Top Prospects: The NHL System Rankings

#9: Columbus Blue Jackets

Embed from Getty Images

Number of Ranked Prospects: 30

Number of Forwards in the Top 50: 2

Number of Defensemen in the Top 50: 2

Average Rank of Top 10 Prospects in Pool: 51st

Top Forward Prospect in The System: Cayden Lindstrom (4th)

Top Defenseman Prospect in The System: Denton Mateychuk (10th)

System Score: 4.5

Jarmo Kekalainen was the general manager for 11 of the first 26 years of the Columbus Blue Jackets' existence, and ran the team for almost the entire period of time during which the prospects considered in the current ranking were acquired (save the 2024 draft overseen by current GM Don Waddell). Under Kekalainen's guidance, the Blue Jackets drafted multiple key NHL players including several selected after the first two rounds (including Oliver Bjorkstand 89th, Elvis Merzlinkins 76th, Vladislav Gavrikov 159th, Markus Nutivaara 189th). In the top rounds, they found key players such as Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, Yegor Chinakov, Kirill Marchenko and David Jiricek.

However, despite relative success in the draft, the Blue Jackets have struggled to translate player procurement into wins, and have made the playoffs only six times (five under Kekalainen). As such, Columbus has held a lot of lottery draft picks in recent years, and have built up a top-ten prospect system. 

The Top of The Pool:

Cayden Lindstrom--one of the top forward prospects in the hockey universe--leads the Blue Jackets' pack of young players. Columbus selected Lindstrom fourth overall last summer (Hockey Prophets had him ranked third in the 2024 draft) after a WHL season that was cut short due to a herniated disk. That injury has kept Lindstrom off the ice for several months, but the 6'4, 214-pound center looks well on his way to recovery. Lindstrom is not only big and physical, but he uses long, powerful strides to generate excellent speed, and crafty edgework and balance to create positioning and leveraging advantages in all three zones. He has great hands at speed, the ability to either power through or dangle around defenders, and his speed means that he gets to loose pucks surprisingly fast. Lindstrom has a nasty release on his wrist shot and brings a ton of power to his slap shot. Beyond all of the obvious physical tools, Lindstrom is a smart, high-processing player who easily absorbs on-ice information and immediately translates it into action. The only question mark in Lindstrom's game is how long it will take him to get back on the ice and in game competition. 

The Blue Jackets have another Hockey Prophets top-twenty forward prospect in Jordan Dumais. Like Lindstrom, Dumais has been dealing with a lingering injury, in his case an abdominal core muscle injury that required surgery over the summer, so he, too, has yet to play a game this fall. However, Dumais' skill and elite hockey intelligence has made him a long-time Hockey Prophets favorite (see "Jordan Dumais Might Be The Most Underappreciated Player In This Year’s Draft Class"). Dumais plays with great anticipation in all aspects of the game, but he shines in the offensive zone, generating scoring chances for himself or his teammates by seeing and understanding the flow of the game better than anyone else on the ice. He may not be the tallest player at 5'9, but he is a player that makes a positive impact on every shift, and his 325 points in just 193 QMJHL games stands as testament to his ability to light up a scoreboard. Dumais will join the AHL's Cleveland Monsters as soon as he is healthy and ready to play.

The talent does not drop off on the other side of the puck for the Blue Jackets. Denton Mateychuk was drafted 12th overall in 2022, six spots behind David Jiricek. Two-time captain of the Moose Jaw Warriors and one of the WHL's best blue line scorers in his time in the league (215 points in 203 total games), Mateychuk plays a kinetic, fast and free-wheeling transition game with considerable upside at both ends of the ice. In transition, he has the skating and puck skills to carry at top speed through the neutral zone, maneuvering around slower forwards and pushing opposing defenders back on their heels. If the skating path gets closed off, he is highly adept at finding layoff or headman passes to better positioned players, and then he is quick to remain on the attack. He already plays a solid game in his own end, but a rookie year of play in the AHL (he currently has 11 points in his first 12 games) should prepare him well for an NHL debut in the near future.

The Blue Jackets drafted Charlie Elick 36th overall last summer, selecting another WHL defender into the prospect mix. Elick plays a different style than Mateychuk, but he is highly effective in his own right. Elick is much more of a stay-at-home blueliner, a bruising, hard-playing positional defender who uses his size and strength and quality skating to clear away the crease, seal off opponents and drive play to the boards. He has great positional awareness, and makes a good breakout pass to initiate attacks.

Luca Del Bel Belluz has been progressing well since the Blue Jackets drafted him 44th overall in 2022 from the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL. The 6'0, 174-pound center is currently playing in his second AHL season for the Cleveland Monsters (6 goals and 5 assists in the early season's first 12 games). He has been rounding into a solid prospect who could help fill a middle-six role at the NHL level.

Gavin Brindley is entering his first professional season after leaving the University of Michigan at the end of last season (his 25 goals and 28 assists in 40 games led the Wolverines). He is a smaller winger at 5'9, 168 pounds, but he has great offensive instincts, amazing speed and the ability to create offense on his own. A broken finger has kept him out of game action so far this season, but he should soon return and likely play in Cleveland until he is ready for a call up.

A defender to keep an eye on is Luca Marrelli, a highly skilled offensive blueliner playing for Oshawa of the OHL. The Blue Jackets drafted Marrelli 86th overall, a spot well below the ranking that Marrelli held in the Hockey Prophets 2024 draft list (27th overall). Marrelli is a fluid skater able to cut down attacking lanes and match opposing forwards. His defensive play is sound, but his main calling card is up-ice transition and offense. He is currently in the top ten in the OHL for scoring and is the top-scoring defenseman with 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 19 games. 

Return to the Team System Rankings

Below is the full list of the Columbus Blue Jackets's ranked prospects.

Top Forwards 

Top Defensemen