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Columbus Blue Jackets select goalie Pyotr Andreyanov with 20th pick in 2025 NHL Draft
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- Columbus Blue Jackets select goalie Pyotr Andreyanov with 20th pick in 2025 NHL Draft
Using their second of two first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Blue Jackets pulled a stunner by selecting Pyotr Andreyanov with the 20th overall pick, a goalie from Krasnaya Armiya Moskova, the junior program within Russia's CSKA Moscow system.
Andreyanov, ranked by NHL Central Scouting as the No.1 international goalie in the draft class, was selected six picks after the Blue Jackets used the 14th overall selection to pick defenseman Jackson Smith of the Western Hockey League's Tri-City Americans.
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More: Columbus Blue Jackets select defenseman Jackson Smith 14th overall in 2025 NHL Draft
"I can interview people and watch them in practice, but our goalie guys all said, by far, they thought this was the best guy," Blue Jackets president of hockey operations/general manager Don Waddell said. "It's interesting because he's our No. 1 goalie (ranked), but he was actually the next guy on our (draft) list, so we didn't have to delete anybody. He's very athletic."
The "goalie guys" Waddell consults with are Blue Jackets goaltending coach Niklas Backstrom , a former NHL starter for the Minnesota Wild , Cleveland Monsters goaltending coach Brad Thiessen, a former AHL goalie, and Jim Viers, the Jackets' scouting coordinator.
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Backstrom video scouted 20-plus games of Andreyanov while Thiessen, Viers and Waddell added live viewings recently at agent Dan Milstein's Gold Star Hockey event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida — where a lot of Russian prospects who don't get seen live by NHL scouts participated.
"Down in Florida, they were able to see him live and meet him as a person, and he seems to be a great teammate," Backstrom said. "He has a little aura, like, a little swagger. So, we're really excited."
Jul 23, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Dean Evason is introduced as the new head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets during a press conference with general manager Don Waddell at Nationwide Arena.
Waddell tried dealing one or both of his first-round picks for NHL-ready talent, but no teams were interested in meeting his price for acquiring one or both. So, the Blue Jackets' GM had guest announcer Meredith Gaudreau — Johnny Gaudreau 's widow — officially welcome two new prospects into the Columbus system to bolster the team's future on the defensive side of the puck.
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After adding Smith, a mobile defenseman listed at 6 feet 4, Andreyanov was selected 20th despite being undersized as a goalie at a listed height of 6-feet, 207 pounds. Andreyanov, who will attend the Blue Jackets' prospect development camp July 2-5, has a playing style similar to Sergei Bobrovsky , who left Columbus as a free agent in 2019 and has backstopped the Florida Panthers to repeat Stanley Cup titles.
Sep 19, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Zach Sawchenko (36) talks to goaltending coach Niklas Backstrom during the first day of training camp at the OhioHealth Ice Haus.
"I think you'll see he reminds (us) a lot of Bob," Backstrom said. "Really technical goalie, reads the game well, moves well ... explosive. He's closer to playing at this level than a lot of other goalies that we looked at."
Andreyanov might be the closest to NHL ready, but hasn't played professionally yet. He's under contract with CSKA Moscow for either "four or five" years, according to Waddell, and likely won't be part of the Jackets' plans until he's age 22 or 23.
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"These goalies that come out, they bounce around a little bit, and usually it's their second team — as we well know here — before they really hit their stride," Waddell said. "So, drafting him at 18, and if he's coming over at 22, 23 ... the hope is the development path brings him straight to the National Hockey League."
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Pyotr Andreyanov a surprise first-round pick by Columbus Blue Jackets
