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It’s been a week since the scouting combine and the Blue Jackets’ stance on trading the third overall pick in the NHL draft hasn’t budged.
Less than two weeks from the draft June 28-29 in Nashville, the Jackets are planning to use their pick to select an elite center prospect after the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks make their choices.
“I’ve gotten several calls about the third pick, but nothing’s been even close,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told The Dispatch. “So, it’s highly, highly, highly unlikely (to be traded). I’m 99.9% sure that we’re not trading that pick.”
That’s because of how rich this draft is with players projected to be with impactful future NHL forwards, particularly a handful of centers who could anchor a team’s first line for years.
Chicago is expected to take “generational talent” Connor Bedard, many analysts project Anaheim taking Michigan’s Adam Fantilli and the Blue Jackets would then have a choice between highly-rated centers Leo Carlsson (Swedish Hockey League) and Will Smith (United States national program). The wildcard is Matvei Michkov, a dynamic Russian winger who some feel is close to Bedard in skill.
Michkov is under contract in the KHL for three more seasons and doesn’t play center, so it would be a Kekalainen draft surprise if he uses the third pick on him. The Blue Jackets have had only top-five picks in seven drafts and three were centers: Ryan Johansen (2010 fourth overall), Pierre-Luc Dubois (2016 third overall) and Kent Johnson (2021 fifth overall).
Dubois, listed as a left wing during his draft, centered the Blue Jackets’ top line for two-plus seasons before requesting a trade in 2021 that sent him to the Winnipeg Jets for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic. Johnson, listed as a center during his draft, hopes to play center in the NHL eventually. He played exclusively on the wing in two collegiate seasons at Michigan before spending most of this past season on the wing as an NHL rookie.
Trading the pick would only make sense if what’s offered is so lopsided in the Blue Jackets’ favor that Kekalainen feels obligated to take it. Despite stating that publicly at the combine in Buffalo, it hasn’t stopped analysts and fans from throwing out trade scenarios on social media they think would get it done.
Those have increased since Kekalainen bolstered the Blue Jackets’ blue line with recent trades to add experienced defensemen Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson. Columbus is often the subject of trade speculation despite the Ducks (second pick), San Jose Sharks (fourth pick) and Montreal Canadiens (fifth pick) all being in the top five.
“The only reason people are talking about us, for some reason, is because we made two fairly aggressive trades,” Kekalainen said. “Now they think we’ve got to win now and that we’re desperate and I’m trying to save my job … and whatever the urban legends are right now. I don’t (care) about that talk, to be honest with you. Most of the GMs know me, and they don’t call me because of urban legends that are out there. They call everybody. I’m sure they’re calling the Ducks too. You just don’t know about it.”
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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