The 2019 NHL Entry Draft kicks off tonight, June 21, at 8pm est at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. You can watch the first round on NBCSN, SN, and TVAS.
The second through seventh round of the draft will take place on Saturday June 22nd at 1pm est. Both NHLN and SN will be airing the Saturday rounds of the draft.
This year will be a bit calmer for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they only have two picks in this year’s draft, round 3 (81 overall) and round 7 (212 overall).
I wouldn’t put it past GM Kekalainen to wheel and deal his way into the first or second round. So, it will be worth paying attention to the first two rounds regardless of how many picks the Jackets enter the draft with tonight.
Some of the top prospects we likely won’t see due to our current draft placement are Jack Hughes (USA U-18) , Kappo Kakko (TPS – Liiga), Alex Turcotte (USA U-18), Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge – WHL), Kirby Each (Saskatoon – WHL) , Bowen Byram (Vancouver WHL), Vasily Podkolzin (Neva St Petersburg), and Jakob Pelletier (Moncton Wildcats – QMJHL).
A few players to keep an eye out for in the later rounds of the draft are Jake Lee (Seattle Thunderbirds), Nando Eggenberger (Oshawa Generals), and Shane Pinto (Lincoln Stars).
This will also serve as an open thread throughout the weekend and event tracker. Yes, event tracker because we all know it’s not truly a draft until a trade goes down!
Articles about each Jackets pick will be going up through out the draft.
Happy Draft Day!
May the odds be ever in your favor.
2019 Draft Picks
4th Round, 104th overall – Eric Hjorth, defender out of Linkoping
4th Round, 114th overall – Dmitri Voronkov, left winger out of Russia
7th Round, 212th overall – Tyler Angle, center from the Windsor Spitfire