The Blue Jackets added six new players to the prospect pool at last month's NHL Draft. Two of them land inside of the top-10 in our new rankings. Today, we're revealing how high they landed; and the rest of our list.
There are some very, very good prospects in this system. Every single player inside of this summer's top-10 has some kind of NHL projectable trait. While there isn't as much to be excited about from an offensive perspective as in comparison to recent years, this is a very talented group, with one important thing that was previously lacking in this system: size. Here's how we ranked them.
Top prospect list notes:
This list was compiled by a collective ranking from all of the writers at Union and Blue: Matthew Duffey, Mike Stump, and Curtis Deem. We only include players 24 years and under, with fewer than 25 NHL games. Previous rankings are the number in parenthesis (HM = honorable mention; NR = not ranked). Stats are from the previous season, in the league where each player spent the most time. Projections are based on top-end upside. Note at the end is where each player will spend their 2025-26 season.
10. (12) C Luca Pinelli 5'9", 168 pounds. 4th round (#114 overall), 2023 NHL Draft. NHL projection: pesky middle six scorer. Stats: 37g, 34a, 71pts in 52 games for Ottawa (OHL); 0g-2a-2pts in 3gp for Cleveland (AHL). Will play for the Monsters full-time this fall. How we ranked him: Curtis (10), Matt (12), Mike (9)
Why we ranked him here: Luca had a terrific 19 year old season in the OHL, leading his team in scoring by 18 points while serving as captain and playing in all situations. He was so good that team Canada took him to the World Junior Championships, where he scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 5 games.
While definitely not the biggest guy on the ice, Pinelli goes to the hard areas of it and competes on every puck. But even when he isn't generating offense, he affects the game because of his physical nature and tenacity. I think he's a bit of a mash-up of two other prospects in the system: Jordan Dumais and James Malatesta. The only question I have here is, will Luca be a center? Or, is he better suited on the wing? Time will tell. He will be really fun to watch in Cleveland this year, either way.
Fancy a big defenseman? You will find one on the next slide.