The Columbus Blue Jackets Prospect Pool Ranks Number Three Per The Athletic

By Brian Wallace

Mar 2, 2024

The Athletic’s Jesse Wheeler ranked the Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospect pool third in the NHL, a sign that the organization’s patient rebuild is beginning to bear fruit.

Hockey prospect guru Scott Wheeler of The Athletic recently released his annual Prospect Pool Rankings and the rebuilding Columbus Blue Jackets came in at number three. If you follow the Blue Jackets organization some of the names are familiar. If you do not, do not worry we will get you caught up. For Columbus who is staring at yet another lottery draft pick due to being the worst team in the Eastern Conference ranking number three is a welcomed sight and due to another lottery pick the organization is set to strengthen an already strong prospect pool.

Scott Wheeler gave a comprehensive glance at the top Blue Jackets prospects, which is as follows: 1. Kent Johnson- F; 2. David Jiricek- D; 3. Denton Mateychuk- D; 4. Jordan Dumais- F; 5. Gavin Bindley- F; 6. Stanislav Svozil- D; 7. Luca Del Bel Belluz- F; 8. William Whitelaw- F; 9. Luca Pinelli- F; 10. Andrew Strathman- D; 11. Corson Ceulemans- D; 12. Sergei Ivanov- G; 13. James Malatesta- F; 14. Hunter McCown- F; 15. Samuel Knazko- D.

The Blue Jackets had players not listed such as Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov as they are no longer considered prospects. What should help ease Blue Jacket fans’ nerves is Wheeler is extremely high on Kent Johnson and David Jiricek both of whom have had growing pains. Both players have been benched and sent to the AHL for more development or in Johnson’s case a reset; the handling of both players has been in question. Wheeler also made a compelling argument that Kent Johnson should have more ice to allow him to find a groove on the ice.

Only the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings prospect pools were ranked higher than the Blue Jackets. Credit must be given to former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen for stocking the prospect pool with some really good talent. He has set up the next GM in Columbus for success.