In case you've missed it, we spent the last few weeks running down the top-20 prospects for the Blue Jackets. Today, we'll combine them all into one handy recap, so you can go back and check out anything you missed.
To kick things off, we put out a long list of honorable mentions. This portion of the list was 19 players long, and it included 5 of the 7 players selected by the Blue Jackets at this year's NHL Draft.
This year's top-20 is maybe best read by position, and broken down into tiers. Two of the team's top three prospects are goaltenders, and I believe that to be the greatest position of strength within this organization's prospect crop. Lets start there.
Pyotr Andreyanov was our second ranked prospect this summer, and he could have the highest ceiling of any player in the system right now. If he does come over to North America in 2030, as planned, I believe he'll be ready to step right into a big role with the Blue Jackets-ultimately as their starting goaltender.
Just one spot behind him is fellow Russian Sergei Ivanov, who actually got one second place vote from one of our contributors (Weston Motz). He may be the most NHL ready goaltender not currently slated to play for the team next season, and I also think he has starter potential, though not as high a ceiling as Andreyanov.
The final goaltender ranked inside of our top-20 is going to play much closer to Central Ohio this year. Evan Gardner is already signed to his ELC, and will spend next season as one of the two goaltenders for the Cleveland Monsters. He was #10 on our list this summer, maybe best projected as a strong backup in the NHL.
The blue line group is strong at the top, but tapers off fast.
We ranked five defensemen inside the top-20 this year, and I think three of them have top-four potential in the NHL.
At the very top of our list is Jackson Smith. He was our unanimously picked #1 prospect within the organization this summer, and I think he could be a fringe top pairing guy if developed properly. He may even find his way into the NHL at the end of this next season.
There was a bit of a drop-off to the next highest ranked blue liner, but don't overlook Guillaume Richard. We ranked Guillaume 7th in the organization this year, and I think he's the most NHL ready player at this position. I can see him being a strong second pairing shutdown defenseman in the not-so-distant future.
Just one spot behind Richard is Luca Marrelli, who plays the complete polar opposite kind of game. Luca is a puck mover through and through, though with some defensive quirks that will need to be worked out. Interesting thought: might these two be a pairing in the NHL some day?
A little bit further down the list is Corson Ceulemans, sitting at #12. He was our biggest riser this summer, after being ranked as an honorable mention last summer. We finally got to see his game emerge a bit in Cleveland, and I think he still has bottom pairing potential in the NHL.
But, Corson may be in direct contention with the player ranked one spot behind him. Charlie Elick is just as good a skater, but he's younger, bigger, and more physical. If only he had some offense in his game. Similarly, I think he has the potential to play on the third pairing, in a few years' time.
There were 12 forwards inside the top 20. Lets talk about them on the next slide.
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