Blue Jackets to host NHL entry draft

The first round is Friday night at Nationwide Arena.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Workers are assembling the mammoth stage, risers, telephones and computer hookups on the floor of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ home arena for this week’s NHL entry draft.

At the same time, the franchise’s new general manager is trying to gauge the scale of the building job he is facing.

Scott Howson barely has had time to unpack and put a family portrait on his desk at Nationwide Arena. But the draft is coming to town — the first round is Friday night, and rounds 2 through 7 are Saturday — whether he is ready or not.

As it turns out, however, he feels as prepared as he possibly could be.

“I have some knowledge of the players, particularly the top-end players. But after you get through the first 20 or 25, I have a limited knowledge because it just wasn’t in my job description in Edmonton,” said Howson, hired last week to replace fired Doug MacLean as the Blue Jackets’ GM.

New GM taking over

Howson had been the assistant GM with the Oilers the past six years. Part of his job was to dig into the draft and analyze players along with the scouting department. The Oilers have three first-round picks in the draft, at No. 6, 15 and 30.

Several hundred front-office people descended on Ohio’s capital city Wednesday in expectation of making choices in the draft. The Chicago Blackhawks won the lottery drawing in April and get the first pick, followed by Philadelphia, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Washington.

The first two teams already have made upgrades through trades. The Blackhawks picked up Sergei Samsonov from Montreal last week, with the Flyers acquiring right wing Scott Hartnell and defenseman Kimmo Timonen from Nashville for the No. 23 pick it gained in the Peter Forsberg trade with the Predators last winter.

No superstars this year

There is no Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin in this draft, according to most experts. That’s why many have speculated that there could be some surprises or a lot of trades, with teams packaging their picks to pry veterans loose from other teams.

Players supposedly on the market include Flyers defenseman Joni Pitkanen, Minnesota goaltender Manny Fernandez and Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden. Teams also are looking into potential free agents such as Daniel Briere and Chris Drury (Buffalo), Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya (Nashville), Ryan Smyth (New York Islanders) and Scott Gomez (New Jersey).