6 NHL draft prospects to know: Will Columbus Blue Jackets celebrate with Celebrini?
The Blue Jackets have the fourth-highest odds to win the NHL Draft Lottery on May 7, when the league sends lottery balls into motion at its network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets' Adam Fantilli gained experience, bonds in shortened rookie season
They’ll have a 9.5% chance of winning, which will be countered by a 90.5% chance of losing. They could also move back by up to two spots in this year’s first round, which is starting to feel like the Jackets’ destiny in these draws.
Should the miraculous happen, the pick for Columbus first overall will almost certainly be Macklin Celebrini of Boston University. He’s a big center with a lot of speed, comparable to Blue Jackets rookie Adam Fantilli, so Celebrini is considered the unanimous top prize in this year’s field of prospects.
Assuming that doesn’t happen, yet again, the Blue Jackets will still pick high in their fourth straight draft. They’ll also have intriguing options to choose from, no matter where the lottery draw sends them in the pecking order.
Here are six for Blue Jackets fans to know:
Macklin Celebrini, F, Boston University
Celebrini has good size at 6-foot, 190 pounds, plays center, is smooth on his skates and ranks first on NHL Central Scouting’s final list of North American skaters.
He doesn’t turn 18 until June 13, which makes him one of the youngest players in the draft and made him the youngest player in the NCAA during his freshman season at Boston University. Aside from having the coolest name in college hockey, Celebrini was the youngest player to win the NCAA's Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's best player this season, finishing with 32 goals, 32 assists and 64 points in 38 games.
Those numbers were second in the NCAA in goals and third in points, which was similar to what Fantilli did last season as a freshman for the University of Michigan. The Blue Jackets snagged him third overall in last year’s draft, which was loaded with premium prospects. Short of an injury or something else unforeseen, there’s no way Celebrini lasts past the first pick.
Fantilli would likely contend with Celebrini for first overall if he were in this draft, but he’s not. The top spot belongs to Celebrini, and the way to land him is luck of the draw.
Artyom Levshunov, D, Michigan State University
Last year’s draft was heavy with projectable star forwards in the first round, especially at the top. This one has more defensive talent rising to the top, starting with Levshunov.
Michigan State continued its rise in Big Ten prominence under second-year head coach Adam Nightingale, and Levshunov was literally a big reason for it. Standing a solid 6-2, 208 with good mobility and a right-handed shot, Levshunov led the Spartans to the Big Ten’s regular season crown, a championship in the conference tournament plus a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Levshunov’s top skills currently shine brightest at the offensive end of the ice. He had 9-26-35 in 38 games as a freshman, can run a top power-play unit with ease and has a good shot from the point. Levshunov is also a deft passer, and scouts love his “hockey sense.”
Levshunov’s critics point toward his aggression leaving him out of position a little too often defensively, but he made enough stops in his own zone to counteract most of those slip-ups. Levshunov is also put together like an NHL player, with size and strength, and plays with some snarl. If that sounds like a familiar description to Blue Jackets fans, it’s because that also fits for right-handed defenseman David Jiricek — selected sixth overall by Columbus in 2022.
Levshunov is a better skater than Jiricek, who's on the cusp of becoming an NHL regular now, but they’re about the same size and both have potential to become impact NHL defensemen. It’d be a dream scenario to have two comparable righties patrolling the blue line in Columbus someday, but the Blue Jackets will probably need to move up for a shot at Levshunov.
Ivan Demidov, F, SKA St. Petersburg, MHL (Russia)
The Blue Jackets have five Russian players on their NHL roster already plus three more Russian prospects in their pipeline. So, why not add another dynamic Russian forward to the mix?
Make no mistake, Demidov is dynamic with the puck. He’s a magician with it, using elite skills to compensate for average skating and a 5-11 frame. Demidov has dominated the Russian junior level with SKA St. Petersburg’s MHL team the past two years, racking up a jaw-dropping 42 goals, 80 assists and 122 points in just 71 games during that span. That includes 23-37-60 in 30 games this season, before adding 11-17-28 in 17 playoff games.
Demidov is likely a high-skill winger whenever he gets to the NHL, which the Blue Jackets currently have in spades within their prospect pipeline. Still, he’s got the kind of talent that’s hard to pass up. How willing he is to sign with an NHL team plus the projected wait time for his KHL contractual obligations to expire – as with all Russian prospects – could factor into what slot Demidov is drafted.
He’d certainly boost the Blue Jackets’ pool of young talent, which is already teaming with high-end prospects.
