Blue Jackets prospect watch, Evan Gardner earns WHL honors with stellar start

The Columbus Blue Jackets have some pretty good prospects within their system. One of them is Evan Gardner, who recently earned goaltender of the week honors in the Western Hockey League.

He earned the award by stopping 47 out of 48 shots in two starts for the Saskatoon Blades, posting a 0.50 goals against average and .979% save percentage last week.

The Blades are one of the best teams in the WHL so far this season, with a 7-2-0 record (14 points) that has them tied for second in the league.

Evan has done his part to help them to that level. For the season, he's 5-1-0 in six starts, with a 1.56GAA and .942% save percentage, stopping 147 of the 156 shots he's faced.

Gardner was selected by the Blue Jackets in the second round (60th overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft. He's in what will be his final junior season, since he's already signed to his entry level contract.

The 6'1", 180 pound goaltender will likely head to the Cleveland Monsters once his WHL career comes to an end. I suspect he'll get plenty of development with Don Waddell heading the organization, and I think that is smart.

Often, that extra bit of seasoning can make all the difference in the world for young goalies. Shooters only get better as they progress to higher levels, so it's important to allow them to work out the finer details of the game before bringing them to the NHL.

Gardner is an athletic goaltender who can rob opponents with a dazzling save. He's also been improving from a positional standpoint, which has helped round out his overall game.

There is still some work to do, particularly when it comes to his rebound control. But, that's also something he has improved upon since being drafted, and it has played a big part in his strong numbers this year.

Recently, Evan surpassed Braden Holtby as the all-time shutout leader in Saskatoon Blades history. He talked about watching Holtby growing up, and that definitely tracks because that's who I would compare Evan's game to at the same age.

Goaltending is becoming an organizational strength.

In the long-term, I do think Gardner has starting potential. With that said, I don't think he's the top goaltender prospect in the system. In fact, he may not even be in the top-2.

Those honors might go to Russians Pyotr Andreyanov and Sergei Ivanov. Of course, that all depends on whether or not one or both of them ever come to North America.

In the meantime, Evan is playing exactly how we would expect a 19 year old NHL prospect to play at the junior level: dominant. All he can do is continue to make saves and prove that he's good enough.

And, right now, he sure looks good enough. I'll be interested to see if he can keep up this pace over a full season.