Now that the rosters have been set for NHL and AHL teams and the season has begun, we now know where CBJ draft picks and signees will spend the 2024-25 season.
With that in mind, as we usually do this time of year, we’ll break down where those top prospects are playing to set the stage for the upcoming campaign, presented by Ruoff.
For the sake of simplicity, we won’t include those who have begun the year in Cleveland – sorry to such names as Denton Mateychuk, Luca Del Bel Belluz and Jet Greaves, but we’ll cover the Monsters throughout the season – but did want to plot a map of where the youngest Blue Jackets are playing this season.
Also, in a new development, CBJ fans can follow these players as well as the Monsters on our new Prospects hub here at BlueJackets.com. The page can be found at BlueJackets.com/prospects.
The list is broken up by where the draft picks are skating, then by draft position.
Junior Hockey
Cayden Lindstrom (C, Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL): Once he’s done rehabbing from back and hand injuries in the past year, the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft is expected to return to Medicine Hat. Lindstrom is known as a big and powerful center, standing at 6-4, and has a good scoring touch as he recorded 27 goals in 32 games before his hand injury last December. The Tigers have a loaded team pushing for a WHL title and Memorial Cup bid this season, and he’ll be a big part of it.
Charlie Elick (D, Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL): Elick is a shutdown-style defensemen who is 6-3 and is one of the best skaters among blueliners out of the 2024 draft. Don Waddell emphasized bigger players in the 2024 draft, and the second-round pick fits that style to a T. Elick posted 27 points in 65 games last year in Brandon and has played in eight games with the Wheat Kings since returning from CBJ camp.
Evan Gardner (G, Saskatoon Blades, WHL): At the start of last season, Gardner was a backup in Saskatoon and was a sixth- to seventh-round prospect. He started just four games in the first two months of the 2023-24 season, but through impressive performances in his limited work, Gardner earned the starting role and posted a 25-5-0-2 record, had a .927 save percentage and a 1.91 GAA as he solidified himself as a top goalie prospect. He was chosen in the second round of the 2024 draft and has a 3-1-1 record with a 2.79 GAA in five games this year with Saskatoon.
Luca Marrelli (D, Oshawa Generals, OHL): Marrelli is a two-way defensemen that recorded 51 assists in 67 games last season. Marrelli has gotten off to a hot start in the 2024-25 season, recording four goals and four assists in the Generals’ first eight games of the season.
Tanner Henricks (D, Lincoln Stars, USHL): Henricks is another player that fits the style Waddell was looking for in this previous draft. Henricks is a 6-4 shutdown defenseman who uses his big frame well, which made him a fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft. With the Stars, he had nine points in 61 games last year, plus one point in his first six games this season. The California native is committed to play at St. Cloud State for the 2025-26 season.
Luca Pinelli (W, Ottawa 67s, OHL): His shot stands out the most in his game, but Pinelli also forces many turnovers with his high-motor style of play. Another CBJ prospect off to a fast start on the season, Pinelli has scored five goals in the 67s first six games. Last season in 68 games, he slashed 48-34-82 and was third in the OHL in goals.
Melvin Strahl (G, Youngstown Phantoms, USHL): A fifth-round pick in 2023 with high upside, Strahl chose to move to Ohio from his home in Sweden this summer after spending two years with the Under-20 team in the MoDo organization. He has a 3-1-0 record, 2.41 GAA and .915 save percentage in his first four games with Youngstown.
Tyler Peddle (W, Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL): The NHL’s version of Mr. Irrelevant, Peddle was chosen last of the 256 players that went in the 2023 NHL draft, but there’s a lot of upside in the 19-year-old. Peddle has some size, some speed and some skill and was the second overall pick in the 2021 QMJHL draft. Last season, he was traded from Drummondville to Saint John and had a line of 11-7-18 in 28 games played. He has five goals in the team's first six games of the 2024-25 season.
Nolan Lalonde (G, Kingston Frontenacs, OHL): Now on his third team in the past two years, Lalonde looks to have found his game in Kingston. Last season with the Memorial Cup-winning Saginaw Spirit, he appeared in 32 games, had a 3.16 GAA and a .874 save percentage. This season, the free agent signee has started in four games with Kingston, has a 1.64 GAA and a .932 save percentage.
