When your NHL team actually finds some level of success, inevitably, the franchise starts to suffer at the draft. For the Blue Jackets, we've been ... uh ... I'll say spoiled ... by having a lot of high picks over the years.
That was not the case in 2018, when the Jackets came off of a strong season where they loaded up for a playoff run by trading away draft picks at the deadline. As such, they were able to make just six selections at the draft that summer - with three of them coming in the sixth and seventh round.
Today, we'll break down all of the picks they made, and peak at what was done with the picks they traded away. Let's get started.
1. C/LW Liam Foudy, first round (#18 overall)
The Blue Jackets took a shot on raw potential by selecting Liam Foudy 18th overall. Looking back now, it was not a good pick. But, at the time, it seemed like it made sense.
Foudy had some really good projectable traits. He had size (6'2") and plenty of speed to burn. He came from a famously athletic family, and definitely looked like a John Tortorella type of player because he played the game in simple, straight lines.
The pick seemed to be paying early dividends when Foudy joined the team for their 2020 playoff bubble run, scoring a timely goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs early in their play-in series. Unfortunately, that came to be the highlight of Foudy's entire career in Columbus.
The Jackets hoped that his offense would come along with the rest of an already impressive two-way game. But really, that never fully came to fruition.
Multiple injuries and the COVID pandemic stunted Foudy's development, and just shy of six years after drafting him, the team lost him to the Nashville Predators via waivers. In the end, their 2018 first round pick turned into just 90 NHL games, scoring 7 goals and 12 assists with the Jackets.
Our verdict: Bust. Hindsight pick: the New York Rangers took defenseman K'Andre Miller just four picks later.
The second round went much, much better for the Jackets. Let's take a look.