Thanks to a rain cloud now following the Blue Jackets around, the 2026 NHL Draft became a distant secondary concern in Columbus behind two stars who may force their way out of town.
Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko became the main Blue Jackets storylines during this draft, each reportedly making it known that staying with the Blue Jackets long-term isn’t likely. As a result, seven prospects drafted into the organization took a back seat, starting with Boston College power forward Oscar Hemming on June 26 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
Hemming’s selection 14th overall became a side note, and that continued June 27 for the conclusion of the draft in rounds 2-7. As Waddell likely fielded trade calls about his malcontented stars, the Jackets’ scouting department dug in for a long day.
Here’s the class they put together:
Columbus Blue Jackets 2026 NHL Draft class
And here’s a breakdown the Jackets’ 2026 class from top-to-bottom, including comments from Blue Jackets director of amateur scouting Ville Siren and assistant director of amateur scouting Trevor Timmins:
First round, 14th overall: Oscar Hemming, F, Boston College (NCAA)
Hemming has every physical tool that a hockey scout wants to see. He’s big at 6 feet 4, 204 pounds. He’s fast. He’s strong. He’s also tough and has a powerful wrist shot that can score goals from long range.
Hemming only scored one goal in 19 games as a freshman at Boston College, but he didn’t join the Eagles’ roster until midway through the season due to contractual obligations tied to his team in Finland preventing him from playing junior hockey with the Kitchener Rangers (OHL).
The Blue Jackets had him ranked highly on their organizational draft sheet, and they quickly took him once the draft reached their pick at 14th overall.
“Statistically, if you look at analytics away from the points he was getting, he was getting chances to score,” Timmins said. “He was creating chances. He played a strong two-way game. His game really translates to the pro level, the way he plays. He plays a North-South, direct game, thinks quick and executes quick.”
Third round, 94th overall: Alessandro Di Iorio, C, Sarnia (OHL)
Di Ioria, who’s 6-0, 195, carried hopes of playing himself into the first round, but an elbow injury during a preseason game kept him out for two months and nagged him all year with Sarnia.
“It took away from his flexibility and agility with his hand on his stick,” Timmins said. “If you look at his production, I think that affected that a little bit … but we’re looking for him to bounce back and have a really strong season. He was a second overall pick in the OHL draft.”
Di Iorio finished with 12 goals, 19 assists and 31 points in 45 games for the Sting, who had a tough season. Playing a physical two-way style, Di Iorio’s goal now is to put together a breakout next season while maintaining a leadership role.
“You always want to prove something, and with this injury, the year was full of adversity,” Di Iorio said. “I want to prove myself a little bit more. I know what I have to give and my ability, and I want to show it as much as possible.”
Fourth round, 121st overall: Evan Jardine, LW, Youngstown (USHL)
Jardine, who’s from the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, stands 6 feet, 185 pounds as a scoring winger who played the past two seasons with Youngstown in the USHL.
After spending two years at the junior level with the Phantoms, topping 20 goals in each, Jardine is now headed to Ohio State to start his college career. He finished last season with 27 goals, 34 assists and 61 points in 53 games to rank 78th among NHL Central Scouting’s North American skaters and is already on campus with the Buckeyes.
“I’ve been there for about the last month, so I’ve kind of got the lay of the land downtown, seeing where the Blue Jackets play,” he said. “It’s such an honor to be taken by the Blue Jackets, and this is how I wanted it all to go down, so I’m so excited.”
Timmins and a Blue Jackets strength/conditioning coach met with Jardine at Ohio State and left with a good impression.
“He’s a beast in the weight room,” Timmins said. “High effort and compete [level] with everything he does. He’s [6-0, 193], so he’s really well put together, especially for an offensive skilled player with good, strong hockey sense.”
Fifth round, 142nd overall: Parker Snell, G, Edmonton (WHL)
Snell is 6-2, 176, and his past season with the Edmonton Oil Kings was his first full campaign in that league. Making 33 appearances, he went 21-9-1 with a 2.74 goals-against average, .875 save percentage and three shutouts.
He played in four WHL playoff games and went 2-1-1 with a 2.22 GAA and a blistering .924 SV%, excelling with quick footwork in the crease and excellent skating ability.
Snell is from St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, and finished ranked 19th among North American goalies by NHL Central Scouting. Snell continues the Blue Jackets’ trend of drafting a goalie since president/GM Don Waddell took over the team’s hockey side in May 2024.
“[Snell] was high up on our goalie list,” Timmins said. “He was another target player. He was a favorite of one of our goalie scouts, so it was the right point at the right time, and he was the fit [in that slot] when we compared him to the asset value of the other players available on our draft board.”
Sixth round, 182nd overall: Anttoni Uronen, C, HIFK (FIN U20)
Uronen (6-0, 201) is a versatile forward who shoots from the left side and split last season between HIFK’s junior program and its top team in Finland’s Liiga professional circuit.
He contributed six goals, five assists and 11 points in 14 games at the junior level and an impressive 2-8-10 in 27 games in his first Liiga experience.
Uronen also contributed a goal, assist and two points in five games for Finland at the U18 world championship, where Blue Jackets scouts took notice of his leadership skills.
“He was a real leader of that Finnish team,” Timmins said. “You could tell the way he acted on the ice, and while communicating with other players. He put that team on his back.”
Sixth round, 185th overall: Jonas Woo, D, Medicine Hat (WHL)
A recent surge among NHL scouting departments to add size through drafting has forced undersized players, once again, to put up eye-popping statistics to gain draft attention.
That’s ultimately what got Woo (5-9, 175) selected with the Jackets’ second of two picks in the sixth round. Woo’s height would be a scouting concern regardless of position, but the hesitancy grows exponentially with a defenseman.
That’s the only reason Woo slid to the sixth round after piling up a whopping 86 points last season on 29 goals and 57 assists in just 56 games. Woo will play for Arizona State next, aiming to eventually join his older brother, Jett Woo, in the pros.
“At 5-9, you wonder, ‘Does he have enough?’” Timmins said. “There’s some undersized defensemen who have broken through over the past five years in the NHL to become good players, so … we’re not saying he is one of them, but he has a chance [to make it] because of his tenacity, his speed, and his offensive ability.”
Seventh round, 206th overall: Filip Novák, F, HC Sparta Praha (Czechia)
Novák (6-2, 206) was the fifth forward added to the Jackets’ class of seven players, and he’s shown enough at the junior level in Czechia to qualify as an intriguing lottery ticket.
Novak played nine games for HC Sparta Praha in Czechia’s top professional league, making his debut in that league after tearing up his country’s junior circuit with 11 goals, 24 assists and 35 points in 28 games.
Novak also contributed 1-9-10 in 17 games for Czechia’s U18 national team and finished as the 22nd-ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting.
“He’s a big guy who has all the tools [and] skill set,” Siren said. “Good skater [and] he proved himself already at the pro level.”
Dispatch Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Breaking down Columbus Blue Jackets’ 2026 draft class
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
