Now six years after the fact, we can look back upon the 2019 NHL Draft and review how the Blue Jackets did.. They made only three picks at that year's draft; with one of them becoming an NHL player.
Their lack of draft picks in 2019 lines up with the most successful season in franchise history. With his two best players set to become unrestricted free agents that summer, General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen opted to push all his chips into the pile at the 2019 trade deadline. Acquiring Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid, and Keith Kinkaid; the Jackets loaded up despite only being in the mix for a wildcard spot.
While they fell well short of the ultimate prize, it's hard to call this completely unsuccessful. That spring was the most memorable run in franchise history, with the Blue Jackets sweeping the President's Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. They then pushed the Boston Bruins in a hard fought second round series that ultimately ended in six games.
As a result of a wild spending spree at the trade deadline, the club went into draft weekend with just two picks in hand: one each in the third and seventh round. On draft day, Kekalainen opted to turn that single third round pick into two fourth rounders via trade with the Florida Panthers. As you will see shortly, this worked out pretty well. The Jackets found a darn good player with the second of those fourth round picks.
Fourth round, #104 overall: D Eric Hjorth
Eric Hjorth was the first player selected by the Blue at the 2019 draft; the first (and only) time the team did not have a pick in any of the first three rounds.
The big Swedish defenseman was touted as a good skater with some puck moving attributes. But, he just never panned out. He played one season in the OHL for the Sarnia Sting after being drafted. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed him back overseas, to play closer to home. He's been there ever since, bouncing around leagues in Europe and most recently playing professional hockey in Italy. Safe to say, we can write Eric Hjorth off as a bust.
Fourth round, #114 overall: C Dmitri Voronkov
Dmitri Voronkov was the second player picked by the Jackets in 2019, taken just 10 spots after Hjorth. In hindsight, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that "Vronk" would have been a first round pick in a redraft. Maybe even top-15.
The 6'5", 240 pounder played on the top line for the Blue Jackets this season, and did not look out of place. He scored 23 goals and 47 points in 73 games, adding 55 penalty minutes to the mix. On draft day, there were some concerns about his overall upside, skating, and that whole "Russian factor". Throw that all out the window. Vronk is a big part of this team's core moving forward. What a find he's been.
Seventh round, #212 overall: C Tyler Angle
The Jackets thought they might have struck gold in the seventh round, selecting Windsor Spitfires center Tyler Angle. Their hopes for this player went way up when, during the pandemic, he was allowed to play in the AHL as an underage player.
In 23 games with the Cleveland Monsters, he scored 11 goals and 24 points as a rookie. Suddenly, it felt like he might be an inevitable solution to the Blue Jackets' center question in the future. Unfortunately, he was never able to repeat that success. He stuck around the organization for three more years, even getting into 4 games with the Blue Jackets. But, his development stagnated and things didn't work out.
After last season, he wasn't offered another contract, and took his talents to Europe. He played in Germany this season for Dusseldorf. Since he's no longer with the organization, we'll have to write Angle off as a bust as well.
Overall verdict?
If ever there were a year to go all in and get rid of draft picks, it was 2019. The first round pick that the Jackets traded to Ottawa turned into Lassi Thomson. And, it's not like this was an off the board pick by the Senators. There weren't many good quality NHL players taken in the picks right after him, either.
Their second round pick became Samuel Fagemo to the LA Kings. In the third round, the Florida Panthers selected Cole Schwindt. While there were some good players taken in the middle rounds of this draft (Washington's Aliaksai Protas is probably the best); it was a relatively weak draft overall.
It's easy to run through names in hindsight and wish we had certain players. But, that's a bad way to review drafts. After all, what are the odds that Jarmo Kekalainen and his staff would have targeted the guys we wish they had taken, even if they still had those picks?
In the end, with only three picks; coming away with Dmitri Voronkov is an easy draft day win. Not only did we get to see an exciting playoff run in 2019; we also got to see the club steal a mid-round piece to the long-term puzzle at the draft.