Columbus Blue Jackets: 2017 NHL Draft Review, How Did They Do?

The 2017 NHL Draft was somewhat overshadowed by an expansion draft, held less than a week prior. With the league expanding to 31 teams by adding the Vegas Golden Knights, several teams parleyed picks in this draft to protect additional players. The Blue Jackets were one of those teams.

The Jackets entered the draft without a first round pick, for just the second time in franchise history. They sent their first rounder to Vegas, as well as a second round pick in 2019, along with LTIR forward David Clarkson; with the agreement that the Knights would select William Karlsson at the expansion draft. This allowed the Jackets to protect coveted power forward Josh Anderson.

Unfortunately, we all know how things ultimately worked out. Karlsson burst onto the scene and suddenly became a top six center, scoring 43 goals the very next season. Anderson was productive, but only played three more seasons in Central Ohio, before being dealt to Montreal. The one silver lining here is that, the pick was ultimately dealt to Winnipeg, who took forward Kristian Vesalainen at #24 overall.

There were some good players taken soon after, including Jake Oettinger (#26, Dallas), Morgan Frost (#27, Philadelphia), and a few others. Perhaps the most notable would be Jason Robertson, who went 39th (again to Dallas), the best player taken after this pick, but before the Jackets would wind up making their first selection of the draft.

First round grade: F. With no first rounder, and the way things turned out after the expansion draft, this is an easy grade to dish out. This wasn’t a crazy strong draft, but there was some seriously good talent on the board at the end of the first round, and early in the second. If they’d had the foresight to hold onto that pick and draft a player like Jason Robertson, for example, how much differently would things be in Columbus over the last few years?

Worse for the Jackets – their second round pick in this same draft was given to the Vancouver Canucks, as compensation for hiring away terminated head coach John Tortorella. The Canucks would go on to pick forward Jonah Gadjovich (we’ll take that trade off) with our pick at #55 – but not before Jarmo made a move to add a second round pick, selecting a future NHL player…

The Blue Jacket scouting staff had targeted a young French center, who they had rated higher in the draft. So, Jarmo took a swing and made a deal to acquire a second round pick and select him.

Second Round (#45 overall): F Alexandre Texier

Jarmo sent 2015 third rounder Keegan Kolesar to the Vegas Golden Knights, to acquire this pick and select French center Alexandre Texier. We can’t mention this trade without bringing up one important fact: Kolesar was just a key fourth line player for the Knights as they hoisted the Stanley Cup.

Still, in hindsight, I like this trade, it’s good value for a prospect who projected low in the lineup. Kolesar was drafted as a potential bottom six player; think of him as a Josh Anderson-lite, without the high end speed and goal scoring. Meanwhile, Texier was touted as a potential middle-six center, which was a big time need for the Jackets at the time.

Since the draft, Texier has played 123 NHL games, scoring 22 goals and 49 points. Those numbers would be a lot higher if he hadn’t spent the last season plus in Europe, dealing with a personal situation. Meanwhile, Kolesar has played 196 games for the Knights, scoring 18 goals and 55 points in that time. This was a decent move up for the Jackets, especially if Texier comes back strong this year.

Second round grade: B. Some of the players taken soon after #45 include Alex Formeton (#47, Ottawa, thank goodness we passed), Mario Ferraro (#49, San Jose), and Max Comtois (#50, Anaheim). No issues with this pick really. If Tex comes back in a middle six role this season, he’ll be a solid piece here.

Third Round (#86 overall): G Daniil Tarasov

The Jackets plucked away a player they thought could be their goaltender of the future in the third round – and, there’s still a chance this could hold true. Finally making a pick of their own for the first time in the Draft, they took Daniil Tarasov, a goaltender who missed the entire season due to a serious knee injury.

Tarasov stayed in Europe for four years after being drafted, before coming to North America at the end of the 2020-21 season. He’s played in 21 NHL games so far, while slowly developing and honing his game mostly at the AHL level. But, if we’re comparing him solely on players drafted after him – he stands way out from the crowd.

Third round grade: B*. Only one third rounder taken after Tarasov has played more than 2 NHL games, and that’s Cale Fleury (#87, Montreal). We put the asterisk next to the grade here because that may improve – Tarasov could very well be a starting goaltender in the NHL. This year feels like a make or break year for him. Perhaps, however, the grade could also go the other way … Jeremy Swayman was picked the Bruins in the very next round.

