By William Espy
At the time of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, the Ottawa Senators
were coming off of a great regular season. Dany Heatley put up his first 50
goal season and a total of 103 points, the captain Daniel Alfredsson had also
put up 103 points. On top of that, 22 year old center Jason Spezza put up 90
points playing between the two. The season would come to an end in the
conference semi-final when the Senators would be defeated 4-1 by Ryan Miller
the Buffalo Sabres. When draft day finally arrived, the Senators walked on
stage for the 28th overall selection and picked a Buffalo, New York
native left winger from the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. Nick Foligno was coming
off of an 88 point season with the Wolves, so his selection in the first round
was not a surprise.
On October 18, 2007 Foligno scored his first career goal
against Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, following the goal Foligno would
celebrate his goal with the “Foligno Leap” made famous by his father Mike.
On
April 14, 2008 Foligno would score his first career playoff goal against
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
At the start of the 2012 free agency period, Nick Foligno
would be dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenseman Marc Methot. The
Senators had lost two of their key defensemen to free agency and were desperate
for someone to step in on the blue line. Foligno was a restricted free agent at
the time of the trade and GM Scott Howson would sign him to a 3 year, $9.25M
contract. He would quickly become a fan favorite, but his production at the
beginning of his Jackets career was lackluster. A couple seasons after the
trade, Foligno found his game and then some.
Near the end of the 2013-2014 season, Foligno began to pick
up his play noticeably. He was getting more involved in plays that he would
usually trail out of. This play would be part of the reason why the Blue Jackets
would qualify for the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history.
The Blue Jackets trailed the series against the Penguins 2-1 on April 23rd,
2014. They were trailing 3-2 with 22 seconds left, then Brandon Dubinsky tied
it up after a massive gaffe from Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. In
overtime, Foligno would tie the series with a soft, floating shot that probably
should have been saved clinching the Blue Jackets’ first ever home playoff win.
In the 2014-2015 season he would be named the captain of an
All-Star team in Columbus, score 31 goals and finish with 73 points. On New Year’s
Day, he would be rewarded by Jarmo Kekalainen with a six year, $33M extension.
To finish off the incredible year Foligno would be named captain shortly after
the season ended.
Status:
Untouchable
Foligno is a key player and the first captain since 2012.
There is no chance that he will play anywhere other than Columbus.
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