30. New Jersey Devils : Kasperi Kapanen 29. Los Angeles Kings : Brendan Lemieux 28. Tampa Bay Lightning : Julius Honka 27. Chicago Blackhawks : Conner Bleackley 26. Montreal Canadiens : Nick Schmaltz 25. Boston Bruins : Alex Tuch 24. Anaheim Ducks : Jack Dougherty 23. Colorado Avalanche : Travis Sanheim 22. Pittsburgh Penguins : Nikolay Goldobin 21. St. Louis Blues : Joshua Ho-Sang 20. San Jose Sharks : Brendan Perlini 19. Tampa Bay Lightning : Ivan Barbashev 18. Minnesota Wild : Roland McKeown 17. Philadelphia Flyers : Sonny Milano
16. The Columbus Blue Jackets select Right Wing Jakub Vrà¡na of Linköping in the Elitserien
6’0, 176lbs, 1996-02-28 : 18 years old
24 – 2g – 1a – 3p
One of my personal favourites and a guy rising after a dominant U18 performance that saw the Czechs succeed at the junior level for the first time since the “Big Three… days of Tlusty, Frolik and Voracek won them a Bronze back in 2005. He scored 8 goals at the U18’s, which happened to be his third time in the tournament; he was nearly unstoppable in their Silver run. Vrà¡na is not only a sniper, but he is a goal hound, he will score from anywhere and is always looking to bag himself another goal. Internationally he has been spectacular, which has helped the overshadowing fact that domestically he has not seen much ice-time for Linköping in these past two years in Sweden. His skating is strong and he has the ability to cut around defensemen off a rush. His passing definitely needs to improve and it’s quite obvious he’s thinking “goal… when the puck gets to him. There is some risk to Vrà¡na and not simply because high ranked Czech forwards by and large have been either disappointments or wildcards, at some point he will have to show that he can play well domestically and not simply in the SuperElit. It’s rare for 17 year olds to be stars in the Elitserien obviously, but playing more than 7 minutes a night would be helpful to see what he can bring against higher competition because we know what he can do against his own age (dominate).
Columbus took Dano in the first round last draft, a move I loved and I think it might be a sign to come that Jarmo Kekà¤là¤inen is not afraid to take a gamble on great talent from Europe that other teams might be shy on. The Jackets still lack that “go to… player though Johansen is well on his way to being that if this season is any indication of what is to come, and while Gaborik didn’t work out all that well, going down the road to contention they will need some higher-end forwards to go with their gritty team façade.
Vrà¡na will need some time to develop, obviously improving his game without the puck will be a must as will getting a more professional styled body.
Comparison : Patrick Marleau (Though this doesn’t seem great to be honest, he doesn’t have the size, I just can't think of another guy right now)
Thanks for reading.