home or on the road. You know what to expect out of him every game, which is important. He has really good hands too. I don’t think he’s scored as well as maybe he could have at the program. They have him in a little bit different role. He has excellent hands. As he gets closer to the net he’s got better hands. I think he’s a guy who can finish as well as give you a good two-way game.” I do know that NHL scouts were pretty discouraged with the way that the United States National Development Team was handled recently. So, it will be interesting if Boyd and the boys are right to look through the USNDT deficiencies and have found a center prospect that this organization needs badly to start grooming for the future.



4th Round Selection-David Savard - 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.

There isn't much doubt about why the Jackets like Savard and especially in the 4th round. He had been sky rocketing up the Central Scouting charts going from the 164th ranked skater to 104. He also has a right handed shot and knows how to score from the blue line. What they even like better is that he is very responsible in his own end and plays a very tight game. What they like best is he is improving and is teachable. Proof is the change in his plus/minus from one year to the next. Savard went from a -21 in his rookie campaign in Monctonto a +29 this sophomore season for the defenseman.

Don Boyd must think that there is still more improvement there to be had with more coaching and direction plus just Savard physically maturing will also help.



5th Round Selection-Thomas Larkin - Columbus used its fifth round pick to select Exeter (New Hampshire) Academy defenseman Thomas Larkin with the 137th overall pick. A 6-foot-5, 206-pound native of London, England, he registered 14-32-46 in 31 games en route to being named team Most Valuable Player and received All-New England honors. As captain, he set a single season record for goals and assists by a defenseman and helped Exeter reach the New England championship final. He has committed to attend Colgate University in the fall.

Larkin has an American father, Italian mother and was born in London. He also speaks 4 languages (Italian, French, English & Spanish). He also is the 1st Italian trained player to ever be drafted into the NHL. But having the ability to order snails in French at a restaurant in Paris has nothing to do with how he plays hockey. Another player that is a defenseman with a RIGHT handed shot that can score. Are you starting to see a pattern? Also, being 6'5" and 206 pounds , Larkin could easily be a 240+ pound monster when fully developed.

6th Round Selection-Anton Blomqvist - The Blue Jackets used the 167th pick in the sixth round to select defenseman Anton Blomqvist of Malmo (Sweden-2). He notched 0-3-3 and eight penalty minutes in 13 games with Malmo and added 2-14-16, 73 penalty minutes and was +3 in 31 games with Malmo Jr. of the Swedish Junior League. He had 0-1-1, 20 penalty minutes and was +3 in 18 games with Malmo Jr. in 2007-08.

This 6'4", 190 pounder is obviously a project. He has the body and the Jackets are just hoping that he can have a game to match in about 3 or 4 more years.

7th Round Selection-Kyle Neuber - In the seventh round, Columbus used the 197th overall pick to select right wing Kyle Neuber. The Sarnia, Ontario native recorded 9-3-12, 135 penalty minutes and was +1 in 59 games with Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League. He led Mississauga and ranked 18th in the OHL in penalty minutes. In 139 career OHL games, he has 13-8-21 and 338 penalty minutes.

Neuber is a tough guy plain and simple. He is a 6'2" and 220 pound right winger that is more known for his fighting ability in the OHL versus his hockey. I've seen nothing for me to believe that he is anything more than an enforcer type player.

In this video, Neuber is in white and beats this player to a pulp.



Neuber is in white in a shorter and more even fight.



Neuber is in the blue jersey in this one and puts the kid to the ice quickly and then didn't let the linesman get in the way of putting a few more knuckle sandwiches find their mark.





There you go. Moore seems to be a player that the organization was very high on as I confirmed via text message with Scott Howson that the team had him ranked in their top 10. The rest of the players that I have just outlined will be a wait and see type situation. Most of this will never get out of the waiting as they will never develop into NHL caliber players. The organization drafts 6 and hopes 2 will turn out. That is a good draft. If 3 turn out, it's a great draft.

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Eric Smith
Eric.Smith@HockeyBuzz.com

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