Welcome to Today’s edition of “Top Shelf Prospects”. As we go through the Summer of 2013 I will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. I will go team by team through the NHL bringing you a look at each Teams Top Prospects. I will be following the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no traded draft picks). You can find all the articles here. Since we had an extensive NHL Draft preview, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2013 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed. What I will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2013-14 roster of the NHL team in question. I will also bring you one sleeper pick – a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as my darkhorse to make the NHL. For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances (especially due to the fact that the latest NHL season was only 48 games).

After years in the NHL wildnerness, the Columbus Blue Jackets finally began to show signs of progress in 2013. With John Davidson installed as new team president and Jarmo Kekalainen taking over as general manager, Blue Jackets fans finally had hope that their front office knew what they were doing. On the ice, the Jackets led by the Vezina winning performance of goaltender, and top cop on the force, Sergei Bobrovsky nearly made the playoffs for the second time in team history. The race came down to the final night of the NHL season, but ultimately the Minnesota Wild took the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Despite all that though, the Blue Jackets faithful should be pleased, seeing growth in the club that hasn’t been present in previous years.

The future looked even brighter after Draft Day as the Blue Jackets owned three first round draft picks in what was a very deep draft. The Jackets went offence heavy on draft day using all three first rounders, and seven of their eight picks overall on forwards. These were moves that had to be made though, as the Blue Jackets prospect group was defence heavy before draft day. The fact that they got 5 of the top 75 players on LWOS’ draft board left me saying that Columbus had the second best draft of any team.

2013 Draft Picks Reviewed by LWOS: Alexander Wennberg, Kerby Rychel, Marko Dano, Dillon Heatherington, Oliver Bjorkstrand

Prospect Graduations: Cam Atkinson, Tim Erixon, Matt Calvert,

Top Prospect: Ryan Murray, Defence

Born Sep 27 1993 — White City, SASK

Height 6.01 — Weight 195 — Shoots Left

Drafted 2nd Overall by the Blue Jackets in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft

Ryan Murray was on his way to another solid season in Everett when a separated shoulder suffered on November 16th ended his season. With that hopes of playing for Canada at the World Juniors, playing for Columbus when the lockout ended, and playing any more games in the WHL all went up in smoke. He underwent surgery to repair the damage in January, and is expected to be fully recovered in time for training camp this season.

Murray is a superb skating two-way defenceman with a ton of positives to his game. His hockey IQ is through the roof, as Murray is a really smart defender who reads the play extremely well and uses strong positioning and good anticipation shut down opposing forwards. Once he has the puck, Murray clears the zone quickly with a smart first pass, and his excellent skating. Murray always seems to make the smart decision with the puck on his stick. His skating is so fast, fluid and polished that he’s drawn comparisons to Scott Niedermayer. Murray has the ability, size, physicality, and willingness to handle big physical forwards in the defensive zone. He is also a natural-born leader and is seen as future NHL captain material.

Some have however questioned Murray’s offensive upside as he doesn’t put up the huge offensive numbers of fellow 2012 draftees like Morgan Reilly or Matt Dumba in the WHL. However one must remember that Murray has been playing on one of the weakest offensive clubs in the WHL in the Everett Silvertips. It is very difficult for a defenceman like him to get points when his team’s forwards don’t score. That said, he’s an excellent skater, who can join the rush, makes pinpoint passes, and has a good hard shot. It’s easy to see where he’ll be able to translate those tools into successful offensive weapons when playing with better players at the next level. Murray showed his offensive potential at the 2011 IIHF U18 World Championships where he set the record for points by a defenceman in the tournament with 13 in just 7 games. Murray definitely has the potential to develop into a pp quarterback and we should see more offense out of Murray as he moves to the next level and begins to play with better players.

Murray is a prime NHL defence prospect, in fact, he is one of the best defencemen not in the NHL yet. However, I think that will soon change, as I expect that Murray will make the Blue Jackets out of training camp and play a big role for the team next season.

#2 Prospect, Boone Jenner, Centre

Born Jun 15 1993 — London, ONT

Height 6.02 — Weight 204 — Shoots L

Selected by Columbus Blue Jackets round 2, #37 overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft

Boone Jenner had a monster year with the Oshawa Generals this year. With 45 goals and 82 points in just 56 games he showed an elite level scoring touch that we have only seen a glimpse of in previous seasons. Sure he has been a point per game player for three years now, but he took it to another level in the 2012-13 season. When the OHL season ended, he joined the Springfield Falcons in the AHL, and continued his scoring with four points in five regular season games, and five points in eight playoff games. It was an impressive debut for a player who had not yet had his 20th birthday.

