March 30: Amid much speculation that the Columbus Blue Jackets might pass on Nail Yakupov if they land the top pick in this summer’s draft, General Manager Scott Howson is looking to set the record straight. He tells ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun that “the very idea his club would let the better player slip by them simply because of his nationality is “hogwash”.

March 20: The Columbus Blue Jackets have had poor experiences with Russian prospects, and there are now people who think the Jackets will either trade the pick or pass on the best player.

The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes, “Apparently, if Columbus General Manager Scott Howson is still employed by the Jackets come draft day, he plans to use the No. 1 pick to take Swedish LW Filip Forsberg ahead of the top-ranked prospect, RW Nail Yakupov of Sarnia. While Forsberg is a great prospect, Yakupov is almost universally thought to be the better player; in fact, most scouts seem to think another Russian, Mikhail Grigorenko, is even better a better prospect than Forsberg.”


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