College Hockey/USHL
William Whitelaw (C, Michigan Wolverines, NCAA): The latest member of the Michigan to Blue Jackets pipeline, Whitelaw transferred to Ann Arbor from Wisconsin after his freshman season where he posted a line of 10-7-17 in his 37 games played. The 19-year-old third-round pick in the 2023 draft looks to build on that campaign, as in his four games in the young season, he has one goal and an assist.
Aiden Hreschuk (D, Boston College Eagles, NCAA): A third-round pick in the 2021 draft, Hreschuk was acquired from Carolina at the 2022 trade deadline in the deal that sent Max Domi to the Canes. The product of the U.S. National Team Development Program is a shutdown defenseman that is going into his fourth season with Boston College and was on the losing end of the national championship in April. The 21-year-old has 29 points in 113 collegiate games.
Andrew Strathmann (D, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, NCAA): After two years with the Youngstown of the USHL, Strathmann is now going into his freshman season with North Dakota. The 2023 fourth-round pick profiles as a two-way defenseman that scored well at the USHL level with a line of 15-85-100 in his 165 games played. He had an assist in his first game with UND last weekend.
Guillaume Richard (D, Providence Friars, NCAA): Another shutdown defenseman in the CBJ pipeline, Richard is going into his senior season with the Friars. The 2021 fourth-round pick played in all 35 games for Providence last season and had a career-best line of 3-15-18.
Luke Ashton (D, Minnesota State Mavericks, NCAA): Another big-bodied defenseman that Waddell liked in this summer’s draft, Ashton is 6-6 and uses his frame well in his defensive zone. Last season, Ashton had 36 points in 53 games for the Langley Rivermen of the BCHL. This season with the Mavericks, the sixth-rounder has a goal and two assist in his four games played.
James Fisher (W, Northeastern Huskies, NCAA): Now on his third team in as many seasons, Fisher returns to America after playing in the BCHL a season ago. The 2022 seventh-round pick is a big winger at 6-2 and skates well through the neutral zone during the rush. Fisher had 36 points in 54 games with the Penticton Vees and made his college debut over the weekend.
Overseas
Kirill Dolzhenkov (W, CSKA Moskva, Russia): Being a winger that stands at 6-6 makes him one of the most interesting prospects in the CBJ pipeline. The 2022 fourth-round pick split time among three levels of the Russian league last season and had a total of 21 points in 56 total games. This season he is currently in the second-tier VHL, where he has a 6-3-10 line in 10 games played.
Sergei Ivanov (G, Sochi, Russia): Now in his second full season at the KHL level, Ivanov has been loaned from Russian power SKA St. Petersburg to a Sochi team that is expected to struggle in the standings. As a result, the 2022 fifth-round pick has gotten off to a rougher start this season with a 1-7-1 record, a 3.04 GAA and a .905 save percentage in 11 games. He’ll have to overcome his smaller stature (5-11) but was solid with Admiral of the KHL a season ago, posting a 2.63 GAA and .928 save percentage.
Nikolai Makarov (D, CSKA Moskva, Russia): A fifth-rounder by the Blue Jackets in 2021, this stay-at-home defenseman has been a mainstay for CSKA Moskva – winning a Gagarin Cup title in 2023 – and is going into his fifth season at the KHL level. The 21-year-old Makarov has not found the score sheet yet this year in the KHL, but in his eight games played in the VHL, he has a goal and three assists.
Oiva Keskinen (C, Tappara, Finland): The seventh-round pick in the 2023 draft had a solid rookie Liiga campaign last year when he recorded 27 points in 54 games, making him a potential late-round sleeper pick. This year he is looking to build off of that as he has three goals and eight points in the team’s opening 11 games.
Martin Rysavy (W, Bili Tygri Liberec, Czechia): After spending the previous three years playing with fellow CBJ prospect Denton Mateychuk in Moose Jaw of the WHL, Rysavy has decided to return home for this season. He was a big part of the Warriors’ WHL championship team a season ago, as he became known as the “Marty Party” while scoring 16 points in 20 playoff games played. This year he has two goals in the Czech team's opening 10 games played.
