The Athletic has live coverage of the 2024 NHL Draft.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The question was posed to Columbus Blue Jackets president and general manager Don Waddell with an appropriate level of cheekiness: “Who are you taking at No. 4?”
Waddell fired right back: “Tell me who are the first three picks, and I’ll tell you who we’re taking.”
Advertisement
That’s a veteran GM ducking a question, clearly, but it’s also a reflection of how most of the NHL’s general managers and amateur scouting directors are feeling heading into this year’s draft, which gets underway Friday at Sphere in Las Vegas.
The whole world knows that Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini will be chosen No. 1 overall to the San Jose Sharks, but what comes next will make for high drama and many years of second-guessing.
The early stages of the first round are as volatile and unpredictable as any draft in recent memory.
“There are players who could go anywhere from two all the way down to 12,” said Trevor Timmins, the Blue Jackets’ assistant director of amateur scouting. “It’s not as predictable as we’re used to seeing. It’s a box of chocolates, and there are a lot of different pieces.”
Waddell is one of the busier GMs in Vegas this weekend, which is saying something. He’s juggling major decisions, from hiring a new coach, to fielding trade offers for high-priced winger Patrik Laine and others, to deciding which top prospect to add to the Blue Jackets’ already impressive stockpile.
But the uniqueness of this draft could lead Waddell to consider something the Blue Jackets have done only once in their history: trading down in the draft order from a top-five pick.
Waddell already has turned down at least one offer to move down in the draft order. A team source told The Athletic on Thursday that the Philadelphia Flyers offered a package for the Blue Jackets’ No. 4 pick.
Dropping from No. 4 to No. 12 in the draft order may have been too rich for Waddell. But what about Montreal at No. 5? Or Utah at No. 6?
“You consider moving back if you’re going to get a nice asset,” Waddell said. “If we keep the pick, we’re going to get a great player. If we trade the pick, it’s going to have to be a great deal for us.”
Advertisement
A wide sample of scouts and draft experts may suggest a wide open top 10 and beyond. But NHL scouting staffs don’t work that way. By the time they hit the draft floor, they’ll have their own master list of picks, with only a select few players they would consider at their pick.
As such — and as Waddell suggested — the No. 2 and No. 3 picks, belonging to Chicago and Anaheim, respectively, will be crucial. If the Blue Jackets have two or three prospects they fancy available at No. 4, they could trade back one or two spots and still be guaranteed to get one of them at No. 5 or No. 6.
That’s how trading back might make sense. Where it doesn’t make sense is if there’s any chance the Blue Jackets might drop too far back to get one of the players they covet. (The Flyers’ trade offer was substantial, but still wasn’t deemed to be enough.)
These are the types of moves that make scouting directors nervous, Blue Jackets director of amateur scouting Ville Siren joked.
“I would think there’s a chance to (trade back), and you’d still maybe get the guy you’d like to get,” Siren said. “But there’s always a risk, too.
“If you like somebody, you better pick the guy, but that’s my opinion.”
The Blue Jackets have traded out of the top five only once in their history, and it backfired badly. In 2004, they traded the No. 4 pick to Carolina in exchange for the No. 8 pick and a second-round pick, No. 45 overall.
With the No. 4 pick, the Hurricanes picked forward Andrew Ladd, who played 1,001 NHL games, was captain of the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise and won the Stanley Cup with Carolina (2006) and Chicago (2010). He retired after the 2021-22 season.
The Jackets spent the No. 8 pick on Alexandre Picard, who never scored a goal in 67 NHL games, making him one of the Blue Jackets’ biggest draft busts. The second-round pick was spent on Kyle Wharton, who never played in the NHL.
Advertisement
Waddell didn’t attend the NHL scouting combine in Buffalo because he was just getting settled after getting hired by the Blue Jackets. But the Blue Jackets have called back several players for interviews in Las Vegas so that he can observe and ask a few questions of his own.
The Jackets have spoken to five or six players since they arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday, and there were more prospect interviews set for Friday.
If the Blue Jackets stay put at No. 4, they’ll have their pick of several centers and at least a couple of centers who are seen as worthy of high picks.
One name that jumps off the page is center Cayden Lindstrom, who was having a strong season with Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League before hand and back injuries wiped out the second half of his season.
Lindstrom is 6-foot-4, 216-pound center with high skill, high energy and an “indomitable will” to compete, according to TSN draft expert Craig Button.
The Blue Jackets, in just a few seasons, could have Adam Fantilli, Lindstrom and Cole Sillinger — in some order — as their top three centers, potentially solving a spot on the roster that has been chronically weak for most of the franchise’s existence.
(Photo of Adam Fantilli at the 2023 NHL Draft : Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)