COLUMBUS, OHIO -- For a lack of a better term, the Columbus Blue Jackets were grossly underprepared for this year's draft. That was evident as early as the third overall pick, when McDavid and Eichel had already been selected and GM-Eric was hard pressed to name even one other draft eligible player. You can only imagine how screwed the Jackets organization felt when it came time to make their pick at #16. But alas, a quick last minute Google search for "2015 nhl draft rankings" led to the discovery of hundreds of potential prospects, none of which were more appealing to the Jackets than a USNTDP forward by the name of Colin White. 

White, who spent this past season battling mononucleosis as well as a significant wrist injury, was once projected as a top-10 and possibly top-5 pick in this year's draft, but slipped in the rankings due to his reduced points total for 2014/15. "Picking at #16 is a bit tricky, there are no 'surethings' available anymore, but there are countless boom-or-bust type guys. After several minutes of research, we felt that Colin White presented us with the best risk:upside ratio. By all accounts he's already an extremely good two-way centre that should have no difficulty playing a checking role in the NHL, but his offensive upside remains huge. At the U-17 World Hockey Championships, White was by far the most productive forward in the tournament, notching 10 goals and 8 assists in 6 games to lead the US to the gold medal. The following year at the U-18 WJC White was again dominant, posting 6 goals in 7 games, including the gold medal-winning goal in OT. There's no doubt this guy will be the steal of the draft."

Other Jackets picks include Adam Musil, a big and strong forward from the Czech Republic who has tremendous hockey bloodlines, and Andrew Nielsen, a big and tough defenseman from the WHL.

-- BJ Express