This is the sixth and final part breaking down the players selected by the Blue Jackets at the 2017 draft. You can find the previous posts in the links below:
The Jackets entered the draft without a first or a second round pick. They did not make a first round selection but were not going to let the second round pass without making a pick, so they sent Keegan Kolesar to Vegas for the 45th overall pick, and selected Alexandre Texier. This was a great trade for the Jackets, as Texier is a much better prospect than Kolesar. Texier becomes one of the Jackets top five prospects whereas Kolesar would likely be outside the top 10.
The theme of this series has been the unconventionality of the Jackets selections, and it all started with this pick here. Texier spent his draft season playing professionally in Europe, not uncommon, but Texier was not playing in a traditional hockey country like Sweden, Finland or Russia, he was playing in France.
Texier was had a great season in the French professional league. He had 19 points in 40 games which is the best ever for an under-18 player. He followed it up with 10 points in 12 playoff games. The difficulty in looking at these numbers is knowing the context in which they came. There is no president for young players developing in the French league; we can’t just compare Texier to other young players in the league, like we could with a player from say Finland.
Using Hockey Reference’s play index, they list Texier as the only player to be drafted out of the French league. That is because the prominent French NHL players played in other leagues, Antoine Roussel and Stephane De Costa both played in North America. Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare came up through the French league but was never drafted. Bellemare is not the same type of player that Texier is, but he still had a ton of success in the French league. As a 19 year old, Bellemare put up 20 points in 22 games. Bellemere spent three seasons in the French league before moving over to the Allsvenskan and the SHL and that’s where he got noticed. Texier after only a season is clearly done with the French league and needs a greater challenge. Look at the kind of stuff he was able to do in the playoffs.
Fortunately his U20 numbers were much better and show why he’s considered a top prospect. He put up eight points in five games which is quite good; it’s tied for 15th all-time among all players. Prospects can still dominate this tournament, Tobias Rieder put up 13 points in five games, but it’s not as common. For players under the age of 18, Texier’s eight points are tied for the most all-time with someone Jacket fans are very familiar with, Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Texier isn’t the pure sniper that Bjorkstrand was/is, but he is still a very skilled offensive player. The Hockey Prospect Blackbook raves about his skating and his separation speed. You can see that on his breakaway goal against Denmark. Once he gets control of the puck at his blue line, he’s gone. He’s very strong on his skates and HP talks about how he is able to open up to the play and give his teammates an easy target to pass to. In his first goal against Denmark he gets right in tight on the goalie, opens himself up and is in the perfect spot to tap home an easy goal.
Texier has very good offensive instincts. He can read the play well, and if a play isn’t there he is tough to move off the puck as he is a very good puck handler. He’s very shifty in the offensive zone, and has a quick release on his shot. In the highlights from the French league playoffs, you can see how he cuts right into the slot and quickly gets his shot off.
As with most young players Texier needs to work on his defensive game, and continue to get stronger. He isn’t a very physical player but that was more due to the fact that he was 17 playing in a professional league. One scout described Texier as a “gritty player… so that physical part should come as he matures.
Texier is spending this season playing for KalPa in the Liiga. He’s played four games and thus far things seem to be going pretty well.
Alexandre Texier scored his first #Liiga goal today as KalPa beat HIFK 2-1. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/qqowDAKV4Q
— Marco Bombino (@marco_bombino) September 15, 2017
Let’s hope we see some more of those as the season goes on.
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