NHL Draft Notebook: Blue Jackets' first-round picks in play?
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The 2025 NHL Draft is just one week away with the main event on June 27-28 from Los Angeles. Follow along on TSN.ca with the latest news, rumours and speculation from around the NHL.
Blue Jackets' first-round picks on the table?
The Columbus Blue Jackets have two first-round picks in next Friday's draft (No. 14 and No. 20) and according to Cam Robinson of EliteProspects, both selections are in play for a bigger move.
Robinson says he has been to told watch out for Columbus this week, as they could package both first-round selections to move up in the draft or move them both in a trade for a move-the-needle roster player who could contribute now for the team.
He adds Columbus is, "7/11 open for business."
Earlier in the week, Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell preached patience as the team continues to build into a perennial playoff contender and confirmed that he hasn't ruled out the possibility of trading this year's first-round picks.
"Picks are important, and we've got a pretty good stockpile of young players right now that are either here or coming," said Waddell. "So I'm not afraid [of trading the picks]. If there's an opportunity to make our team better today, these are options that we definitely want to look at."
Columbus has picked in the first round in five straight years, yielding current roster players in Yegor Chinakov (No. 21, 2020), Kent Johnson (No, 5, 2021), Cole Sillinger (No. 12, 2021) and Adam Fantilli (No. 3, 2023) with players like Cayden Lindstrom (No. 4, 2024) and Denton Mateychuk (No. 12, 2022) also in the pipeline.