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The Columbus Blue Jackets have one of the better prospect systems in the NHL, and they added seven new players at this year's draft in hopes of improving on it further.

While we won't know which choices will pan out and which won't for at least a few years, Jarmo Kekalainen looks to have added a lot of talent to the system.

Whether intentional or not, Jarmo Kekalainen added three defensemen, three left wingers and one goaltender at the draft. The team seems set down the middle with Ryan Johansen, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov in the NHL and Alex Wennberg as well as Marko Dano on the way, so I think it may have been.

Nevertheless, here are some thoughts on each pick:

1st round, 16th overall - LW Sonny Milano (U.S. U-18 team)

I've seen some of Milano's games and he's easily one of the top talents in this year's draft. His creativity, vision and ability to create plays are off the charts. His skating ability allows him to blow past defenders, or lose them with hard cuts, stops and starts. Milano can create off the rush, and use his exceptional hands to create space for himself to clear a lane and get off a good shot. His release is excellent, and his hockey IQ is very high. Milano reminds me of Patrick Kane or Pavel Datsyuk with the natural ability he has and how he can make extremely difficult plays look easy.

Stat line: 14 goals, 25 assists, 39 points, 25 games played.



2nd round, 47th overall - D Ryan Collins (U.S. U-18 team)

In the 2nd round Jarmo Kekalainen elected to with Milano's teammate on the U.S. U-18 team in 6'5" defenseman Ryan Collins.

Collins is a smooth-skating defenseman who moves around very well for his size. He's physical when he wants to be and is very tough to get around because of his long reach and ability to skate and play at a high pace. I don't think he'll be a big point producer, but he could be a good defensive defenseman who can move the puck up ice.

Stat line: 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, 26 games played.

3rd round, 76th overall - G Elvis Merzlikins (Lugano - Swiss-A)

This pick was off the board, but I suppose some members of the Blue Jackets' scouting staff saw something they really liked and felt they needed to take him ensuring nobody else swiped him up.

Merzlikins is a 6'2-6'3" goaltender who more than held his own playing against men in the Swiss league. As a 20-year-old Merzlikins started 36 games while posting a 2.13 goals against average and .924 save percentage. I've admittedly never seen him play, but those numbers are certainly encouraging and suggest he could turn into something down the road.

If you have some time, I recommend watching the 10 minute video of Elvis.



3rd round, 77th overall - D Blake Siebenaler (Niagara IceDogs - OHL)

Siebenaler is a guy I'm very familiar with having watched him regularly in the OHL. In his rookie campaign with Niagara, Siebenaler didn't miss a beat jumping into Niagara's top-4, playing big minutes and producing.

From my post at TheHockeyGuys: Siebenaler is a smooth skating defenseman who’s among the most fluid in this year’s draft class. He makes a good first pass, but when pressured by oncoming forecheckers he can regularly carry the puck up ice without issue. He’s confident skating the puck, and generates good speed through the neutral zone. Siebenaler is effective in skating the puck into the offensive zone with possession of the puck, and because of his vision and passing ability he’s able to help create scoring chances once setting up shop. Defensively he’s still a bit of a work in progress, but he’s getting better in that aspect and he has a lot of potential offensively.

Stat line: 6 goals, 24 assists, 30 points, 68 games played, 24PIMs

4th round, 107th overall - LW Julien Pelletier (Cape Breton - QMJHL)

At 5'11" and under 180lbs Pelletier is a little undersized, but the book on him is that he's a goal scorer who's not afraid of contact. He's a smart player who knows where to be on the ice, and knows how to finish plays off.

At 107th overall, it's worth a shot to take a chance on a guy who could develop into a top-6 forward down the road if everything goes well.

Stat line: 25 goals, 25 assists, 50 points, 67 games played, 28PIMs

5th round, 137th overall - LW Tyler Bird (high schooler committed to Brown U)

I don't know much about Bird, have never seen him play and found it difficult to find any information on him. What I do know is that he's a 6'2", 200lbs forward who's committed to Brown University. He's coming out of high school so he must have been much better than the rest of his competition in order to get drafted, but it'll be hard to track his progress until we see him play tougher competition at Brown.

7th round, 197th overall - D Olivier LeBlanc (Saint John Sea Dogs - QMJHL)

LeBlanc is a smooth-skating defenseman who can move the puck up ice and produce on the power play. At 5'11" 161lbs he has a lot of bulking to do, but he's not afraid to be physical, throw his body around or drop the gloves. In the 7th round he's a project worth taking a shot on.

Stat line: 7 goals, 26 assists, 33 points, 58PIMs

Overall I'd say Kekalainen and his staff did a good job of adding talent with upside to the prospect pool while addressing potential needs down the road at the same time.

Jackets posts

Blue Jackets select Sonny Milano

Blue Jackets acquire Scott Hartnell

Blue Jackets expected to be quiet in free agency

Talks between Blue Jackets, Johansen moving slowly

Blue Jackets should listen to offers for Jack Johnson

Blue Jackets prospect data: Rychel, Bjorkstrand dominant in 13-14

Devils posts

Santini invited to U.S. World Junior evaluation camp

Targeting Ales Hemsky

Devils prospect data: Damon Severson stellar in 13-14

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