With the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday, we are getting closer and closer to the next marquee event on the NHL calendar: the 2025 Entry Draft in Los Angeles on June 27-28. It’s been the most exciting event on the hockey calendar for the Columbus Blue Jackets over the last several seasons for several reasons. Partially because the team has used the opportunity to get in on some trade fun, going back to the Seth Jones trade of 2021, or the Alexandre Texier trade of last summer.
Mostly, the Blue Jackets’ excitement at the draft has been because they’ve been in the running for one of the top prospects, having picked a player in the top six selections in each of the last four drafts. After taking over as general manager before the 2024 Draft, Don Waddell made some trades and put his stamp on the organization, adding a lot of size to the prospect pool. This season, he dealt top defensive prospect David Jiricek to the Minnesota Wild and received a first-round pick for this upcoming draft in return.
Once the dust of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs had settled, the Blue Jackets were informed they would be picking 14th overall with their pick and 20th with the one they received from the Wild. When it came to what they will ultimately do with those selections, there are a few question marks.
Our Mark Scheig had a discussion with the GM earlier this offseason, and this is what Waddell had to say on the possibility of trading one or both of the picks:
“Yes, 100%,” Waddell said. The Blue Jackets want to get over the hump into the playoffs. If they can acquire players to help that cause with both first-round picks, they are available in a potential deal. Ultimately, they have options; let’s explore them.
Blue Jackets Could Draft at Both of Their 14th and 20th Overall Selections
The 2025 NHL Entry Draft is widely considered one of the weaker draft classes in years. To be clear, it’s not that it’s bereft of talent, simply there are fewer guaranteed impact players projected than in other seasons. The consensus seems to be that there is a drop-off in talent after the sixth overall selection, so anyone picking seventh or later will have to look a little harder to find those draft gems.
For Columbus, sitting at 14th and 20th in a thinner draft, things could go a couple of different ways. It could actually be helpful that there’s not much separation in talent. For example, a guy that the Blue Jackets have projected to go in the top ten could slip to them at 14 or even 20 because teams selecting ahead of them could have a completely different ranking of the mid-level of the first round. However, the opposite could happen too, and the Blue Jackets could get left holding the bag if they don’t trade those picks and have to select a couple of guys that they aren’t as excited about. It’s much riskier to hold both picks in a draft that could be hit or miss.
I would be more of an advocate for this strategy in most other draft classes for one reason. Generally, there is a goalie that stands significantly above the rest. Think along the lines of Jake Oettinger, who was picked 26th in 2017, Yaroslav Askarov, who went 11th in 2020, Jesper Wallstedt at number 20 in 2021 or even as far back as Andrei Vasilevskiy at 19th in 2012. There simply is not a goalie in this draft who many believe to be worthy of a first-round selection. Since that’s the Blue Jackets’ biggest question mark, it’s hard for me to advocate they use both of these picks when they could use them to go out and find an answer on the trade market.
Blue Jackets Could Trade Either 14th or 20th Overall Selections
With how close they came to making the playoffs this season, the Blue Jackets have made it clear they would like to take a step forward, not backward, in 2025-26. That could mean they’ll be aggressive to add talent that can immediately impact their roster. Depending on who they’re after, that could lead them to give up either of these picks.
There are a couple of recent trades that have given me pause ahead of the draft. One is the most recent, Mason Marchment from the Dallas Stars to the Seattle Kraken. I didn’t see Marchment on anyone’s trade board, did you? Almost out of nowhere, a really productive and big-bodied middle-six forward was traded for two mid-round picks.
Those are the types of guys the Blue Jackets should be looking for. Someone off the board who is a real contributor. Particularly, they’ll be able to find those guys for pennies on the dollar because there are some teams looking to shed salary to keep some of their bigger names in-house ahead of free agency (that’s exactly what happened in Dallas). Or it could be a team that’s looking to pre-emptively create cap space to add one of the marquee free agents.
The other trade I think about is the Logan Thompson trade from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Washington Capitals last summer. Minimal cost, for a goalie who received a lot of attention as a top player at his position. The goalie market is really thin in free agency this silly season. If the Blue Jackets can find a legitimate number one option in net, that’s certainly worth trading one of those first-round picks.
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I think this is the best case scenario for the team: add a young prospect who they like in this draft class, and also find someone on the trade market – preferably a goalie – that will make an immediate impact. It is the perfect middle ground and doesn’t sell too much of their future for the present, if this season’s leap forward was just a mirage.
Blue Jackets Could Trade Both 14 and 20 Overall Selections
This option is kind of nuclear, packaging both picks for one big haul. Or I suppose they could trade both in separate deals to add a couple different pieces, if Waddell really doesn’t believe in this draft class.
For one big haul, think of the crème de la crème. Jason Roberson from the Stars, or Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames, with a contract extension in place to sign on July 1. Not sure that young stars like Buffalo Sabres J.J. Peterka or Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi would make sense with that type of package going the other way. They would need to be established and capable of taking a leadership role in the organization immediately to justify parting with both picks. That’s where Columbus could get creative and try to find someone of stature that’s a bit off the board to trade for.
Regardless of what the Blue Jackets do with their two first-rounders, they should be able to do something to add value to their organization. Be it through drafting a couple of young prospects, trading one for a pretty good player, or packaging both for a really good player, Waddell has a lot of options for what to do before the names get called in Los Angeles on June 27-28.
