2024 CBJ Top 25 Under 25 Recap, results, discussion

Thanks to the 74 readers who voted in this year’s countdown of the Top 25 Columbus Blue Jackets players and prospects under the age of 25. The full catalog of posts can be found here.

By the Numbers

Biggest Riser: Jet Greaves (25th in 2023, 15th in 2024)
Second Place: William Whitelaw (27th in 2023, 18th in 2024)

It’s not surprising to see Greaves take such a leap, as he was called up for more backup duty. In 9 games (8 starts), he had a 3-6-0 record 3.49 GAA, and .908 save percentage.

Whitelaw was the third round pick in 2023, so too new to have left much of an impression last summer. He had 61 points in 62 games with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL in his draft year and followed that with 17 points in 37 games as a freshman at the University of Wisconsin. He transferred after the season to the University of Michigan, a popular training ground for recent Columbus prospects. He has a goal and assist in five games so far this season.

Among players that were on the 2023 top 25, the second biggest riser behind Greaves was Gavin Brindley (someone Whitelaw hopes to emulate, as a small winger at Michigan). He rose from #17 to #11. If he can play games in Columbus this season after recovering from a broken finger, I think he’ll leap into the top 10 next summer.

Biggest Faller: Kent Johnson (2nd in 2023, 6th in 2024)
Second Place: Hunter McKown (22nd in 2023, 25th in 2024)

If there’s consolation for KJ, it’s that the biggest faller from 2022 to 2023 was Cole Sillinger. Silly bounced back in his third season, and Johnson appeared poised to do the same before suffering another shoulder/arm injury.

McKown impressed in his Columbus debut late in the 2022-23 season, but didn’t earn a call-up last season.

Appearances by draft class (CBJ draftees)

2024: 3 (Lindstrom, Elick, Gardner)
2023: 4 (Fantilli, Brindley, Whitelaw, Pinelli)
2022: 6 (Jiricek, Mateychuk, Dumais, Del Bel Belluz, Ivanov, Dolzhenkov)
2021: 5 (Johnson, Sillinger, Svozil, Malatesta, Ceulemans)
2020: 3 (Chinakhov, Pyyhtia, Knazko)
2019: 1 (Voronkov)
2018: 1 (Marchenko)

Undrafted: 2 (Greaves, McKown)

Three players from this year’s draft showed up, but we also had four players from 2023 and 2022 who were new to the list this year after not showing up last year (Whitelaw, Pinelli, Ivanov, Dolzhenkov). From way back in 2020, Mikael Pyyhtia joined the list, and also earned a spot in the top 9 in Columbus.

Positions

Forwards: 16
Defensemen: 6
Goalies: 3

Two years ago, there were 10 defensemen, last year there were 8, and now just 6.

Nationality

Canada: 13 (Fantilli, Lindstrom, Johnson, Sillinger, Mateychuk, Greaves, Dumais, Del Bel Belluz, Malatesta, Ceulemans, Elick, Pinelli, Gardner)
Russia: 5 (Marchenko, Chinakhov, Voronkov, Ivanov, Dolzhenkov)
USA: 3 (Brindley, Whitelaw, McKown)
Czechia: 2 (Jiricek, Svozil)
Finland: 1 (Pyyhtia)
Slovakia: 1 (Knazko)

Farewell to Sweden, France, and Switzerland but welcome back to Finland! Canada keeps a big lead but only increased by one, as did Russia and USA.

Breakout Players

As part of our preseason predictions, I asked the writers to identify breakout players. Here are some that made this list:

NeilB: The likeliest candidate for a full breakout season is probably Chinakhov. With just over 200 games in, and Jenner’s injury opening the door for Chinakhov to play in high-value offensive minutes, I think we can look forward to Chinakhov putting up 44-52 points. Yes, Fantilli could also put up similar numbers; but that’s fundamentally the pace he played at last season before his injury. Right now, Chinakhov is poised to elevate his game to that of a legitimate NHL top-6 winger. I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes his game from here.

Dalerrific: After watching this team play in the preseason, I can’t pick anyone but Kent Johnson. His confidence is sky high and he has looked like a puck possession monster. He may not end up leading the team in points, but a 50 point season would go a long way in easing many fans’ worries after a disappointing sophomore season. (Note: this was obviously written prior to KJ’s injury)

The Late Arrival

After voting was completed, the Blue Jackets acquired a player who would be eligible for the list: defenseman Jordan Harris, who was the other piece of the Patrik Laine trade. Where do we think he would have landed on this list? Given that he is already an established NHLer, I would put him above Stanislav Svozil on the defensive depth chart, who finished #12. That being said, Svozil came in ahead of LDBB and Malatesta, who I would bump up based on their preseason, and just behind Jordan Dumais, who will miss more time recovering from surgery. Shuffle that around and I would be OK with Harris somewhere around #14. In the list compiled by Montreal fans over at Eyes on the Prize, Harris was #17.

Are there any players you think should have made the list? Who among the 25 do you think was too high or too low? Sound off in the comments.

Ranking

Reader Points

Writer Votes