On November 18, 2014 the Blue Jackets claimed a virtually unknown defenseman off of waivers from the Dallas Stars. His name is Kevin Connauton. A veteran of 219 AHL games, the 25 year old had struggled to earn a spot on the struggling Stars blue line. The waiver claim seemed pointless to many Jackets fans at first, but Jarmo Kekalainen saw something in him.
Connauton started off slow in the Blue Jackets colors; however after seven games as a Jacket he made a large impact. On December 9, 2014 the Jackets were hosting the Philadelphia Flyers in a tight contest. Connauton had been pointless in his short Jackets career, but in overtime he would score the game winning goal making himself known to Jackets fans. On December 27th against the Bruins, he once again scored the game winning goal in a 6-2 blowout and again against his former team on January 6th. That wouldn’t be it though. On March 27th, Cam Atkinson may have been the hat-trick hero in the 5-2 defeat yet he did not have the game winner. Guess who scored it? Kevin Connauton.
Connauton had only 9 goals and 12 assists in his 62 games, but 4 of those 9 goals were game winners. Connauton can score when he needs to, as well as when he doesn’t. He doesn’t crack under pressure which makes him a valuable asset almost by itself. He finished the season with a +5 rating and 35 penalty minutes as well. He is a well-balanced player who is a hidden gem for Columbus league-wide.
STATUS: Core Player
This rating may come as a bit of a surprise, however Connauton continues to blossom into an important role player for the Jackets and arguably as part of the core. He is going to want a sizable raise from his less than $700,000, however not by much more than likely; possibly around the $1.5M range. Many Jackets fans worry about the lack of upgrades on defense this past year, however as Connauton, Murray, Prout and all the prospects continue to develop the defensive corps will not be an issue for much longer, if at all.
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