At least the Blue Jackets didn't get leaped by Utah at NHL Draft Lottery | Arace
The Blue Jackets fans I know didn’t look forward to Tuesday night’s draft lottery. Given the team’s history with ping-pong balls (and even coin flips), that was perfectly natural. Last year, a lot of fans emerged from their protective shells to embrace the lottery and the hope that Columbus could land the No. 1 pick and Connor Bedard. Then, deputy commissioner Bill Daly flipped the cards and stabbed them in the heart. Again.
Jackets fans certainly watched the lottery show on ESPN this year, but they were wearing their protective shells again. They were rewarded with a few shreds of good news.
ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes wasn’t allowed anywhere near a camera, at least not when the picks were being announced. Last year, Weeksie blurted out that the Jackets had fallen a spot to No. 3 before the network went to commercial and before Daly came back on camera to flip the card.
ESPN analyst Chris Chelios wasn’t anywhere near a camera. Period. Chelios was not retained by the network after parent company Disney made budget cuts 11 months ago. Last year, Chelly pumped his fist and celebrated on-air when his hometown team, the Blackhawks, leapfrogged the Blue Jackets to win the lottery. Nobody likes to see anyone lose their job, just as nobody likes to see ESPN analysts nakedly celebrate certain fan bases while debasing others.
The Blue Jackets didn’t slide. That’s just fine. They didn’t win. But at least they didn’t get jumped by Utah. In Columbus, you take that as a victory. The league forgot to hate you this year.
Thanks, Uncle Gary.
Form held. The San Jose Sharks, who had the best (25.5%) chance to win the lottery, actually won the lottery. The Blackhawks (13.5%) will have the No. 2 overall pick, the Anaheim Ducks (11.5%) will have selection No. 3 and the Blue Jackets (9.5%) will have No. 4. Also, the Pittsburgh Penguins (1.5%) will be sending the No. 14 overall to the Sharks, as part of the Erik Karlsson deal. Such a deal.
It could have been worse for Columbus.
The Jackets’ history in NHL chance games began prior to their inaugural draft in 2000, when a coin flip was conducted between then-CBJ general manager Doug MacLean and then-Minnesota Wild general manager Doug Risebrough in a Calgary hotel ballroom. Guess which Doug got Marian Gaborik at No. 3 and which Doug got Rostislav Klesla at No. 4?
Tuesday night marked the Jackets’ 18th lottery in 23 seasons. There are a lot of ways to measure the NHL’s losingest franchise of the 20th century. Eighteen lotteries in 23 seasons is a pretty good measure.
In their 18 draft lotteries, the Jackets have improved their lot just once (when they moved up a spot to No. 3 in 2016) and they’ve fallen back five times, including each of the previous two years. It is nigh incredible that the Jackets have never, ever had their ping-pong balls lined up. They’ve made the No. 1 overall pick once, in 2002, when MacLean traded up from No. 3 to select Rick Nash.
There’s a reason MacLean never got another GM job after he was kindly asked to please, please, please leave Columbus, preferably on a rocket, in 2007. I’ll say this: In 2002, there were some who believed MacLean got snookered when he gave Florida the option to switch picks in the next draft in order to move up to No. 1; snookered because everyone knew Nash was going to be there at No. 3 – because the Panthers coveted Jay Bouwmeester and the Atlanta Thrashers, with the No. 2 pick, wanted goaltender Kari Lehtonen – but MacLean didn’t take any chances. Does it make up for MacLean’s host of errors, which begins, alphabetically, with Gilbert Brule? No. But he got Nash right.
Among other things, what the Jackets’ lottery history tells us about the franchise is it hasn’t drafted or developed talent well enough to aspire. MacLean left an oil spill that Scott Howson couldn’t clean up. Howson’s successor, Jarmo Kekalainen, who was fired in February, gave the fans a taste – just a taste – of winning. Kekalainen is known for talent evaluation and, while his stumbles in the rebuilding process doomed him, he left a full cupboard – Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, Kirill Marchenko Dmitri Voronkov, Yegor Chinakhov, David Jiricek, James Malatesta …
President of hockey operations John Davidson and business chief Mike Priest will have a new GM in place ahead of the draft, which is June 28 (first round) and June 29 (rounds 2-7). The new GM’s job, by one definition, is to map a route to take the Jackets from being one of the youngest teams in the league to one that can grow up, find success and sustain it. A good portion of that work is roster-related, obviously – deciding what fits a vision for the team, what does not, and acting on both.
It may well be that the new GM gets very busy with retooling at the draft. That’d be nice. Jackets fans are a beaten-down bunch. They’re ready for a new plan. Show them.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jackets stay put at NHL Draft Lottery, league forgets to hate Columbus
