CBJ Signs Wolf and Kochetkov

COLUMBUS, OH - With the Blue Jackets season coming to an end earlier than anticipated, the team begins to set their sights on the future of the organization. Columbus has not had many high draft picks the past few seasons, trading those futures for shots at winning the Cup now. Without these early picks, the team has consistently added late round picks in the hopes of finding a way to bring new blood into their organization. Outside of having a low chance of success, later round picks often have a longer timeline to reach the RHL and thus, the Blue Jackets are currently sitting on a lot of late round lottery tickets. 

Perhaps Columbus’ most intriguing prospects outside of the organizations one blue chip prospect in Matty Beniers are their goaltending tandem of Pyotr Kochetkov and Dustin Wolf, both taken in the 2019 entry draft. Kochetkov, who was an overager when he was selected, was a bit of a value pick for Columbus who were able to select him 58th overall, 22 slots after his real life position of 36th overall in the NHL draft. But Wolf was one of the late round lottery tickets the Jackets were able to hit on. As big believers in Wolf furing his draft year, Columbus took the netminder with the 2nd pick in the 6th round (157th overall), almost 60 slots ahead of where he was drafted in the NHL (214th overall). About as far apart as their draft slots, the two have taken very different paths to get to this point in their careers. Kochetkov has been marinating over in his native country of Russia, splitting time between the KHL and minor and junior leagues over the past several seasons. Wolf, a native of California, has spent his years learning the ropes in the Canadian junior hockey system with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL. Though their paths have been very different, their results have been very similar with both making the jump to professional hockey in North America this season. After a respectable 2.23 GAA and .926 SV% with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of Russia’s top professional league, the KHL, Kochetkov played in 15 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves posting a 2.23 GAA and .926 SV%. Pyotr even saw some NHL action with the Carolina Hurricanes during their final regular season stretch and played in 4 playoff games for the team. Though his numbers were nothing to write home about, they weren’t unexpected for a goaltender of his age being thrown into the fire of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Wolf was the top starter for the Stockton Heat of the AHL, starting in 49 games in his first professional season, posting similar numbers to Kochetkov, with a 2.35 GAA and .924 SV%. Coincidentally, the two are currently squaring off in the Calder Cup Conference Finals for their respective AHL teams, with Pyotr winning the two games between the teams thus far. 

Returning to the lineup from the reserve list are Morgan Frost and Brennan Menell. Barely young enough to only be considered borderline prospects, the duo has not been able to stick in an NHL lineup long enough to make an impact on the Blue Jackets pro roster. Of the two, Frost has had more professional success suiting up for 55 NHL games this season with the Philadelphia Flyers. However he also spent about a third of the season in the AHL where he did score at a decent rate of .79 PPG. Menell, who only saw a brief 5 game NHL stint with Minnesota in 2019-20, has spent the bulk of his career in the AHL. Once thought to be a possible diamond in the rough offensive defenseman who posted a very promising .82 PPG in his best season in the AHL, Menell has seen the luster diminish as he failed to play at a points pace of even half that career high this past season. 

The Blue Jackets also intend to sign another later round loterry ticket in Santeri Hattaka, who split time between the San Jose Sharks NHL and AHL teams this year. The defenseman was selected by the Blue Jackets in the sixth round, 176th overall, in 2020 draft.