Columbus Blue Jackets 2023 Top Prospects: Spring Edition

With hockey seasons around the globe finishing up, it’s time to re-rank the top prospects for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Consider this a refresher before the team starts prepping for the draft – which will certainly cause some shifts in this list.

The Rules:

• We are only ranking players 23 years old or younger.
• Players who have exceeded 25 NHL games are no longer considered NHL rookies and thus, do not qualify for this list.

We have three players who were on our list at Christmas, who no longer qualify for this one: Josh Dunne has aged out (age 24); and two players who have exceeded 25 games in the NHL, Kirill Marchenko and Tim Berni. This, along with some other factors, have shuffled our list up a bit.

Honorable Mentions, in no particular order:

(Previous rankings in parenthesis)

(HM) RW James Fisher, Northeastern University (NCAA), 7th round (#203 overall), 2022 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 41gp, 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points, 28 PIMS, +6 (Youngstown, USHL)

(HM) D Samuel Johannesson, Rogle (SHL), 6th round (#176 overall), 2020 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 52gp, 8 goals, 24 assists, 32 points, 8 PIMs, -9

(HM) RW Ben Boyd, St Mary’s University (Canada), 6th round (#165 overall), 2021 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 9gp, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point, 14 PIMS, even +/-

(HM) D Nikolai Makarov, CSKA Moscow (KHL), 5th round (#132 overall), 2021 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 25gp, 1 goal, 7 assists, 8 points, 43 PIMS, +8 (Krasnaya Moskva, MHL)

(HM) LW Martin Rysavy, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL), 7th round (#197 overall), 2021 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 47tp, 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points, 19 PIMS, +8

(HM) D Aidan Hreschuk, Boston College (NCAA), Acquired via Trade March 2022
2022-23 stats: 35gp, 1 goal, 6 assists, 7points, 20 PIMS, -5

The Top-20 Prospects

20. (20, no change) D Eric Hjorth, HC Vita Hästen (Allsvenskan), 4th round (#104 overall), 2019 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 43gp, 3 goals, 6 assistsm 9 points 24 PIMS, -11

19. (19, no change) D Ole Bjorgvik-Holm, Cleveland Monsters (AHL), 5th round, 145th overall, 2020 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 25gp, 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, 6 PIMS, -4

18. (HM, +2) G Jet Greaves, Cleveland Monsters (AHL), signed as a free agent February 2022
2022-23 stats: 42gp, .899% sv. pct, 3.08GAA, 2SO, 19-5-5 record

17. (16, -1) C Tyler Angle, Cleveland Monsters (AHL), 7th round (#212 overall), 2019 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 65gp, 11 goals, 12 assists, 23 points, 28 PIMS, -12

16. (18, +2) RW Kirill Dolzhenkov, Krasnaya Armiya Moskva (MHL – RUS), 4th round (#109 overall), 2022 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 18 goals, 27 assists, 45 points, 44 PIMS, +13

15. (17, +2) D Guillaume Richard, Providence College (NCAA), 4th round (#101 overall), 2021 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 31gp, 1 goal, 7 assists, 8 points, 6 PIMS, -6

14. (15, +1) C Mikael Pyyhtia, TPS (Liiga, FIN), 4th round (#114 overall), 2020 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 47gp, 7 goals, 13 assists, 20 points, 16 PIMS, -10

13. (14, +1) G Sergei Ivanov, SKA St Petersburg (MHL-RUS), 5th round (#138 overall), 2022 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 6gp, .935% sv. pct, 1.74GAA, 2SO, 4-0-1 record (*MHL)

12. (13, +1) D Samuel Knazko, Cleveland Monsters (AHL) 3rd round (#78 overall), 2020 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 50gp, 1 goal, 20 assists, 21 points, 17 PIMS, -15

11. (12, +1) RW Trey Fix-Wolansky, Cleveland Monsters (AHL), 7th round (#204 overall), 2018 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 60gp, 29 goals, 42 assists, 71 points, 40 PIMS, -4

10. (10, no change) F James Malatesta, Quebec Remparts (QMJHL), 5th round (#133 overall), 2021 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 55gp, 37 goals, 29 assists, 66 points, 64 PIMS, +34

9. (9, no change) C Dmitry Voronkov, Ak Bars Kazan (KHL), 4th round (#114 overall), 2019 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 54gp, 18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points, 51 PIMS, +13

8. (new to the list) C Hunter McKown, Colorado College (NCAA), signed as free agent March 2023
2022-23 stats: 38gp, 21 goals, 7 assists, 28 points, 30 PIMS, -19

7. (3, -4) G Daniil Tarasov, Cleveland Monsters (AHL), 3rd round (#86 overall), 2017 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 11gp, .882% sv. pct, 3.85 GAA, 0 SO, 5-5-0 record (AHL)

6. (7, +1) C Luca Del Bel Belluz, Sarnia Sting (OHL), 2nd round (#44 overall), 2022 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 66gp, 40 goals, 47 assists, 87 points, 14 PIMS, +10 (includes pre-trade stats)

5. (4, -1) D Corson Ceulemans, Wisconsin Badgers (NCAA), 1st round (#25 overall), 2021 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 33gp, 8 goals, 15 assists, 23 points, 38 PIMS, -5

4. (8, +4) D Stanislav Svozil, Regina Pats (WHL), 3rd round (#69 overall), 2021 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 56gp, 11 goals, 67 assists, 78 points, 24 PIMS, +27

3. (6, +3) RW Jordan Dumais, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL), 3rd round (#96 overall), 2022 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 64gp, 54 goals, 86 assists, 140 points, 6 PIMS, +54

2. (5, +3) D Denton Mateychuk, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL), 1st round (#12 overall), 2022 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 63gp, 8 goals, 57 assists, 65 points, 28 PIMS, +15

Top Prospect: (1, no change) D David Jiricek, Cleveland Monsters (AHL), 1st round (#6 overall), 2022 NHL Draft
2022-23 stats: 54gp, 6 goals, 32 assists, 38 points, 34 PIMS, -9