The Jackets picked three players in the last three rounds of the draft.
Fifth round, #160 overall: C Owen Griffin (Oshawa, OHL) 5'10", 160lbs
Talk about bucking a trend. Far from the typical CBJ draft pick since Don Waddell took over; Oshawa Generals center Owen Griffin lands in Columbus with their 5th round pick. And, he could wind up being a real late round gem - especially in such a shallow draft pool. A right-hand shooting center, his attention to detail makes him one of the more reliable two-way players in the draft. Griffin was a big second half riser, shooting up a lot of draft rankings because of his improving offensive output in the OHL.
He scored 22 goals and 51 points in 62 regular season games before exploding for 16 goals and 29 points in 21 playoff games. As the games got more difficult, his play improved. So did his draft value. By season's end, he was ranked by many as a third round prospect. But, he falls to the fifth round, and the Jackets happily nab him with the pick they acquired in the Daniil Tarasov trade. I'm sure they saw a lot of him, as his teammate Luca Marrelli was a Blue Jackets pick last summer. Grade: A. This is a player who is drawing comparisons to Anthony Cirelli at the same age. If he can take that kind of development path, he'll become one of the most valuable late round picks in CBJ history.
Sixth round, #173 overall: D Victor Hedin Raftheim (Brynas J20, SWE) 6'4", 190lbs
Just when we thought the trend was bucked, the Jackets dive right back into the big, mobile defenseman pool and take Sweden's Victor Hedin Raftheim. He's pretty similar to Malte Vass in his projection (bottom pairing defensive defenseman); but also his mobility and willingness to step up to throw big hits. He's not as refined, which is part of the reason he lands three full rounds lower in the draft order.
Raftheim is a very raw prospect overall, more willing to take himself out of position to lay the hammer; often finding himself on the wrong side of the puck. But, his athleticism and size make him an intriguing project to take on in the sixth round. You can always teach guys how to defend, but you can't often teach guys this size how to be athletic. For those reasons, he has projectable traits. Grade: C. What else can you say? It's a boring, low-risk, late round flyer.
Seventh round, #198 overall: C Jeremy Loranger (Sherwood Park, BCHL - committed to University of Nebraska-Omaha next season) 5'9", 160lbs
For the second time in the draft, the Blue Jackets moved up to take a player they coveted. This time, they traded two seventh round picks (#205, #218) to move up to #198 and select undersized right-shot center Jeremy Loranger from the BCHL.
Loranger dominated tier 2 juniors this season, which is exactly what you would expect an NHL prospect to do. He scored 40 goals and 105 points in 54 BCHL games, then torched the playoffs for 8 goals and 14 points in 8 games. He has a lot of deception to his game, using quick turns and pivots to avoid checks, earning himself time and space to make plays. Loranger is heading to the NCAA next year, where will will really be able to gauge his potential as he hits a much higher level. Grade: C. Unlike their sixth round selection, this one is all boom or bust. Loranger is either a top-two line scorer, or a complete waste of a pick. But, it's the seventh round, so there's no real risk here.
Overall draft grade: B+
This grade is solely based on the picks that were made. In the end, I thought the Jackets got good value with each of their selections. I don't mind the trades they made to move up, and it feels like they came away with six guys who all have projectable traits. Naturally, the later round picks are longer-term projects; but their first three picks all have NHL potential. Two of them (Smith and Andreyanov) could be stars at some point down the road.
Before the draft, we saw promise dangled in front of us in the form of adding immediate help to the NHL roster, or moving up in the draft order. Neither of those really happened, aside from some fourth line additions in Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood.
From the immediate help perspective, it's a bit of a failure - especially as both of the teams directly around them in the standings got better. With the players the Jackets were trying to acquire. But, from an overall addition of talent perspective, the draft class looks pretty good. They continue to bolster this team long into the future, which was the main goal of the weekend. This was tidy work by the scouting staff.