The Blue Jackets drafted Alexander Wennberg in the hope he could grow into a strong NHL center - and this season, he took some big steps towards not only fulfilling that promise, but stepping into the role of #1 Center that the team desperately needed after the departure of Ryan Johansen.
One of the “wishlist” items for the young Swede going into the 2016-2017 season was to see him shooting the puck more. As if to respond to the demands, Wennberg opened the Blue Jackets’ scoring in the first game on the season with a blistering snipe for the team’s first goal of the campaign.