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Jackets Prospect Update

Here’s a quick update on some of the Jackets top prospects, stats are current as of January 3rd, 2011:

Springfield Falcons:

Columbus’ top farm team is currently 6th in their division, and 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 16-15-1-3 record. Here are the numbers for the players under contract with Columbus:

SKATER GOALS ASSISTS POINTS +/- PIMs
Matt Calvert 13 11 24 -3 12
Dane Byers 8 13 21 -6 79
Mike Blunden 12 8 20 -4 39
Tomas Kubalik 9 11 20 -3 26
Trevor Frischmon 3 15 18 +8 10
Tom Sestito 6 11 17 -1 112
Ben Guite 5 12 17 -2 28
John Moore 2 14 16 -2 10
Maksim Mayorov 9 6 15 -4 10
Grant Clitsome 5 9 14 -7 20
Nick Holden 2 10 12 +4 28
David Savard 2 10 12 -2 6
Jonathan Sigalet 2 8 10 +2 25
Cody Goloubef 3 6 9 -2 16
Brent Regner 2 3 5 -4 0
Nate Guenin 0 5 5 +8 21
Nikita Filatov 1 3 4 +2 6
Theo Ruth 1 1 2 -4 4
Mike Ratchuk 1 0 1 -1 6
Tomas Kana 0 1 1 -2 15

GOALTENDER RECORD GAA SV% SO
Gustaf Wesslau 4-5-1 3.17 .897 0
David LeNeveu 10-9-2 2.77 .899 0

Nikita Filatov is far down the list, but you have to remember that he was only recently sent down. That being said, I expected his numbers to be much higher by now. Matt Calvert is the big surprise- he is playing lights-out in his first pro season, and i expect him to get some time with Columbus before the end of the season. Tomas Kana has been dealing with an injury, but he is a guy who should be putting up points when he is in the lineup. He was one of the big surprises last season, but leaves much to be desired so far this year. In my opinion the biggest disappointment is Maksim Mayorov. This was more or less supposed to be his breakout season, but he has come nowhere close to a breakout. The clock is ticking on him, that’s for sure.

Fort Wayne Komets:
The Jackets have one skater currently playing with the Komets- defenseman Steve Delisle. He is sitting with no points, a -2 rating with 2 penalty minutes in 6 games played. I will look into things, but it would seem that he has dealt with the injury bug.

Canadian Junior:

There are eight players developing in the CHL for Columbus, seven skaters and a goaltender. Here are their stats:

SKATER TEAM GOALS ASSISTS POINTS +/- PIMs
Ryan Johansen Portland Winterhawks, WHL 17 19 36 +17 26
Oliver Gabriel Portland Winterhawks, WHL 10 18 28 +3 30
Petr Straka Rimouski Oceanic, QMJHL 8 7 15 0 16
Dalton Smith Ottawa 67s, OHL 6 6 12 +5 72
Brandon Archibald Soo Greyhounds, OHL 2 16 18 -2 40
Austin Madaisky Kamloops Blazers, WHL 6 16 22 -7 73
Dalton Prout Barrie Colts, OHL 7 12 19 -8 46

GOALTENDER TEAM RECORD GAA SV% SO
Mathieu Corbeil Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL 7-15-0-1 3.76 0.867 0

It’s been a solid season so far for 2010 first rounder Ryan Johansen. The Winterhawks are a top contender, although they have slipped a bit of late. Johansen has missed some time with Portland while away with Canada’s world junior team. He has been the biggest surprise for Team Canada, scoring at least a point in every game so far. More on him and the tournament later in the week. Traditionally, Columbus has had no luck with their second round picks, and the trend may continue with 2010 second rounder Dalton Smith. He has been compared to Mike Fisher in terms of playing style, but only 12 points this late in the season? The other Dalton- he of the Prout variety, is on the other end of the spectrum. In the past he was a purely defensive blueliner with snarl, but he has added an element of offense to his game this year, currently sitting with seven goals. Goalie Mathieu Corbeil has split time on a so-so Halifax team with rookie goalie Anthony Terenzio. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Corbeil traded in the coming days.

College Hockey

The Jackets have nine skaters and a pair of goaltenders currently playing college hockey:

SKATER TEAM GOALS ASSISTS POINTS PIMs
Matt Rust Michigan Wolverines 3 11 14 29
Cameron Atkinson Boston College Eagles 15 11 26 18
Trent Vogelhuber Miami Redhawks 4 3 7 2
Jake Hansen Minnesota Golden Gophers 5 5 10 14
Sean Collins Cornell Big Red 1 4 5 2
Kevin Lynch Michigan Wolverines 5 3 8 14
Will Weber Miami Redhawks 1 5 6 35
Thomas Larkin Colgate Raiders 4 2 6 21
Drew Olson Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 0 1 1 10

GOALTENDER TEAM RECORD GAA SV% SO
Allen York RPI Engineers 10-4-3 1.74 .931 1
Martin Ouellette Maine Black Bears 2-1-1 2.07 .909 1

There aren’t many surprises here, Cam Atkinson, a Cannon favorite, leads BC in scoring and remains one of the Jackets’ most exciting and intriguing prospects. The Michigan duo of Rust and Lynch are putting up the totals you’d expect, Rust is a senior centering a scoring line and Lynch is a defensive center. I expected more from Jake Hansen given his draft position, but his story won’t be told until he goes pro. Drew Olson is a bit of a surprise, with his 13 points from the back end on a high scoring Bulldog team. —-UPDATE— It has been brought to my attention that I looked at the wrong Olson, or in this case Olsen- the stats I posted were for Drew’s teammate Dylan. Our boy isn’t much of a surprise after all. Allen York is putting up fantastic numbers at RPI, while Ouellette is playing well in his occasional starts. He’s still a freshman.

Euro Prospects

Columbus has one serious prospect currently playing in Europe, defenseman Anton Blomqvist. He is sitting with no points with 12 penalty minutes in 22 regular season games.

Summary

Other than Ryan Johansen, the Jackets don’t posses a lot of high-end talent. There are however a high number of character, role-playing guys who if they can find their niche in the pros, will be future Blue Jackets.

Guys to keep your eye on:

C Ryan Johansen
W Matt Calvert
W Tomas Kubalik
D John Moore
D David Savard
W Petr Straka
D Dalton Prout
W Cam Atkinson
D Thomas Larkin
G Allen York

Guys who need to step it up:

W Nikita Filatov
W Maksim Mayorov
W Tomas Kana
W Dalton Smith
W Jake Hansen
C Sean Collins

Which player are you most excited to see in a Columbus Sweater?

Ryan Johansen 49
Cam Atkinson 4
Matt Calvert 15
Other- who? 6