Believe it or not, there will be Blue Jackets hockey this week. The organization will send a team of prospects to Buffalo to take part in the annual Prospects Challenge tournament tomorrow, hosted by the Sabres.
This Jackets team will look pretty unfamiliar to most. The 23 man roster only includes eight players who have been selected by the club in any NHL Draft - and one of those (Tyler Peddle) has gone unsigned, thus leaving him a free agent.
The eight drafted players are: second rounders Charlie Elick (34th overall, 2024) and Evan Gardner (60th overall, 2024), third rounder Jordan Dumais (96th overall, 2022), fourth rounders Guillaume Richard (101st overall, 2021) and Luca Pinelli (114th overall, 2023), fifth rounder Owen Griffin (160th overall, 2025), and seventh rounders Oiva Keskinen (194th overall, 2023) and Tyler Peddle (224th overall, 2023).
The team will also send four players who are under entry level deals, all signed as free agents: Caleb MacDonald, Jack Williams, Max McCue and Nolan Lalonde. Along with this group are 11 players who are currently free agents, each of whom is looking to make a name for himself at rookie camp.
Perhaps least surprising of the invitee group is Ryder Boulton. He's currently a member of the London Knights, an organization which the Blue Jackets have plenty of ties to. There are several current and former Knights sprinkled into this roster. Ryder is also the son of former NHL enforcer Eric, who played for Don Waddell with the Atlanta Thrashers. Like his old man, Ryder isn't afraid to mix it up, despite his 5'10" stature.
He sorta fits the mold for what the Jackets seem to want more of: snarl. That's a common theme with the invitees to this prospects camp and tournament. Tyler Peddle (6'1", 209 pounds), Brendan Hoffmann (6'3, 223 pounds), Nic Sima (6'3", 195 pounds) and Max McCue (6'1", 185 pounds) will all serve as physical, energy heavy guys at this week's tournament. This theme continues on defense, with invitee Will Bishop (6'6", 209 pounds) standing out for obvious reasons.
There isn't as much to be excited about from this year's prospect tournament team, because this isn't a group that includes many high draft picks. That goes in line with what Don Waddell has said to prefer: he wants to allow his prospects to develop elsewhere for as long as possible.
Many of those picks are playing in the NCAA this year, which means they won't be attending CBJ camp at all this fall. That list would include first rounders Cayden Lindstrom and Jackson Smith. Instead, we'll be watching some of the depth prospects within the system.
Six players we are keeping a close eye on.
The highest draft picks obviously stand out here, and with the goaltending struggles in Columbus over the last few years, everyone will want to see Evan Gardner perform. Defensively, Charlie Elick is a mobile right shot who plays a punishing style; though he has a lot of maturing to do. I'm interested to see how his game has progressed since last season.
Joining him on the blue line is Guillaume Richard, another mobile defenseman that we are very high on. If the two play together, they will probably eat up a ton of minutes in this tournament. I could see this being a shutdown pairing in the NHL some day.
Up front, I'm most excited to see Luca Pinelli, Jordan Dumais, and Oiva Keskinen in action. Dumais missed most of last year due to injury, but he could have the highest offensive ceiling of any prospect currently in the CBJ system. Pinelli is turning pro this year, after a fascinating CHL career. He's going to be a player to watch in Cleveland, and a good camp could have him in higher favor with the Monsters.
Meanwhile, Keskinen is a sneaky prospect in the system who makes the jump to North America this season. I think there is a lot of potential here, and I'm interested to see how quickly he can make the adjustment to the smaller rink.
The team takes to the ice Thursday against the prospects for the New Jersey Devils. They also play Saturday (Buffalo) and Sunday (Pittsburgh). You can catch all of the action live via the Blue Jackets website.