Cayden Lindstrom, F, Medicine Hat, WHL
In short, the Blue Jackets should probably select Lindstrom if he’s available when they’re up in the first round.
It has taken Quinton Byfield longer than expected with the Los Angeles Kings to show how game-changing it can be to have a powerful skater with his size and strength in an NHL team’s top-six forward group, but there’s no mistaking it now. Byfield was selected second overall in 2020 and is just now rising into a key role for the Kings as a powerful skating winger who can play center.
That sounds a lot like Lindstrom, who plays center for Medicine Hat of the junior level Western Hockey League at an impressive 6-3, 210 pounds. Lindstrom is an extremely good athlete with a high-revving motor that drives him to compete hard in every aspect of the game, which gives his skillset an extra jolt.
Lindstrom isn’t Connor McDavid or Connor Bedard when it comes to individual skill, but he does have great size and strength to go with a plus shot from the left side and decent playmaking ability. Projecting him into the NHL, the team that gets him could start Lindstrom in the middle to see if it clicks and still get great value out of him should a switch to the wing occur.
Lindstrom finished with 27-19-46 in 32 games for Medicine Hat this season, spending 66 minutes in the penalty box thanks mainly to his tenacity hounding pucks. He’s tallied 46-42-88 with 102 penalty minutes in 93 games over two seasons with the Tigers and goes into the draft ranked third by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters.
Cole Eiserman, LW, U.S. National Team Development Program
What slot Eiserman is selected will be fascinating to follow at the draft in Las Vegas. That’s because the goal-scoring winger has elicited as many negative scouting criticisms as he has plaudits for an uncanny ability to beat goalies.
Eiserman, who’s committed to Boston University, scored an astounding 55 goals in just 54 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program this season, as a 17-year old, including 25 goals in just 24 games at the junior level while facing opponents from the United States Hockey League.
One of the Blue Jackets’ biggest shortcomings is the lack of a pure goal-scoring forward who can capitalize on prime scoring chances. Patrik Laine is supposed to be the leader in that category, but he’s been hampered by a slew of injuries, illnesses and his current treatment within the NHL/NHL Players Association’s joint player assistance program.
Drafting Eiserman could eventually go a long way toward fixing the lack of goal-scorers in Columbus, since he’s never met a shot he didn’t like. That’s one of the biggest scouting drawbacks, but Eiserman also had 31 assists for an 86-point scoring total this season for the US national program’s under-18 squad.
Eiserman also contributed 6-2-8 to help the U.S. win gold at this year’s world junior championship. His last name is pronounced the same way as Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, but this Eiserman isn’t an elite scoring center. He’s a pure goal-scoring winger who could make the Blue Jackets’ cannon crew work overtime with a lethal shot.
Sam Dickinson, D, London Knights, OHL
Do not be surprised to hear the Blue Jackets announce Dickinson’s name with their first pick this summer, especially if they wind up hiring Mark Hunter to replace former GM Jarmo Kekalainen.
Hunter is the vice president of hockey operations/GM for the London Knights of the junior level Ontario Hockey League, and Dickinson is one of his top talents. The Knights and Dickinson are in the middle of a playoff run, but it doesn’t take much to visualize Hunter handing Dickinson a Blue Jackets jersey in Las Vegas this summer – especially if the Jackets lose a spot or two in the lottery.
Aside from the Jackets’ rumored interest in hiring Hunter, they also employ Knights owner Basil McCrae as an assistant GM and have further ties to London through Rick Nash ― their former star whose jersey hangs in the rafters at Nationwide Arena, where he’s currently the director of player development. The Blue Jackets also signed Dickinson’s teammate, forward Max McCue, as a free agent.
As for his on-ice attributes, Dickinson is another offensive-minded defenseman with good size (6-3, 199) and skating ability. He shoots from the left side, is a swift skater and can quarterback a power play effectively from the point. Some scouts feel that his “hockey sense” isn’t the highest, but Dickinson makes up for it with other tools. One of which is a roaring slap shot that could someday make opposing NHL defensemen and goalies nervous.
One drawback to selecting Dickinson is the depth of skilled lefty defensemen in the Blue Jackets’ system, including Jake Bean (NHL third pairing), Jake Christiansen (NHL experience), Denton Mateychuk (12th overall pick 2022) and Stanislav Svozil (AHL experience, third-round pick 2021).
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 6 NHL prospects to know: Columbus Blue Jackets may celebrate Celebrini
