A big defenseman is left for the Blue Jackets to draft with the 6th pick | Michael Arace
The word on the 2022 NHL draft was there was a clear top six, but there was no consensus on the order. Punch six picks and six teams in the probability calculator and you get 462 possible combinations.
The Blue Jackets were holding the No. 6 overall pick.
Who would be left for them?
From their table on the floor of the Bell Centre in Montreal, the Jackets' brain trust scratched their palms and mopped their brows – in the case of general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, quite a considerable brow – before they got their turn.
Who would be left for them?
2022 NHL draft: Who did the Blue Jackets pick in the first round?
Juraj Slafkovsky drafted No. 1 overall: Scouting reports on first round picks
The five teams holding the top five picks (with 253 possible combinations) managed to break form in a draft that had no real form. How?
For more than a year, there was general agreement that center Shane Wright would be the top pick. Then, over the last week or so, it was speculated the Montreal Canadiens would instead take a winger, Juraj Slafkovsky, with their No. 1 overall pick. And they did.
The thing is, Wright started sliding. The New Jersey Devils, who don’t need any centers, took defenseman Simon Nemec No. 2. The Arizona Coyotes, who need anything and everything – especially centers – took a different center (Logan Cooley) at No. 3.
Wright slid right into the lap of the Seattle Kraken at No. 4. Seattle GM Ron Francis, who was one of the most productive centers in the history of the game, needed about two seconds to sprint to the microphone to announce the selection.
I was watching at home on ESPN. My kids, who study the draft on multiple devices, are big Jackets fans – and they wanted one of the defensemen. With Nemec off the board, they wanted David Jiricek – a teenager who played against men in the Czech Extraliga last season.
Jiricek is what most Jackets fans said they wanted: a big, right-shot defenseman who could, someday, play alongside All-Star Zach Werenski.
Me, I was thinking about a center. Granted, the Jackets took at least one center in the first round last year. Cole Sillinger looks like he can be a second-line pivot for another decade-plus. As for Kent Johnson, he looks like a playmaking winger to me. But we shall see.
I was hoping the Jackets might trade up to get their hands on Shane Wright. Didn’t happen. Heading into the draft, there was a lot of chatter about how Cutter Gauthier – a big, competitive center/winger – was a player the Jackets might be high on.
With the No. 5 overall pick, the Philadelphia Flyers took Gauthier.
Who would be left for the Jackets? Jiricek.
My kids cheered. They’d heard a rumor (from me, via sources) the Jackets might trade down rather than select Jiricek at No. 6. Those rumors may have been a counter-espionage plant, a bit of draft-day jujitsu to throw other teams off the scent. Or, maybe I was just messing with my kids.
I’m not saying.
There were other rumors. There was one that said the Jackets might trade their No. 12 overall pick to the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Didn’t happen. There was another one about the Jackets being interested in using the 12th pick to acquire center Kirby Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks. Didn’t happen.
(That second rumor, I never believed. After what the Jackets did to the Blackhawks with the Seth Jones trade at last year’s draft, there’s no way the Hawks were coming anywhere near Jarmo this year.)
Were I a Jackets fan, I’d be happy with all that did and did not happen. I’m not a Dach fan, and it seems neither are the Chicago Blackhawks, who moved the former No. 3 overall pick to Montreal for a package of picks. As For Chychrun, the Jackets decided to address their defensive needs directly, with their pair of first-round picks.
With the No. 12 overall pick, the Jackets selected left-shot defenseman Denton Mateychuk from Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League. Mateychuk is not big (5-10, 180). He is going to need more seasoning, in junior and in the AHL, probably. But he is reputed to have some serious tools when it comes to skating, hands, vision and all that high-end skill stuff. And there is room in today’s NHL for that type of player to have an impact.
Mateychuk’s mother is a skating coach. I’d bet on them.
In the big picture, first-round draft picks have a much better chance of becoming productive NHL players than second-round draft picks. What is more, defensemen who are chosen among the top dozen picks tend to make it, and stick, in the big leagues.
That bodes well for the Jackets in a draft that is devoid of star-caliber talent.
After taking two forwards with the Nos. 5 and 12 overall last year (Johnson and Sillinger), the Jackets used their first-round picks on a couple of defensemen. Jiricek may be ready to play next season (although he is coming off a knee injury). Mateychuk needs some more incubation.
The final accounting on the Seth Jones trade is nearly complete: The Blackhawks got Seth Jones, Nolan Allan and a 6th-round pick in this year's draft; the Jackets got Sillinger, Adam Boqvist, David Jiricek and Jake Bean.
Good job by Jarmo.
Now, sign Patrik Laine.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets go defense, draft David Jiricek and Denton Mateychu
