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Draft Day Thread; Jackets go for upside with first three picks

June 24, 2017, 9:54 AM ET [3 Comments]
Paul Berthelot
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Jackets did not have a pick on day one of the draft and will be waiting a while before they make their first selection of day two. The Jackets do not pick until pick 86, the end of the third round. There are lots of good players available and hopefully a couple of them fall to the third round like Vitali Abramov did last year. If not there will be plenty ofseventh round sleepers available.

The Jackets will have have six picks today, as they added an extra sixth (pick 170) from Chicago in the blockbuster yesterday. I will update this post as the picks come in, with information on whose these players are and some instant reaction to the picks.

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The Jackets have made a trade sending Keegan Kolesar to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for pick #45.

Here are the picks the Jackets have entering Day 2

45: Alexandre Texier-C: Texier has followed a nontraditional path to the draft. He has played in France in the top French league. He did very well putting up 19 points in 40 games, the highest ever for a U18 player in that league. He's a skilled player who skates well. This is a very solid pick, and Texier is a much better prospect than Kolesar.


86: Daniil Tarasov - G: Tarasov was highly thought of going into this season, but missed the entire season due to injury. The Blackbook had him as the top ranked goalie last summer, but dropped him with the injury. He is 6'4 and had a very successful season in the MHL last year. He put up a .918 save percentage in that league, and a .921 playing for the Russian Under 18 team. This is big gamble, but this has the potential to be a big boom pick.

117: Emil Bemstrom - C: Bemstrom spent the past season playing for Leksands J20 in the SuperElit. He put up 33 points in 28 games. He also received five games in the SHL but went pointless. He is a skilled offensive player who skates well. He is a goal scorer with good goal scoring instincts and a good shot. A NHL scout described him as a "like poor man's Tolvanen." Another high upside pick.

148:Kale Howarth - LW: This is the first curious pick made by the Jackets. Howarth is a 1997 born player in his third year of eligibility. He has also taken an unconventional path playing in the BCHL. He had an ok season in that league with 58 points in 51 games. Usually with players of this league, especially ones of this age they should be well over a point per game and pushing close to two points per game. He's listed at 6'4 and skates pretty well for a player of this size. He will be off to the University of Connecticut in 2018-19.

170: Jonathan Davidsson - RW: The Jackets go with another overager in the 1997 born Davidsson. Davidsson plays in Sweden for Djurgardens. He had a very good season in the SHL scoring 12 points in 44 games. In prior seasons he has been over a point per game in the SuperElit, and maybe should have been taken in a previous draft. He is a quick skater with good vision. He has good puck skills and likes to be involved in the offense.

179: Carson Meyer - RW: The overager run continues with the Jackets picking Meyer. He is a local player, playing in Ohio at Miami University. He had 26 points in 32 games, as a freshman. Meyer has been on the Jackets radar for a while. He came up through the Ohio Blue Jackets system, and was invited to the Blue Jackets development camp this past summer. He's a skilled player, but is undersized at 5'10 and isn't the best skater. At this stage in the draft this is not a bad risk to take.

210: Robbie Stucker D: The theme of this draft has been non-traditional players. Stucker is a high school player and a late 98 born player. He's big at 6'3, and considered very raw. He lit up the high school circuit with 40 points in 25 games. He's adept at passing the puck, but overall his offensive game has some holes.

There you have it, the Jackets went a different direction with their picks but there is plenty of upside here. As the summer goes on I will go much more in-depth on these picks and give a clearer picture of what to expect from these kids. Thanks for following along!

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