Columbus Blue Jackets Trim Roster Down, Send Foudy to OHL
The Columbus Blue Jackets top pick in the 2018 draft heads back to the London Knights.
Following the Columbus Blue Jackets participation in the annual Kraft Hockeyville game, the team decided to make some more cuts. The Jackets have dismissed five more players from the roster as the regular season is just over a week away.
The big news is that Liam Foudy will be heading back to London. The Columbus Blue Jackets 1st round pick from this year’s draft had a solid preseason but it was clear that there wasn’t a spot for him on this team.
Foudy will be a the top center on a loaded London Knights team this year and should be a ton of fun to watch. FYI, London is only a five and a half hour drive from Columbus.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The organization also sent forwards Sam Vigneault, Eric Robinson, and defenseman Michael Prapavessis to Cleveland. Vigneault and Robinson, both free agent college signings will look to help the Monsters miserable offense that was the second worst in the AHL last year.
Prapavessis, another college signing, was a surprise find for the team. The former RPI captain surprised everyone with his performance at the Traverse City tournament as well as in training camp and in his three preseason performances. Beyond the three points, he looked poised, skated well and made some nice passes. Jackets fans should be excited to see what he does this year in Cleveland.
Finally, Jean-Francois Berube was put on waivers for the purpose of sending him to Cleveland. He will clear and be a solid backup for Matiss Kivlenieks.
There are now 29 players left on the roster with only two preseason games left. The team needs to get it down to 23 men on the roster by opening night. There are 17 forwards, nine defenseman, and three goalies left.
Matiss is still on the roster but will be sent to Cleveland so that gets the roster down to 28. With the injuries to Ryan Murray and Seth Jones, the team will carry eight defenseman on the opening night roster so only one more player will be cut from that group.
That means there will be four more forwards sent to Cleveland or Europe from this squad. There is a group of six forwards fighting for those final spots in my eyes. Kevin Stenlund, Lukas Sedlak, Markus Hannikainen, Jonathan Davidsson, and Alex Broadhurst are competing to stay in the NHL.
Next. U&B Roundtable on Preseason. dark
There are two games and a little more than a week left to finalize this roster. Who do you think makes the final cut? Let us know in the comments.