The fourth round pick for the Blue Jackets in 2017 has been one of the most debated players around the team in recent years. With that said, he’s actually been great value in the range they picked him, even if things haven’t worked out as well as they’d hoped.

Fourth round (#117 overall): LW Emil Bemstrom

Little did we know at the time of this pick, but Bemstrom soon thereafter became one of the most talked about goal scoring prospects in the world. Yes, the entire world. And we had picked him in the fourth round! He scored at a historic pace in the SHL just two years later, potting 23 goals in 47 games as a 19 year old.

The Jackets were excited to have him come over the next fall, and he started off really well for them, playing in 56 games as a rookie, scoring 10 goals and 20 points. But over time, injuries and a clear lack of confidence seem to have stunted his promising offensive career. This past season, in spite of dominating in the AHL, he struggled to earn regular ice time at the NHL level – even as the injuries piled up around this team.

Thus far, he’s played in 172 NHL games, scoring 26 goals and 58 points, while being a huge topic of debate amongst the CBJ faithful. Part of this debate almost certainly stems from the unfair comparisons he drew by scoring at such a terrific rate in Sweden – and in the end, he’s become exactly what you would expect a fourth round pick to become. A depth player.

Fourth round grade: B+. Yes, Emil Bemstrom earns the Jackets a high “B” grade here. Only two players picked in the same round have played more games than Bemstrom – Mikey Anderson (#103, Los Angeles) and Drake Batherson (#121, Ottawa). In fact, only Batherson has played more games than Bemstrom, if you look at any player taken after him.

Fifth round (#148 overall): F Kale Howarth

In a draft where they made seven picks, Howarth is one of only two players that I think it’s fair to say, completely missed. It’s not entirely surprising – he was a third year eligible player, playing in the BCHL (lower tier junior), and taking his time by going the NCAA route.

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But, at 6’5″, he had a pro build, and he was coming off of a 30 goal, 58 point season in 51 BCHL games. So, why not take a flyer here? Unfortunately for the Jackets, that scoring touch never really carried over to the NCAA, where Kale scored just 16 goals in three seasons before turning pro. Over the past two years, he’s bounced around between the AHL and ECHL. He’s currently slated to return to the Rockford Ice Hogs (AHL) this fall.

Fifth round grade: F. Clear miss here. Their saving grace is that, you have to go well into the sixth round, all the way to pick #169, before you find an actual NHL player out of this draft. So, they weren’t the only ones that missed in this round.

The Jackets picked another overager in round six – this time, a productive winger out of Sweden. While he didn’t make it in Columbus, he became an important pick for this team in a different way.

Sixth round (#170 overall): RW Jonathan Davidsson

The Jackets used a pick acquired in the Brandon Saad/Artemi Panarin trade to pick a small, but productive winger playing in Sweden’s second tier league. Jonathan Davidsson never came to North America as a member of the Blue Jackets – instead spending two more seasons playing in the SHL – but, we can’t call this one a complete miss.

Davidsson was eventually part of the deal that brought Matt Duchene to Columbus at the 2019 trade deadline. Duchene was a key piece to the first round sweep over the Tampa Bay Lightning that spring, helping the team to their first ever playoff series win.

Davidsson came over and spent parts of two seasons in the Senators organization, playing in six NHL games during the 2019-20 season. Since then, he’s returned to Europe, where he’s played ever since. Any time you can turn a sixth round draft pick into an asset that brings back a player like Matt Duchene, it’s hard to be upset.

Sixth round (#179 overall): RW Carson Meyer

The Jackets took their third overage player in the draft just nine picks later, selecting Powell native and University of Miami (Ohio) forward Carson Meyer.

Meyer played three more years at the NCAA level, including two at the Ohio State University, before turning pro for the 2020-21 season. Since then, he’s been a bit of a ‘tweener, bouncing between the Jackets and the Cleveland Monsters (AHL). But, he has 27 NHL games under his belt, more than everyone taken after him in this draft.

He’s been an energetic workhorse ever since he was brought into the organization, earning everything he’s gotten along the way. It’s hard to be upset about the local team picking a local kid, when it turns out like this. The only concern I have now is, there’s not much room left for this guy on this team as the rebuild nears its completion.

Sixth round grade: B. Another high grade … they come away with two guys who made it to the NHL. To put it into perspective, only nine players from this round in 2017 played any NHL games, and four of them played fewer than 10.