lets see.... past columbus high draft picks that seemed to be awesome at the time of drafting but ended up as busts
brule, filatov,zherdev,brassard....
voracek only got saved because he got traded to another team.
nothing wrong with johansen but the team he is on seems to do a good job of
ruining good young talent. stay away.

No offense, but that's a really short-sided way of looking at the situation. They've had a ton of movement over the years. Quite frankly, if Jeff Carter had a better attitude, last year could have gone a MUCH different way for Columbus.

Ignoring that though, you really can't say that any of the past moves the organization has made is relevant at all as soon as the day John Davidson joined the organization. Add in the fact that they now have a new GM in Jarmo Kekalainen, and the future of the club has to be viewed in a different light.

I understand people are hesitant to give this organization credit, but time will tell the full story. I will say this though, and everyone in the Columbus organization will admit it - John Davidson brings the one thing this front office never had before, and that's experience. The previous front office was always assembled of people that didn't have much (or any) experience, but had high potential. Davidson is and will continue to bring in experienced management who will change the organization.

If you like how the St. Louis Blues are assembled now, I would be investing in Columbus Blue Jackets players. You just have to give it a bit of time is all.

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I agree with most of what you say, but with a couple of caveats. The 1st is that Davidson's influence can only reach back so far in time. I believe some damage has been done to Johansen's development already. Can it be entirely undone? Probably not, but it can get back on track, and perhaps his ultimate ceiling is only 10-15 pts lower than it was on draft day. Much the way I would view Turris now.

The 2nd is that while I do think Davidson will right the Columbus ship, it will be for the better of the team, but not necessarily for the better of poolies. The St. Louis model doesn't inspire me to invest in Jackets skaters at all. The Blues are pretty much a fantasy disaster aside from Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk.

So in tandem, even a salvaging of his career path could mean that those 2 factors result in Johansen being a really good 2-way 2nd line C who tops out around 55-65 points. Which is decent, but more valuable to the Jackets than to any fantasy owner.

At least that's the skepticism that has kept me from accepting him in offers based on his "potential."