Summer Spotlight: Kuraly brings energy, hometown pride to CBJ

In the leadup to training camp in September, BlueJackets.com is featuring CBJ players each weekday this summer. 

How he got here: Though Kuraly was actually born in Niagara Falls, N.Y., he’s from here, growing up in the Central Ohio area and playing for the AAA Blue Jackets as a kid. He went on to play four seasons of college hockey at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and was a fifth-round draft pick of San Jose. Traded to Boston, he made it to the Bruins in his first professional season with the team and spent five years with the club, including an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. He signed a four-year contract with his hometown Blue Jackets in the summer of 2021.

The 2023-24 season: Over his career, Kuraly has averaged 0.12 goals and 0.28 points per game; a year ago, he had 0.15 goals and 0.29 points per game, so he was right on line with his career averages. Injuries – including a butt end of a stick getting under his pads into his midsection, leading to a scary sight when he needed medical attention in the team hallway at Nationwide Arena – cost him 20 games on the season. But when he was on the ice, Kuraly was the usual effort player, solid faceoff man and effective penalty killer he’s been throughout his career.

Top moment: Kuraly had one two-goal game on the season, and the Blue Jackets needed all of them in a 7-4 victory at Anaheim on Feb. 21. Columbus built a 4-0 lead early in the second period only to watch the Ducks come back to tie the score going into the third. But Yegor Chinakhov gave the Jackets the lead in the final frame and Kuraly added a quick insurance marker, firing Cole Sillinger’s blocked shot past John Gibson to help push the Blue Jackets to victory. It was the fifth multigoal game of his career.

Fun fact: Kuraly is one of two current members of the Blue Jackets roster to play in a Stanley Cup Final, as the Bruins lost in seven games to St. Louis in the 2019 version. Kuraly was an impact player during the postseason that year, notching four goals and 10 assists in 20 games. Jack Johnson is the other, as the recently signed defenseman won the Stanley Cup with Colorado during the 2021-22 season.

Stat to Know: We said Kuraly adds a physical presence, and he’s one of the top NHL forwards when it comes to hits over the past three seasons since joining the Blue Jackets. Kuraly’s 583 hits over his CBJ tenure not only lead the squad, they place 12th among all forwards in the league in that span.

Expectations for 2024-25: Kuraly knows his role and plays it well, and that will be to provide energy, hard work and physical play in the team’s bottom six while also chipping in offense. He seems likely to slot in again as the team’s dependable fourth-line center, where he’s been a key pivot and penalty killer for the squad over the past three seasons. Whoever he plays with tends to up their game, as Kuraly’s direct, energetic style of play is what’s expected out of his linemates.