Reviewing the 2018 NHL Draft for the Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets made six total picks at the 2018 NHL Draft. They were only able to find one NHL player.
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.
2. RW Kirill Marchenko, second round (#49 overall)
As bad as the Liam Foudy pick is turning out to be, the Kirill Marchenko selection in the second round makes up for it. If you dig deep into your brain and tell it the picks were made the other way around, it's not that bad.
Marchenko was widely thought of as a first round talent for the 2018 draft, but he fell into the mid-second because of his nationality. The Jackets were willing to be patient with the highly talented Russian winger, and their patience has paid off.
After spending four post-draft seasons in the KHL, Marchenko came to the Blue Jackets in 2022 as a polished, NHL-ready player. He started his first year in North America in the AHL (still bizarre to me); but when called up to the big club, he made an immediate impact and has never looked back.
In two seasons with the Jackets, Marchenko has compiled 44 goals and 67 points - already 19th-best amongst players taken at the 2018 draft. It's important to footnote that he's played at least 72 games fewer than every player ahead of him (basically, a full season) - and 303 games fewer than the player at the top of the list (Brady Tkachuk).
Our verdict: Grand slam. Marchenko should be re-signed this summer to a long-term deal. He's an important core piece of this team.
3. LW Marcus Karlberg, third round (#80 overall)
The Blue Jackets went to Sweden for their third pick of the draft, nabbing undersized winger Marcus Karlberg with the 80th overall selection.
Karlberg was tabbed as a speedy, hard working winger who went to the hard areas and competed. This all sounded great, and the hope here was that he would develop into a depth scoring winger in the NHL. There was just one problem...
...he couldn't score enough to become a depth scoring player in the NHL.
He didn't even score enough to become a depth player in the SHL. Karlberg didn't even make an impact in the SHL until 2020-21 - where he's been a fringe/depth player ever since. Not only did he not play in the NHL - I don't even think this guy was ever good enough for the AHL.
Our verdict: Bust. Hindsight pick: Anaheim selected their future starting goaltender, Lukas Dostal, just five picks later.
The Jackets were far from finished drafting, but they would have to wait quite a bit to make the rest of their picks...
The Blue Jackets dealt away multiple mid-round picks to load up for a playoff run - that ended in just six games.
The fourth round pick for the Jackets was traded to Nashville in exchange for beloved center Mark Letestu. Nashville used that pick to select C Jachym Kondelik, so call it a win for the good guys.
Our fifth round pick in 2018 was sent to Chicago in the Artemi Panarin trade. Again, a win for us. The Hawks later dealt this pick to Arizona, who selected defenseman Michael Callahan. But, the Jackets saw someone they liked still on the board in the sixth round, so they traded a 2019 5th rounder in exchange for pick #159.
4. D Tim Berni, sixth round (#159 overall)
Tim Berni was an attractive pick in the fifth round. I really liked this pick at the time, and even in hindsight I still like this pick. There's just one problem: they ruined his development.
Berni wasn't ever going to barnstorm the NHL and put up massive points. But, he was a natural leader on defense, who could skate and play the game very intelligently. I think, in time, and with the right development, he could have turned into a nice bottom pairing option in the NHL.
The Jackets entered the 2022-23 season dangerously thin on defense. Injuries came early and often, and Berni was thrown to the wolves in the NHL, to the tune of 59 games and a whopping -26 rating. This came in a year where he should have been developing in the AHL; hopefully gaining some offensive confidence.
After that disasterous season, Berni could not come to an agreement with the Jackets on a contract extension. He played this season back in Switzerland.
Our verdict: Ruined promise. I think I would still take Berni here.
5. G Veini Vehvilainen, sixth round (#173 overall)
The lone goaltender taken by the Jackets was Veini Vehvilainen. He showed early promise, putting up really solid numbers in Finland's Liiga in his draft and D+1 years. But coming over to North America proved to be a tough adjustment.
Vehvilainen spent parts of two seasons in the Blue Jacket organization, appearing in one NHL game (just 11 minutes). He was eventually dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Mikko Lehtonen, in what turned out to be a swap of spare parts.
Our verdict: Bust. Hindsight pick: there aren't many players who have cracked NHL lineups taken after Vehvilainen, but San Jose's John Leonard is probably the best one.
On the next page, we'll profile the final Blue Jackets pick of the draft - and give an overall verdict.
6. W Trey Fix-Wolansky, seventh round (#204 overall)
The moment he was selected by the Blue Jackets, Trey Fix-Wolansky became one of the most unique prospects in the history of the franchise. In fact, I'll go as far as saying, one of the most unique prospects in recent NHL history.
Listed at 5'7" and over 180 pounds at the time of his selection, this was a guy who was coming off of a whopping 89-point, 81 penalty minute Western Hockey League season. He could score, and played the game like a scrappy bowling ball. What's not to love?
He was eligible for the draft for the second year, so his selection here was somewhat surprising. The Jackets saw potential in TFW, and in the end, it's hard to argue with the pick because he's the last player taken in the entire draft to play in any NHL games.
Unfortunately, he just hasn't been able to stick around with the big club. He's been lights out in the AHL, becoming a core piece of the Cleveland Monsters over the years. But, each time he gets called up to the NHL, he fails to earn enough ice time to stand out.
At this point in his career, it's hard to see Fix-Wolansky becoming a full-time NHL player. Not impossible, but he'll be 25 years old when the puck drops next season. So, I think we can call him a "4A player" at this point.
Our verdict: Partial win. Never hurts to have competitive, skilled guys in your system - even if he's not in the NHL.
In all, the Jackets came away with just one NHL player from their six picks at the draft. The good news is, Kirill Marchenko looks every bit the part of a top line winger; with size, plenty of skill to burn, and a personality that the fanbase absolutely swoons over.
This gives them a 16% hit rate - which is about half of what we should expect from a strong drafting franchise. For a team that needs to draft and develop to be successful, we can look back at the 2018 draft and point it out as part of the reason we're mired in such a long rebuild now.
Just imagine how much different this team would look with a player like K'Andre Miller around. That's how important it is to land on your draft picks - especially in the first round.
With that said, the 2018 draft as a whole looks to have produced a fairly weak crop. Just 39 players have played more than 100 games in the NHL - and two of them (Foudy and Marchenko) were Blue Jacket picks.
C-. . . Columbus Blue Jackets 2018 NHL Draft Grade:. 2018 NHL Draft Grade
Only 12 players from that draft have exceeded 100 NHL points, and just four of them were taken outside of the top-15. In the end, the Jackets performed fine in a weak draft year. While we wish it was better, it wasn't a complete dumpster fire.
They get a barely passing grade here. This would bump up a little bit if more of their picks turned into AHL players. Or, better yet, if Liam Foudy turned into the middle-six two-way player we hoped we were getting.
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