The Jackets' decision-makers feel good about the team's draft.
However, as Jarmo Kekalainen put it, "time will tell how right our list was."
While that is true, it's hard not to feel optimistic about the future following this draft, especially after the first round, when they selected defensemen David Jiricek and Denton Mateychuk sixth and 12th overall.
DRAFT: #CBJ select D David Jiricek (HC Plzen - Czechia) with the sixth overall pick in the 2022 #NHLDraft. https://t.co/K0n45crP6f
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) July 8, 2022
"Well we always talk about taking the best player available," Kekalainen said. "And those were the guys that we thought were the best guys at the time. And that's the philosophy we always stick to."
DRAFT: #CBJ select D Denton Mateychuk (Moose Jaw - WHL) with the 12th overall pick in the 2022 #NHLDraft. https://t.co/GncVTKtuJL
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) July 8, 2022
The team's head amateur scout, Ville Siren, spoke about the importance of having a scout in Plzen, Czechia, to see all of Jiricek's games.
"To get all the inside information about his character and everything so we have seen him [for] many years already," Siren said. "So it was beneficial, for sure."
Kekalainen thinks Jiricek's upside is high enough to the point where he could be playing with Zach Werenski in the future and was particularly impressed with Jiricek's performance over the last few seasons.
"That's definitely his upside," he said. "And he has some offense to his game, too, so it's pretty much unprecedented what he's done at his age in the Czech league and [playing] in the Men's World Championships and played good."
Siren added that Jiricek needs to get stronger, though.
"Oh yeah, he needs to fill out," he said. "He's 6'4" but he needs to get stronger and that's what he said when [at] the Men's World Championships, he felt that when he played against NHL guys he needs to get stronger."
On to Mateychuk. While his size may have been a concern for some clubs, it was not for the Jackets.
"Some people see him maybe as a small defenseman," Kekalainen said. "We don't at all. I don't know if he's 5'11'' or 5'10.5'' but he's thick, he's strong, he's competitive, he's been dominant in games that we watched and our scouting staff can talk about him more but you look at his stats he's a point-per-game defenseman in the Western Hockey League and an assistant captain at that age I think there's a great future ahead of him."
Siren said Mateychuk's consistent play stuck out to the team when they were deciding who to select 12th.
"He didn't have a bad game in my viewings," he said. "For example [the CHL] prospect game, I would say he was a top-two player in that game. He really wanted to show what he's capable to do in that game. I was very impressed about this."
Siren noted that while skating may be one of his biggest strengths, it's not Mateychuk's only tool.
"One of his biggest strengths," he said. "But his hockey sense and feel for the game and puck-moving."
Siren concurred with Kekalainen on the issue of Mateychuk's size.
"He's not that tall," he said. "But he's pretty strong and stocky and he doesn't lose many battles.
In terms of what's in store for the 2022-23 season for these players, Kekalainen is unsure other than they are both participating at the team's development camp this week but did add that Jiricek plans on playing for Czechia in the World Juniors in August and hopes the same for Mateychuk.
"We'll evaluate them as we go here," he said. "We have our options open and I think that's the biggest job for us right now is to evaluate what's the best place for them and obviously Canadian junior players if they don't make the team they need to be returned to their team but with Jiricek we can do as we see what's best for him. If the best thing for him is to play in Czechia next year then we'll send him there if we think he makes our team, he makes our team. But if American [Hockey] League's the best place for his development, then we'll do that. But we've got lots of time to evaluate that and we will and we'll make those decisions when we have to."
In terms of trades, Kekalainen said they received quite a few offers for the picks they had but decided to stick with the upside of an 18-year-old prospect.
"One conversation that I think convinced us to make the picks was that, imagine if we traded [the] 12th overall pick last year and Cole Sillinger ends up playing for somebody else and we get a player that's, yeah, it's a good NHL player but [they] might not have the upside that we feel Cole Sillinger has now for us. So, that's the great upside that the young guys have when you draft them at the age of 18. They can take a huge jump which I think Cole Sillinger's a perfect example of that and that's what we hope with these two guys is that, because they are young and they can take those big huge steps in their development the next couple of years. And there's a high ceiling for their potential whereas if we got a player that's already played two-three years in the NHL, there could still be some development obviously but the upside might not be as big."
Overall, Kekalainen is happy with how the last two first-rounds have gone for the club.
"We feel really good," he said. "Last year we took two forwards [with picks] five and 12 and they're high-end talents. Now, we've got two really good defensemen so we're filling out our depth chart and we think our goaltending is in good shape and we're going to keep improving."
