I fondly remember the outrage.
Of course, no one ever strongly expresses an opinion on the internet these days. I must be exaggerating. Trust me on this: something happened, and Twitter lost its mind.
The Blue Jackets selected Pierre-Luc Dubois with the third overall pick.
You’ve heard the story many times now. Everyone expects John Davidson, Jarmo Kekalainen and Ville Siren to walk to the podium, thank the Sabres for their hospitality, and welcome Jesse Puljujarvi to the Blue Jackets organization. Then, they offered a different name, and in return, the sold-out crowd at First Niagara Center offered a gasp.
Pierre…who?
Is that how you say “Puljujarvi?”
No, the Blue Jackets just went by their list. And “by their list” meant “off the board” to just about everyone watching and analyzing the draft. Kekalainen took some heat for the pick as the hockey world wondered how he could possibly pass over a Finn, but he did, and was confident in the work of his scouts to deliver a player they were prepared to take behind two players who, in separate years, could have easily gone No. 1 overall.
That was June 2016, and there were people who believed passing on Puljujarvi would eventually cost Kekalainen his job. Funny how it works, isn’t it?
And that’s in no way crowning Dubois. We're a ways off from that. He’s got a microscopic sample size to his name, but he sure looks the part of a player who can make an impact in Columbus for a long time. John Tortorella elevated him to play with Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson a couple weeks back, and rather than be another cog in the experimental cycle, Dubois found a home.
He’s been one of the Blue Jackets’ most effective play drivers. When he’s on the ice, the Blue Jackets are playing in the offensive zone more often than they’re defending – specifically, they spend nearly 60% of their shift with the puck. That’s really good.
The moral of the story here: be patient.
There's plenty of room on #TeamDubois.
FINN-TASTIC
One of the cool things about this new Star Wars trilogy has been how the movies impact the new cast – outside of this saga. John Boyega is one whose career has exploded since July 2015 (Daisy Ridley, too) and it seems like he's working on a new film one after the next.
The former FN-2187 stopped by Jimmy Fallon's show last night and talked about the new movie, how fame has changed his life, and more. It's good stuff.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- Absolutely love this Jeff Svoboda piece on marrying analytics with the eye test. Great read.
- Here's another look at Dubois' recent dominance (with stats), from our own Kyle Morrison.
- Tortorella had some great quotes after the Blue Jackets' shootout win over Carolina.
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