Columbus Blue Jackets: Dean Kukan Season Expectations 18-19

Can Dean Kukan crack the starting roster this year for the Columbus Blue Jackets?

The Columbus Blue Jackets lost both Jack Johnson and Ian Cole this offseason as their contract’s expired. It was tough to see one player leave the organization. I’ll let you decide which one.

With Ryan Murray signing a one year deal, that leaves only one d-man slot left in the starting six. The competition will be fierce and Dean Kukan has to be considered a front runner for the role.

The 25-year-old Swiss blueliner has been a pleasant surprise for the organization, coming out of relative obscurity in the Swiss junior leagues, playing four years in the Swedish Hockey League and now to be on the cusp of being an every day NHLer. He has proven himself in the American Hockey League with 137 regular season games played and 17 games under his belt during the Monsters Calder Cup run in 2016.

Kukan also has been a regular for the Swiss National Team. That includes this past May when he represented his country very well in Denmark at the World Championships.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kukan hasn’t had a ton of opportunities with the Columbus Blue Jackets but that will change this year. I like his odds to become the newest top six defenseman for the Jackets. In an 11 game stint last year, Kukan played very well. He had a fantastic showing on the defensive end and produced some points as well. His corsi rate of 56.3% was impressive considering the tough minutes he logged in his 11 appearances.

Kukan is a great passer and plays solid defensively. What more do you want out of your 3rd pairing defenseman? I guess that question will be answered this year when we find out if Kukan can fill the final slot on the blue line for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I expect that Kukan, Scott Harrington, and Gabriel Carlsson will get a good look for that final spot and they all will get some starts at the beginning of the season.

At the end of a prolonged tryout for the final spot, I expect Kukan to come out on top. He is a better all around player than Carlsson and Harrington at this point. Although I think Carlsson has a higher ceiling than Kukan, right now, Kukan is the answer the Jackets are looking for to sure up the back end.

If he is beat out by Harrington or Carlsson he will certainly be the 7th defenseman and spend the season with the Columbus Blue Jackets watching most games as a healthy scratch. That isn’t a likely scenario in my mind as Kukan’s progression puts him on a trajectory to become a regular NHL player this season.

Kukan is ready to step up and play important minutes as a third pair defenseman. Look for the Swiss defenseman to play in 50 games with the Jackets this year and score at least 10 points.