As the Blue Jackets look to pivot from bottom feeder to contender, they need some of their prospects to develop. Some of them showed a lot of promise this past season. Perhaps none more than Luca Pinelli, whose first pro year was nothing short of remarkable.
The top prospects list was compiled by a collective ranking from all of the writers at Union and Blue: Matthew Duffey, Mike Stump, Weston Motz, Struan McNevan, and Curtis Deem. We only include players 24 years and under, with fewer than 25 NHL games. Stats are from the previous season, in the league where each player spent the most time. Projections are based on top-end upside.
Top prospect #9: C/LW Luca Pinelli
How we ranked him: Curtis (10), Matthew (8), Mike (10), Weston (9), Struan (9). Pinelli was ranked #10 on our list last summer.
In a year where several prospects fell off the radar a little bit, Pinelli did the exact opposite. As Don Waddell tunes the Blue Jackets more to his preferred type of hockey (note: big, mobile, two-way responsible), it's interesting to see a smaller guy find a way to stay relevant.
Actually, Pinelli did more than stay relevant. He flourished in his first season with the Cleveland Monsters, scoring 14 goals and 46 points while playing in all 68 of the team's games. He showed off his scrappy side, adding 66 penalty minutes, while also remaining even on the +/- ledger.
Quietly, he finished third on the team in points, sixth in goals, and fifth in penalty minutes. Not bad for a guy who played junior hockey the season prior, capping off a stellar career in the OHL where he totaled 128 goals and 252 points in 246 regular season games played for the Ottawa 67s.
Luca was originally taken by the Blue Jackets in the fourth round (#114 overall) at the 2023 NHL Draft. They saw potential in the undersized center after he scored 29 goals and 63 points in 67 games during his draft eligible season.
His final two years in Ottawa saw him serve as team captain, while he simultaneously shredded the league with big offensive numbers. In 2024-25, he earned a spot on Team Canada for the World Junior Championship tournament, scoring 1 goal and 2 points in 5 games.
Still, you never really know how these guys will respond to pro hockey. No matter how strong their amateur accolades are, the jump to pro hockey is large enough that it's a difficult transition for most all of them.
That's what makes Luca's first season in Cleveland so impressive. He not only carved out a role on the team, he became one of their leaders up front. Despite his 5'9", 168-pound stature, he made no excuses and took no prisoners.
If you want an NHL player comp for Luca Pinelli, the best one I can come up with is Brad Marchand. While I'm not sure he will ever play up to that level, I also don't think it's out of the realm of possibility.
Marchand was a former third round pick who scored 248 career points in 245 career CHL games. Pinelli finished his CHL career with 252 points in 246 games. Marchand played just one full season in the AHL, where he scored 18 goals and 59 points in 79 games (0.75ppg). Comparing that to Pinelli's first year in Cleveland (0.68ppg), there really isn't all that big of a gap here, either.
The following season, Marchand split time between the Providence and Boston Bruins, ultimately sticking in the NHL full-time as a 22-year-old. I would not be surprised to see Pinelli follow a similar course. I could see him filling in some bottom-six minutes for the Blue Jackets this season.
Pros: underrated skill, grit, tenacity, willingness to go to the tough areas
Cons: size, fairly low ceiling
Projection: middle-six scorer/pest
While I don't ever see Luca Pinelli being a 1000-point player in the NHL ala Brad Marchand; I don't think it's fair to definitively say that he cannot be. At every step of the way, at every level he plays, he finds a way to excel.
He will be a similar type of player, from a stylistic standpoint. He will grind and crawl under the opposition's skin, irritating them and coaxing them into taking penalties. Then, he has enough talent to bury a goal on the ensuing power-play.
Opposing teams are going to hate this guy. The 5th Line is going to love him. I hope he can take another big step this fall.
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