Michael Chaput, a 23-year old center from Ile Bizard, Montreal, Canada, made his season debut Friday night for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Along with William Karlsson, he shows what Columbus has in store for the future at the center position. Chaput shoots left-handed, stands at 6’2″, and weighs in at 194 pounds, so he definitely has the physique to be successful at the NHL level.
Chaput spent his juniors career playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with both the Lewiston Maineiacs, and the Shawinigan Cataracts. In four years in the QMJHL he scored 77 goals along with his 110 assists to give him an impressive 187 points, and average of 47 per season. This was enough to see him being selected 89th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Since being drafted by the Flyers in 2010, Chaput has spent most of his professional career playing in the AHL. In the AHL he has managed to impress just about everyone who watched him play with his solid skating ability, his physical presence, and his ability to create scoring chances.
Two of the people he was able to impress were former Columbus Blue Jackets coach, Todd Richards and former general manager Scott Howson, who traded for him on April 28, 2012. He was assigned to the AHL again, but he showed what he has to offer with 17 games in the 2013-14 season, and another 33 games in the 2014-15 season, in Columbus. He was able to make good on those appearances, with solid showings on the third and fourth lines.
Friday night marks his NHL debut this season, as new coach, John Tortorella, is giving him a call up from Lake Erie to play in the home game against the Florida Panthers. Unfortunately, Chaput was not able to play in the Tuesday night game against the Canadiens at the Bell Center, which is about a 25 minute drive from his hometown of Ile Bizard- the same birthplace of Vincent Lecavalier. Seems like Tortorella has a soft spot for players from this Montreal suburb.
Chaput was able to cap off an impressive performance to score the lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss, which was his first goal of the season, and third of his NHL career. As with other call-ups like William Karlsson, Kerby Rychel, and Josh Anderson, he is definitely a player to look out for in Columbus. With a NHL-level skill set and style of play that fits in perfect with Tortorellas’ Blue Jackets, he could be favoured as part of the future for the club and is someone to keep a keen eye on.
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