WHL Stars & NHL Debuts: Former WHL Champion Mateychuk eats big minutes in major Blue Jackets win

Columbus, Ohio- Welcome to the big show, Captain!

2024 WHL Champion and former Moose Jaw Warriors Captain Denton Mateychuk made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, December 23.

“It was unbelievable,” Mateychuk told reporters postgame. “Everything that you dream of as a kid finally coming to fruition. It’s an awesome moment and it was just a good game. Glad we got the win there at the end.”

The blueliner played 18:36- the fourth most ice time of any Blue Jackets defender- and registered one hit.

He also played 1:06 with an extended look on the Columbus powerplay in the 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

“He was real good,” Blue Jackets Head Coach (and former WHL Coach of the Year nominee) Dean Evason added. “There’s some things he’s going to see as far as corrections like there is with everybody, but we loved his composure. I guess the best part is that he didn’t look out of place. He played key moments of that hockey game and conducted himself very well.”

Mateychuk, 20, is off to a tremendous start in his first professional season with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

The 5-foot-11, 192-pound blueliner leads all AHL defencemen with nine goals (including four powerplay tallies) and 16 assists for 25 points and a +5 rating through 27 games.

He played parts of five seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors, culminating in the franchise’s first WHL Championship earlier this year.

Mateychuk closed out his WHL career by winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup and being named the 2024 WHL Playoff Most Valuable Player, capturing the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as WHL Defenceman of the Year, making the WHL East Division and CHL First All-Star Teams and being named the 2024 Memorial Cup’s Most Sportsmanlike Player.

Selected by Columbus with the 12th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Mateychuk shined in his final season with a monster 23-game point streak and set a new franchise record for points by a defenceman.

The Dominion City, Man. product graduated from the WHL with 41 goals and 174 assists for 215 points and a +58 rating in 203 regular season games, in addition to another 48 points (15G-33A) in 40 postseason contests.

Columbus (14-5-6) sits fifth in the Metropolitan Division and enters the holiday break four points behind the Ottawa Senators for the final Wild Card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Mateychuk and the Blue Jackets are back in action on Friday, December 27 as they host the Boston Bruins at 5:30 p.m. MST.