1. Bio info:As we said, Kuraly was born in the Columbus area, growing up in Dublin and playing for the AAA Blue Jackets program with current Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy. Kuraly, 28, was born Jan. 20, 1993, and grew up skating in the local OhioHealth Chiller rinks. He attended Dublin Scioto High School before heading to the USHL ranks, where he spent three seasons with the Indiana Ice. A highly touted prospect who would play for the U.S. World Juniors team in 2013 and was drafted in the fifth round by San Jose in 2011, Kuraly returned to Ohio for college, playing all four years at Miami University and wearing the captain's "C" as a senior in 2015-16. From there, Kuraly started his pro career, mostly skating for the Providence Bruins in 2016-17 but making his NHL debut with eight games for Boston. Since then, he has spent the past four years in the Hub as an NHL regular, playing a total of 270 games with Bruins.
2. Stats:Kuraly has settled in as a bottom-six producer during his five seasons in Boston, compiling a total of 24 goals and 44 assists for a total of 68 points along with 132 penalty minutes and a minus-12 rating. Kuraly has taken part in 57 playoff games as well over the past five seasons with Boston, notching a 9-10-19 line including a 4-6-10 mark for the 2018-19 Bruins team that made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final before falling to St. Louis. Kuraly had a career-high 23 points in 2019-10 with the Bruins but is coming off a season where his production dropped a bit, as he finished with four goals and nine points in 47 games. One highlight to his game -- Kuraly won 57.4 percent of his faceoffs this past season.
3. Scouting Report:The first thing that stands out about Kuraly is his size, as he's listed at 6-foot-2, 213 pounds. He's clearly not afraid to throw the body around, topping 100 hits in each of his full NHL seasons and coming just one short with 99 during last year's truncated campaign. Speed is also a key attribute of Kuraly's game, as he's thought to be one of the faster skaters in the league. Kuraly was largely trusted to be a key third- or fourth-line center during his time with the Bruins, averaging 13:09 of ice time in his NHL career, and he's also killed penalties each of the past four seasons with the team. Kuraly's game seemingly was at its best in the 2019 playoffs when he was a force on the forecheck, repeatedly causing turnovers and creating scoring chances in the Bruins' series win over the Blue Jackets.
4. Columbus ties:To this point, five players born and raised in Columbus have skated NHL minutes, and three of them will have had ties to the Blue Jackets. Jack Roslovic has become one of the key cogs of the Blue Jackets attack since being acquired from Winnipeg early last season, becoming the first NHL regular from Central Ohio to skate for the team, and he will now be joined in Kuraly. The third, Kole Sherwood, made history by becoming the first-ever Columbus-area native to skate for the team back in 2019, but he became an unrestricted free agent this week after 11 career games with the team. Obviously, it's a neat feather in the CBJ cap to bring the hometown kids back to play in Nationwide Arena, and it not only helps to show how far the local youth hockey community has come, it provides a tangible link for today's youngsters to show where their NHL dreams can take them.
5. What's next: Kuraly gives Columbus another dependable NHL-caliber depth forward who has enough speed and skill to move up in the lineup should the need arise -- and you never know, a Roslovic-esque breakout could be in the cards now that he's back home. Even if it doesn't, you know what you're going to get out of Kuraly, and with many of the CBJ penalty killers from past years now gone, you can pretty much count on him being a mainstay there. Kuraly also adds another player who can skate at center, and it's pretty clear the Blue Jackets have put a focus on creating more depth at that position this offseason.
