The 2023-24 NHL season is just around the corner, and one of the top storylines for the Columbus Blue Jackets, when training camp commences next month, is on defense.
It’s a given that the top four defensemen for the Blue Jackets heading into training camp will be Zach Werenski, Erik Gudbranson and newcomers Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov. After those four, there’s a lot of competition for the fifth, sixth and seventh defensemen on the season-opening roster, with Adam Boqvist, Jake Bean, Nick Blankenburg, Andrew Peeke, Jake Christiansen and Marcus Bjork battling to impress new head coach Mike Babcock and his staff.
While that group appears to be the prime candidates for the third defensive pairing, the Blue Jackets are stocked with highly regarded prospects on the blue line. Here are three rookies that could make a real push for the NHL coming out of training camp.
David Jiricek
With the sixth overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Blue Jackets selected the right-handed shooting Jiricek. He impressed in the American Hockey League last season as a 19-year-old, scoring six goals and adding 32 assists for 38 points in 55 games with the Cleveland Monsters. The Klatovy, CZE native was rewarded for his excellent season in the AHL with a late-season call-up to Columbus, appearing in four games.
It’s easy to see why the Blue Jackets are excited about Jiricek. He has tremendous upside and has everything scouts look for in a defenseman. He’s got size at 6-foot-4 and 199 pounds, plays physical in all areas of the ice, is mobile, moves the puck well, and his shot is a humming howitzer.
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Jiricek appears to be NHL-ready, and I believe he’ll challenge for a spot on the third defensive pairing, where he’d give the Blue Jackets steady two-way play. I would not be surprised to see him open eyes in training camp and begin the season in the NHL.
Stanislav Svozil
Selected by the Blue Jackets in the third round, 69th overall, of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the 6-foot, 183-pound Svozil may prove to be the steal of his draft class. In 56 games for Regina of the Western Hockey League last season, the 20-year-old Svozil had a terrific offensive season, with 78 points on 11 goals and 67 assists in 56 games for the Pats. He added another 13 points on four goals and nine assists in seven playoff games and then made his pro debut by playing one game in the AHL for Cleveland, picking up a pair of assists, and two games for the Blue Jackets, earning one assist.
A left-handed shooting defenseman, Svozil still needs work on his skating but showed in his limited NHL action last season that he has the agility and lateral movement to play at that level. While not having great size, he competes and battles hard.
There’s no question about Svozil’s offensive upside. He can move and handle the puck. He could be an option for the Blue Jackets on the second power-play unit, which may give him an edge over some of the other candidates competing for the third pairing. Don’t count him out as a legitimate candidate to break training camp with the NHL club.
Corson Ceulemans
Selected by the Blue Jackets in the first round, 25th overall, of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the 6-foot-2, 198-pound right-hand shooting Ceulemans has all the tools to be a dependable two-way defenseman at the NHL level with the upside to play in the top four.
This past season, Ceulemans appeared in 33 games as a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin and tied for third on the Badgers in scoring (and tops among defensemen) with 23 points on eight goals and 15 assists. He made his pro debut in the spring in the AHL with Cleveland, registering a goal and an assist in 13 games.
Ceulemans’ size, offensive skills, skating ability and physical play will certainly catch the attention of Babcock. If he plays well in the defensive zone in training camp and in preseason games, I believe that would make him a viable candidate to break training camp with the Blue Jackets.
With the depth on defense, Jiricek, Svozil and Ceulemans would appear to have an uphill battle to make the Blue Jackets out of training camp and are ticketed for the AHL and Cleveland. However, when you’re on a team coached by Babcock, ice time always comes on an earned basis. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your contract status is. The best players play, and that gives each of them a chance to make the team.
The competition on the blue line and the battle for the final three spots on the roster is going to be just one of the stories that will make training camp and the preseason games for the Blue Jackets interesting to watch.