Help us rank the Top 25 Blue Jackets players and prospects under the age of 25

As we reach the quiet part of the off-season, it’s once again time to rank and profile the top 25 players under the age of 25 within the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.

The 2021-22 Blue Jackets were once again one of the youngest teams in the league, and they have continued to backfill the prospect pipeline with more prospects, including five first round picks in the last two drafts.

It is up to each reader to determine how you rank the players. My suggestion is you consider the impact you expect each player to have on the Blue Jackets’ roster going forward. That can be this year, or three years from now. If you were building the franchise from scratch, which of these players would be your building blocks?

I changed the cut-off date from the start of the season to January 1. Sorry for all of you Marcus Bjork fans, but I felt like someone like him didn’t fit the spirit of the list, anyway. I left off Robbie Stucker, whose rights will expire in August and seems unlikely to be signed.

Three players from last year’s list have aged out: Carson Meyer, Jack Roslovic, and reigning #1 Zach Werenski. Three who were eligible last year were left unsigned by the organization this year: Cabriel Carlsson, Kale Howarth, and Marcus Karlberg. Calvin Thurkauf also aged out of the list and while the Jackets technically retain his rights, a return to North America seems unlikely for him.

Despite losing those eight names from last year’s field of 38, there were ten new players added to bring this year’s list to 40. Seven players were drafted, Aidan Hreschuk was acquired in the Max Domi trade, and Jet Greaves and Nick Blankenburg were undrafted free agent signings during the season.

Enter your votes below. You don’t have to rank 25 if you don’t want to, but you must rank at least 10. I used the Elite Prospects depth chart to build my list, and that’s a very useful resource to look up the stats for each player. I included the players’ birth year and position next to their name, for quick reference.

Voting is now closed. Check back on Wednesday as we begin the countdown!

Voting will close on Sunday and the countdown series will begin a week from today. I think I can guess who will take over the top spot this year, but the rest of the top ten could be competitive.

While we wait for this year’s results, here’s a trip down memory lane to the top five from the last four rankings:

2021

1. Zach Werenski
   2. Patrik Laine
   3. Jack Roslovic
   4. Adam Boqvist
   5. Kent Johnson

2019

1. Pierre-Luc Dubois
   2. Zach Werenski
   3. Oliver Bjorkstrand
   4. Alexandre Texier
   5. Liam Foudy

2018

1. Seth Jones
   2. Zach Werenski
   3. Pierre-Luc Dubois
   4. Oliver Bjorkstrand
   5. Alexander Wennberg

2016

1. Brandon Saad
   2. Seth Jones
   3. Boone Jenner
   4. Ryan Murray
   5. Alexander Wennberg