Yesterday I wrote about three things the Jackets should look to accomplish at the draft in Chicago, today here are three things they should look to avoid.

1. Trade more picks

The Jackets had just five picks last year, having dealt away their fourth and fifth round picks. This year the Jackets have already given up their second round pick to the Canucks and appear to have a deal in place to send their first to Vegas. That would leave them with just five picks for the second year in a row. That is not a great position for a team that is widely a draft and develop team. The Jackets have added two undrafted prospects to the system already in Sam Vigneault and Matiss Kivlenieks so that helps off-set to an extent but neither are impact prospects you get in the first or second round.

With a reduced number of picks, the Jackets should hold on the picks that they do have. This may be considered a weaker draft but there will still be plenty of NHL players to come out of it. The Jackets have been successful in the lower rounds, they need to avoid trading those picks and make selections.

2. Draft a goalie

This one depends on who is available when the Blue Jackets are on the board. If one of the top goalies drop then the Jackets should absolutely be all over that, but outside of that there isn’t much reason for them to target a goalie. The Jackets have a deep goalie system led by Anton Forsberg. After him you have Kivlenieks, Peter Thome and Elvis Merzlikins. Kivlenieks will join Forsberg in the AHL this year and Merzlikins should be on his way next season. The Jackets will have a log jam in net and need to go out of their way to add another.

3. Pick a big physical low scoring defencemen

I say this every season and will keep saying it, as the Jackets continue to pick this type of player year after year. Andrew Peeke picked last summer didn’t do much in his first season at Notre Dame, Sam Ruopp didn’t show anything in the WHL and Ryan Collins never added any offensive touch. Collins was inexcusably signed and will play in the AHL next season. The Jackets have very few puck movers and if this trend continues they may find themselves in a similar situation to that of Winnipeg.

By The Numbers: Moose struggles identify an organizational weakness https://t.co/npS5XNxG86 #NHLJets #NHL

— JetsNation (@NHLJetsNation) January 19, 2017

The Jets have followed the same path as the Jackets picking a ton of big defencemen who have little offensive capabilities. They have progressed to the AHL but they have sputtered at that level and have been affecting the development of all players on the team. The Jackets need to re-think how they scout defencemen and look to add some puck-movers to the system.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

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