CBJ Top 25 Under 25: Recap, results, discussion

Risers, fallers, honorable mentions, and more

Yesterday, we reached the conclusion of our Top 25 Under 25 countdown for the Columbus Blue Jackets as of summer 2022. Thanks to everyone who voted! Today, we’re going to share some more information about the voting, and we’d like to hear your reactions: Do you agree with the rankings? Any glaring omissions? Anyone ranked too high or too low?

By the numbers

Biggest riser: Jake Christiansen (33 in 2021, 21 in 2022)
Second place: Cole Sillinger (9 in 2021, 2 in 2022)

Christiansen was easy to forget about, since he was signed just before things shut down in March 2020. He finally made his NHL debut this season, and apparently readers liked what they saw.

Biggest faller: Jake Bean (7 in 2021, 14 in 2022)
Second place: Liam Foudy (13 in 2021, 18 in 2022)

Jake Bean was a shiny new toy last summer, but got passed by other, younger defensemen in the year since. There are six defensemen ranked above him this year, including two drafted in the first round back in July.

In four years, Liam Foudy went from a first round pick to a bit of an afterthought. He was #22 on the list after being drafted in 2018, then shot up to #5 in 2019.

Appearances by draft class (CBJ draftees):

2022: 5 (Jiricek, Mateychuk, Del Bel Belluz, Dumais, Dolzenkhov)
2021: 4 (Sillinger, Johnson, Ceulemans, Svozil)
2020: 3 (Chinakhov, Knazko, Pyyhtia)
2019: 1 (Voronkov)
2018: 3 (Foudy, Marchenko, Fix-Wolansky)
2017: 3 (Texier, Tarasov, Bemstrom)
2016: 1 (Peeke)

Undrafted: 2 (Blankenburg, Christiansen)

Acquired by trade: 3 (Laine, Boqvist, Bean)

Half the list was selected over the last three drafts, and four of the five players not drafted by the Jackets were signed or acquired via trade since the beginning of 2021.

Positions:

Forward: 14
Defensemen: 10
Goalies: 1

Big year for the blue line. Two made the top 5 (Boqvist and Jiricek). There was a run of five straight, from #14 Bean to #10 Matechuk. Also a run from #22 through #20 (Svozil-Christiansen-Knazko).

Nationality:

Canada: 10 (Sillinger, Johnson, Mateychuk, Ceulemans, Bean, Del Bel Belluz, Foudy, Fix-Wolansky, Christiansen, Dumais)
Russia: 5 (Marchenko, Chinahkov, Tarasov, Voronkov, Dolzhenkov)
Finland: 2 (Laine, Pyyhtia)
Sweden: 2 (Boqvist, Bemstrom)
Czechia: 2 (Jiricek, Svozil)
USA: 2 (Peeke, Blankenburg)
France: 1 (Texier)
Slovakia: 1 (Knazko)

The scouts in the CHL and KHL/MHL/VHL are putting in work.

Random observations

How much would Alexandre Texier’s position have changed if we knew he wouldn’t be playing this season before we voted? The player is who he is, but will he be here in the future?

There was a remarkable level of consensus for the top three; not just which players were ranked there but in what order. 84 voters chose Laine first, 60 chose Sillinger second, and 34 chose Johnson third. 100% had Laine in the top three; 82.5% for Sillinger and 50.5% for Johnson.

My prediction: 9 of the top 15 will be on the roster at the start of the regular season. This will again be a very young team.

Honorable Mentions

Three players who didn’t make the list, but maybe should have:

Aidan Hreschuk, LHD: This is the player better known as the return we were disappointed with in the Max Domi trade. His freshman season at Boston College wasn’t earth-shattering, but he impressed Athletic writer Max Bultman at a Team USA camp this summer:

Hreschuk scored twice in Sunday’s mixed scrimmage, making it past the Sunday cuts. We’ll see whether he makes the final roster for next week, but his smooth skating and defending should put him in a good position for a spot on the 2023 team regardless.

Martin Rysavy, W: This is another player who may have made the list if the vote was a few weeks later. During last month’s World Junior Championship, Rysavy scored two goals in seven games. Let’s see if his scoring can improve in his second season with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL.

Guillaume Richard, LHD: A fourth round pick in 2021, Richard was a +18 in his freshman season at Providence College, and put up 14 points. He’s a few years away from turning pro but he’s on the right track.

Writer Votes

Writer Votes

#Burkus JoshPDSeeds
1SillingerLaineLaineSillinger
2LaineSillingerSillingerLaine
3BoqvistJohnsonJohnsonMarchenko
4JiricekMarchenkoJiricekBoqvist
5TexierTexierBoqvistJohnson
6JohnsonJiricekMarchenkoTarasov
7MarchenkoBemstromMateychukJiricek
8PeekeBoqvistTarasovChinakhov
9ChinakhovMateychukChinakhovMateychuk
10Blankenburg TFWCeulemansBemstrom
11BeanChinakhovDolzhekovBlankenburg
12MateychukBlankenberg Del Bel BelluzVoronkov
13TarasovTarasovTexierTexier
14BemstromVoronkovBlankenburgCuelemans
15CeulemansCeulemansPeekeKnazo
16TFWPeekeBeanChristiansen
17LDBBFoudySvozilPeeke
18ChristansenKnazkoKnazkoBean
19FoudyBeanVoronkovLDDB
20AngleChristiansenPyyhtiaMalatesta
21KnazkoLDBBIvanovFoudy
22SvozilMalatestaDumaisPyyhtia
23DunnePyyhtiaRichardSvozil
24GreavesSvozilChristiansenDunne
25OJBHDumaisHreshukDumais

Reader Votes

Reader Votes

Player1 (25)2 (24)3 (23)4 (22) 5 (21)6 (20)7 (19)8 (18)9 (17)10 (16)11 (15)12 (14)13 (13)14 (12)15 (11)16 (10)17 (9)18 (8)19 (7)20 (6)21 (5)22 (4)23 (3)24 (2)25 (1)Points
Patrik Laine841122410
Cole Sillinger6601467112228
Kent Johnson3123416105562222104
Adam Boqvist211191317123633121840
David Jiricek121123812573642311746
Alexandre Texier61271391547544111710
Yegor Chinakhov276111010141793111623
Kirill Marchenko12311141210114452224111548
Daniil Tarasov124111799958552431221501
Andrew Peeke2115481183937521311111415
Jake Bean116348813549810222111111326
Denton Mateychuk114351594848732211209
Corson Ceulemans53751188106441141111121
Nick Blankenburg1131268125867714131955
Emil Bemstrom12223653565376822121892
Liam Foudy1223236548868412341780
Luca Del Bel Belluz2514878697184111741
Dmitri Voronkov2422742495643211514
Stanislav Svozil1112457533742562438
Trey Fix-Wolansky21222537876171354
Jake Christiansen1122124464533222345
Jordan Dumais11125127246516268
Samuel Knazko11221424552433258
Tyler Angle21132324142735246
Mikael Pyyhtia1122113145255172
James Malatesta111211114375132
Jet Greaves2121221551126
Josh Dunne111211133211117
Guillaume Richard1111251223109
Aidan Hreschuk22111132104
Kirill Dolzhenkov111122431699
Sergei Ivanov11211443499
Nikolai Makarov111111111191
Ole Julian Bjorgvik Holm11223322289
Tim Berni1212131175
Martin Rysavy112348
Eric Hjorth2113228
Ben Boyd111222
James Fisher1111421
Samuel Johannesson113
97

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