Elite Prospects 2025 NHL Prospect Pool Rankings: No. 10-ranked Columbus Blue Jackets

Kicking off the top-10 are the Columbus Blue Jackets, a prospect pool unlike just about any other. 

While the Blue Jackets have missed the playoffs for five straight years, they have one of the strongest groups of under-23 talent in the NHL, headlined by Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and Denton Mateychuk. 

In terms of prospects, it’s probably the most top-heavy system around, with just two prospects inside our top-100 skaters, but both inside the top-20. Prospects ranked from one through seven all look like potential NHLers, but it’s one of the weakest systems in terms of overall depth. 

That raises the question – how much does depth really matter? More darts for the dartboard are better, of course, but with limited NHL jobs and even fewer true needle-movers, the top-end matters most, hence wh