The biggest improvement in Jenner’s game over the last couple of years has come in his skating. He’s developed a quicker, smoother skating stride that leads to good acceleration, and top end speed. His stride is also powerful, and Jenner has good balance which allows him to fight through checks and drive the net. With his good stickhandling, and soft hands in tight, he’s become a legitimate power forward prospect. Jenner loves to hit and is very effective on the forecheck, as well as battling for loose pucks. A powerful and accurate wrist shot, coupled with a good release; and a hard slapshot also allow Jenner to be a goal scoring threat from further out from the net. While he is more of a goal scorer than a playmaker, Jenner does have good vision and uses his teammates well, especially out of the cycle game.

Jenner has always been known for his two-way game. He brings strong backpressure on the rush, supporting his defence well. Jenner works well down low, containing his man and defending against the cycle game. He extends his willingness to initiate a physical game, and to battle in the corners, to his own end of the ice. Jenner is also willing to block shots, and has become a go to penalty killer for the Generals. This defensive game indicates he’ll be NHL ready sooner rather than later. Still breaking into the pro game isn’t easy and Jenner is likely to start the year in the AHL. He’s one to keep an eye on though, as it won’t be long until he is playing a big role for the Blue Jackets.

Super Sleeper; David Savard, Defence

Born Oct 22 1990 — St. Hyacinthe, PQ

Height 6.01 — Weight 217 — Shoots Right

Selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in round 4, #94 overall 2009 NHL Entry Draft

After playing 31 games with the Blue Jackets in 2011-12 it was thought that Savard was ready to take the next step and be a full-time member of the club in 2012-13. However it was not to be, Savard took a bit of a step backwards as he spent most of the year in the AHL, getting in only 4 games at the NHL level. He seemed to be on a bit of a yo-yo as he was often recalled by the Jackets when injuries hit, but was unable to really crack the squad. At this point Savard is a “tweener”, he’s progressed to the point where he dominates at the AHL level, but just can’t seem to get a full time role in Columbus.

Savard’s future is as an offensive defenceman. He has extremely high hockey IQ, and reads the play very well. He spots and exploits openings in the opponent’s defence. He does this in two ways, without the puck, he seems to always find the perfect time to pinch in from the line and to create his own scoring chances. And with the puck on his stick, he is calm and patient able to use his good puck protection skills to wait for a teammate to get open, and then he fires a crisp tape to tape pass to create a scoring chance. He also has good lateral mobility, which allows him to walk the line, and find openings for his hard slapshot.

Savard still needs some work on his skating. His high end speed is only slightly above average, and could stand to improve. His edgework and pivots need a bit of refinement and he is susceptible to being beaten off the rush by forwards who drive to the outside with speed. Savard could also stand to be more physical, especially in his own end of the rink. He relies a little too much on his quick stick and not enough on being willing to engage in the physical puck battles. That said he has strong instincts in his own zone, is very good positionally and cuts off a lot of plays with an active stick.

Savard is very close to being NHL ready. However he faces a bit of a log jam on the Columbus blue line right now. He’ll be 23 in October, and it is getting close to the time where Savard must find a way to force himself into the Blue Jackets lineup or risk being overtaken by other prospects. With players like Tim Erixon, Ryan Murray, and Cody Goloubef around, he certainly faces a lot of competition for his spot.

The Blue Jackets have built a deep system, in addition to those profiled above, and Cody Goloubef, the defence also has a strong defensive defender in Austin Madaisky, and another offensive prospect in Mike Reilly. Upfront Ryan Johanssen, and Cam Atkinson are making NHL impacts while Jenner is ready to break into the pros full-time, and a strong 2013 draft has brought in talent galore for future years. Meanwhile the goaltending is in strong and capable hands with Bobrovsky relatively young, and Oscar Dansk, and Joonas Korpisalo developping in the CHL and in Finland respectively. Overall Davidson and Kekalainen has taken over a deep team and his biggest task now will be making sure that all this young talent gets the proper coaching in order to develop into effective NHL players going forward. This was a challenge under previous Columbus regimes, but with the success these two men enjoyed in developing talent in St. Louis, they bring some much needed hope to the Blue Jackets organization.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to follow me on twitter @lastwordBKerr. Give the rest of the hockey department a follow while you’re at it – @LastWordBigMick, @TheHockeyMitch, @ddmatthews, @CanuckPuckHead, and @LastWordOnNHL, and follow the site @lastwordonsport.

Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? If so, check out our “Join Our Team” page to find out how.

Main Photo Credit: article.wn.com, CC