The Blue Jackets have the Nos. 6 and 12 picks in the 2022 NHL Draft when it begins next Thursday, and after adding three first-round choices in the 2021 selection process, Columbus is in great shape to keep its reload barrelling down the tracks.
But what can CBJ fans expect when it comes to drafting in those spots?
Blue Jackets can find top players at No. 6, No. 12 picks
A bevy of NHL standouts have been chosen with the selections Columbus has in the 2022 draft
No one ever knows for sure how a draft is going to turn out, but odds are you are going to get an NHL player. Of the 59 players chosen sixth since the NHL went to a draft format, all but five have skated in the league, and 27 have skated in 500 or more games. At 12, only seven players have never made it to the league, and 21 have at least 500 games under their belts.
In addition,
research done by Dom Luszczyszyn in 2020
shows that the No. 6 pick in the draft carries an average Game Score Value Added (GSVA) value of 7.6 in their first seven years under team control, while the No. 12 pick is at 5.5. (For comparison's sake, the No. 1 pick is at 17.7, and No. 32 is at 2.7).
The next obvious question: What does that mean? In layman's terms, the Blue Jackets should add two solid and perhaps spectacular NHL players from the draft if history is any guide. There are always players who will exceed expectations and those that fall below, but the top half of the first round offers the best chance to find impact players down the road.
READ MORE: NHL draft rankings | Draft party scheduled for July 7
Breaking it down even further, you can find star players in the league who were taken at each spot, and the Jackets have history picking in each of the positions as well.
No. 6 overall
Previous CBJ picks: Gilbert Brule in 2005; Derick Brassard in 2006; Nikita Filatov in 2008. OK, so this could be a better list. The Blue Jackets ending up sixth in the draft felt like clockwork in the mid-to-late 2000s, with three picks there in four years. Brule will always be remembered as the choice that could have been Anze Kopitar; while he skated in 299 NHL games (146 with Columbus), Brule never quite found stardom. Brassard has 202 goals and 522 points in 951 NHL games and was still in the league a season ago, but only 309 of those contests were with the Jackets before a trade to New York for Marian Gaborik in 2013. Filatov, meanwhile, was a true bust, as he had a hat trick in just his sixth NHL game but finished with only six goals in 53 NHL games.
Most recent No. 6 pick:Simon Edvinsson, Detroit. The Red Wings took the Swedish defenseman sixth a year ago, one spot after Columbus nabbed forward Kent Johnson. Edvinsson has a high ceiling, it appears, as he has plenty of size at 6-4 and had a solid season last year for Frolunda in his home country. He could be in the NHL sooner rather than later.
Recent standouts:You don't have to look far to find a few No. 6 picks in recent years who are NHL stars. In 2019, Detroit took German defenseman Moritz Seider in this spot, and he posted 50 points this past season to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. In 2016, Calgary drafted Matthew Tkachuk sixth overall, and the NHL legacy has turned into one of the league's top scorers with 42 goals and 104 points this past season. 2011 saw Mika Zibanejad go sixth to Ottawa, and the current New York Rangers star has 280 points in 276 games over the last four years.
Historic name-dropping: The top four scorers all-time are impressive company in Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, Vincent Damphousse and Peter Forsberg. All are Hall of Famers but Damphousse, with Coffey leading the way. One of the best defensemen of all time, Coffey won four Stanley Cups and posted 1,531 points in 1,409 NHL games after being selected by Edmonton at No. 6 in 1980. Housley is one of the top American players of all time, as the defenseman had 1,232 points in 1,495 NHL games after being selected by Buffalo. Damphousse starred for 18 seasons after being chosen by Toronto, finishing his career with 1,205 points in 1,378 games. And Forsberg was one of the transcendent players of the 1990s, notching 885 points in 708 games after being selected by Philadelphia. Six other No. 6 overall selections have played 1,000 NHL games, including two eventual Blue Jackets.
CBJ ties: Four other No. 6 picks have skated with Columbus, including Mikko Koivu and Scott Hartnell, who are the aforementioned players in the 1,000-game club. Koivu (No. 6 to Minnesota in 2001) had a cup of coffee with the Jackets in 2021, while Hartnell (Nashville, 2000) played three productive seasons in Columbus in the mid-2010s. Sam Gagner (2007, Edmonton) could pass the 1,000-game barrier next season and had a solid season in CBJ colors in 2016-17, while Scottie Upshall (Nashville, 2002) was a trade deadline acquisition in 2011. Also of note -- Craig Hartsburg, who was once a full-time CBJ assistant coach and helped out this past season, was the No. 6 pick by the Minnesota North Stars in 1979.
No. 12 overall
Previous CBJ picks:Cole Sillinger in 2021. It's not a long list, but so far, so good, eh? While Sillinger was technically the 11th player to hear his name called last year (Arizona had forfeited its pick at No. 10), he will go down in the NHL's official annals as the 12th overall selection. All he did a year ago was post a 16-15-31 line in 79 games as the youngest player in the league; those 16 goals are good for a tie for third in franchise history for a rookie, and it's not hard to imagine just how much better Sillinger can be as he gains more and more NHL experience. He's already defensively responsible but that area of the game will get even more refinement, and his offensive production should only grow.
Most recent No. 12 pick:See above.
Recent standouts:There isn't quite the star power here as the No. 6 pick, but some pretty good players have been chosen 12th overall in recent years. Two of the top rookies in the NHL this past season were chosen 12th in Anton Lundell and Matt Boldy. Lundell was taken by Florida in 2020 and was a key part of the Panthers' historic offensive production this past season, notching a 18-26-44 line and plus-33 rating in 65 games to pace sixth in the Calder voting. Boldy, meanwhile, went to Minnesota in 2019 and had 14-25-39 line and plus-17 rating in 47 games this year to finish eighth in the Calder race. Carolina chose Martin Necas in 2017, and the Czech winger has posted back-to-back 40-point seasons and looks like a potential future star. Going back a bit, Ryan McDonagh went 12th to Montreal in 2007 and has become a rock-solid defenseman, helping anchor the back end for Tampa Bay while winning Stanley Cups in 2020 and '21.
Historic name-dropping:One player stands above the rest here, and that's Marian Hossa. The Slovak winger went 12th overall to Ottawa in 1997 and posted a Hall of Fame career that included three Stanley Cups as well as a 525-609-1,134 line in 1,309 NHL games over 19 seasons with the Senators, Blackhawks, Thrashers, Penguins and Red Wings. Gary Roberts is second all-time in scoring among 12th picks, notching a 438-472-910 line in 1,224 NHL games in 21 seasons with six teams. Brad Larsen's old Colorado teammate Alex Tanguay had 863 points in 1,088 games after going 12th to Colorado in 1998. And Dave Gagner, Sam's dad, was the 12th pick in 1983 by the New York Rangers and went on to play 946 NHL games.
CBJ ties:The Blue Jackets' 2021 team had a pair of 12th overall picks on it, though neither was selected by the squad. Max Domi went in the spot to Arizona in the 2013 draft, then was traded to Columbus in the fall of 2000. He posted 56 points in 107 games in two seasons before being dealt to Carolina at the trade deadline this spring. Mikhail Grigorenko (Buffalo, 2012) signed a one-year deal with the Jackets for the 2021 season while trying to reignite his North American career, earning 12 points in 32 games before returning to his native Russia. The only other CBJ player to go 12th overall was Tyler Wright, who was selected in 1991 by Edmonton. Wright was an original Blue Jacket, chipping in 108 points in 309 games in five seasons with the Jackets and earning fan favorite status for his work with Hats for Heroes.
