Today we are going over the last of the Blue Jackets seven selections in the 2026 NHL Draft. It's been mostly forwards up to this point, and that's the way this draft ended too.
With pick #206 in the seventh round, Columbus picked Filip Novak, a winger out of Czechia. He is a fierce competitor with a decent two-way game, but his size, strength, and speed make up most of his value.
Novak is 6'1 and 200 pounds, and spent some time at three different levels of competition in Czech hockey this past season. He played 28 games for his club's junior team, 9 for their professional team, and 11 in Czechia's second league on a loan.
After missing most of the previous season due to injury, Novak had a strong showing in the U20 league, tallying 11 goals and 35 points in 28 games. His large frame gave him a physical advantage over the other younger players in that league, and he was rather dominant in those games.
In his 20 games between both pro leagues, Novak did only score four points, primarily because his size wasn't as impactful and he played almost completely in a bottom-six role, which makes sense given his skillset.
Novak needs to improve his puck skills to have a chance in the NHL
Although his tangible traits like size and speed stand out, his technical skills do need quite a bit of development before he would be able to compete at the NHL level, which explains his lower draft position.
The best attributes he has are quickness and decision-making when the puck is on his stick, or when he is going to receive a pass. He can transition from puck reception to a pass or shot in less than a second, making him a threat to quickly break down a defense if a lane opens up.
He is a pretty decent passer as a whole too, and is generally pretty accurate with in-system passing, even when it's a one-touch. He isn't as good on his backhand, though, and can struggle to make hard passes to quickly cover distance.
It's a similar story with his shot, as he is good in tight and has a very quick release, but is inconsistent accuracy-wise and usually doesn't shoot with much power.
He is good at protecting the puck, once again leveraging his size, but isn't the best puck handler, as he isn't very creative or great at moving laterally, and can struggle to make a move on his backhand.
Back to the positives, he is a positionally sound player who battles for pucks and hustles to get in position for scoring chances, especially right in front of the net.
Novak is also a good defender, and is hard to beat one-on-one, as his speed and quick acceleration make it hard to blow by him, and he has enough strength to make it difficult to get to the net, even against players bigger than himself.
In the playoffs in the second Czech league, he scored four goals and two assists in 10 games, and showed a lot of progress and even offensive upside in those games, where his quick-thinking and spatial awareness were definitely noticeable.
He will return to his club in Czechia next year, and his options may open up after that as he was drafted into both the CHL and USHL, so there's clearly interest in him among North American junior hockey teams.
He was a somewhat polarizing player in draft rankings, as most scouts either had him going much higher, between rounds 3 and 5, or didn't even rank him at all. I think that he was drafted right around where he should have been, and would've been a slight reach in the fifth round.
At the end of the day, it's a pretty traditional seventh round pick where a player has a couple key traits but generally still needs a lot of development. While it's extremely unlikely Novak's offense develops to the point where he would fill a top-nine role, there's definitely a clear path where he becomes a speedy bottom-six forward not too different from players like Eric Robinson.
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