Planning, patience hallmarks of Blue Jackets Draft approach

211 players were drafted in the 2015 NHL Draft this weekend and nine of those young men are now prospects in the Columbus Blue Jackets system - players that were selected with a process that is precise, but flexible, and designed to build long-term value for the organization.

 "I like building through the draft - that's my philosophy," said Jackets' general manager Jarmo Kekalainen. "I think that's the way you get the players you want and then you can educate them and they become proud to be Blue Jackets."

Headed into this year's Draft with 10 total picks and a whirlwind of options for those selections: choose players, trade to change position in the Draft, or trade with another team for NHL-ready players, Kekalainen and his scouting team did the bulk of their homework prior to arriving in Sunrise, Florida.

"The way I feel is that when you come to the draft the work should be done," Kekalainen said. "You shouldn't be scrambling to meet with anybody or find out about anything that's changing lists."

Kekalainen said the team's ranked list of prospects is basically done after their final meetings that occurred in May. The lists are then refined after a final round of information gathering at the Combine, where the Jackets' psychologist and strength and conditioning team looked for any final red flags, positives or final pieces of information.

The final list included the designation of 21 "Priority 1" picks, players the Jackets believed were first-round caliber players.

With a stated need for defense, many wondered if the volume of Jackets picks might become currency for a trade or trades. But just because you can, doesn't always mean you should. Going into the draft, Kekalainen said the organization was not willing to overpay and they weren't going to force anything,€“ they wanted the right guys.

And for Kekalainen, who is known for his drafting experience, including eight years with the Ottawa Senators and eight years with the St. Louis Blues, selecting future players with all 10 picks was by no means a bad thing.

"(As a scout), you work all year long and you want to get here and make sure you have picks and use those picks to show what you've done all year evaluating the players and putting them in the right order," Kekalainen said.

And using the majority of their picks to choose possible future Jackets is exactly what the team ended up doing. While just under 20 picks ended up changing hands among 12 teams on the first day of the Draft, the Jackets only gave up a net total of one pick that allowed them to move up and select the second of three Priority 1 players the team would end up with this year.

Kekalainen admitted to engaging in conversations about moving to earlier picks in the first round, and also trying to move into the seventh round, but while constant calls may be the nature of the beast, sometimes for a player just selected, the Jackets found themselves in what they consider to be a good spot at the Draft's conclusion without having to force a lot of movement.

The goal of balancing the development pipeline was met, the Jackets added six young defensemen and three forwards, and Kekalainen says the players the team was targeting in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh round were available for the Jackets to select.

"It was a really good day for us," Kekalainen said. "We got a lot of guys from really high on our list, we wanted to get defensemen because we thought we were light on that side of the depth chart, we got some forwards that have some size, we feel pretty good right now."

But as Kekalainen noted, the long-term success of this Draft will proof out in future years.

"We believe in drafting and development," Kekalainen said. "It's not a perfect science -you're never going to hit 100% at the draft and if you get 30 - 40% out of it you're doing really well. With 9 picks,€“ we might get 3-4 NHL players out of this and that would be a great number."