How Blue Jackets' NHL draft commitment to center impacts Sharks' No. 4 pick
How Blue Jackets' commitment to center impacts Sharks' No. 4 pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Editor's Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
John Davidson has made it clear how the Columbus Blue Jackets are rolling with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
“We will get a center. I’ll tell you right now. We will get a center,” the club’s president of hockey operations told local radio host Beau Bishop on Friday. “Which center it’s going to be is still to be determined.”
This is very meaningful, of course, for the Sharks, selecting No. 4 overall.
If we’re to take Davidson’s declaration at face value, that means the Blue Jackets are not considering polarizing winger Matvei Michkov at No. 3, and probably honing in on possible pivots Leo Carlsson and Will Smith. They’re also likely hoping that presumed No. 2 overall pick Adam Fantilli will drop to them.
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For what it’s worth, Carlsson and Smith are not clear-cut centers in the NHL at the moment.