Boumedienne’s route to the draft ran through Columbus

“I matured as a person and a player from that,” Boumedienne said. “So that’s what I wanted to do at an early age, just to learn and develop and play against bigger players.”

Yet without his time in Columbus, Boumedienne said, that might not have even been an option.

“With the AAA Jackets, you get the opportunity to become an NHL player,” Boumedienne said.

Blue Jackets Roots

Before Boumedienne’s second season with the Under-16 team, Cannone – the newly minted U-16 team coach at the time – took the time to get breakfast with Sascha, Josef and Nick Petraglia, the executive vice president of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets.

“We kind of just got to know each other and laid out the goals we saw for him for the season. Those were my first impressions of Sascha,” Cannone said. “He was a very well-spoken kid. You can tell he was raised properly – he was humble. I think he knew in the back of his head that he was special, but he never came across as arrogant.”

Though Boumedienne has added more size and weight since his time with the AAA team, some things have stayed the same. He’s regarded as a terrific skater with superb offensive instincts. That was evident to Cannone before any scouting reports were put out.

“His edge work, his ability to run a power play and provide offense were elite,” Cannone said. “He has a very good one-timer, so any time he was able to get that off and showcase that also made him stand out. But the way he carried himself as a young kid at that level, not just with his play on the ice but off the ice, you could tell that he was special and different.”

Even as a thinner 15-year-old playing against much larger skaters, Boumedienne caught eyes. His skating – perhaps a result of the edgework he perfected with his dad, and extra skates he did in Columbus – carried him and his team further than they could have imagined. Cannone remembers a narrow overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres AAA team – ranked top five in the country – that wouldn’t have been close without Boumedienne.

“From then on, you know, it opened my eyes a little bit more of how special he was and his ability in those games against top teams to stand out,” Cannone said. “He was doing this all as a kid who was playing a birth year up. When you factor all those things in, you take a step back and you realize, ‘All right, this kid’s gonna be different than a lot of these other kids.’ And you see that firsthand.”

Perhaps Boumedienne’s talent is also an inherent consequence of being surrounded by the game of hockey. With his dad’s role on the Blue Jackets, Boumedienne spent much of his time in Columbus at Nationwide Arena with his brothers and friends.

“I have a ton of good memories from there, just strolling around the rink and watching NHL games. I had the chance to go down in the locker room every once in a while, which is pretty special, and talk to some of the players,” Boumedienne said. “Being able to do that is everyone’s childhood dream, right? That was one of the most fun things with moving to America.”

Boumedienne cited Zach Werenski as his favorite CBJ player growing up. As a defenseman, that’s not a bad role model to have.

With a front-row seat for some of the best hockey in the world, Boumedienne’s love for the game only further blossomed in Columbus. It helped that, with the AAA program, he got a second family.

“They treat their players so well,” Boumedienne said. “It’s an unreal organization. I made some really good friends, and we were on some teams with some really tight bonds, and we became really close.”

“We take a deeper approach into their development, and specifically what each player needs to succeed at the next level while also creating an environment of a team and community to succeed on and off the ice,” Cannone said.

The family atmosphere cultivated within the AAA program is infectious. At the mention of Cannone’s name, a massive smile erupted on Boumedienne’s face. It’s a testament to the people – from the ground up – that invest in the person first.

“It starts with Ed Gingher and Nick Petraglia,” Cannone said. “I think the program does a really good job of identifying the right people that coach and work within the program that are in it for the right reasons and want to help Columbus hockey grow. I think it separates the AAA Blue Jackets program from others, where the people that are involved genuinely care and want to see these kids not only succeed in hockey, but in life as well.”

Some of that family, Josef says, will be making the trip to Los Angeles next week for the draft.

“The passion grows every day when you’re around good people,” Josef said. “It’s been great for both (Sascha and Wilson), and then for myself and my whole family, quite frankly. We have a lot of friends we learned to know in the AAA program.”

Boumedienne’s still on the move – after his college season and U-18 World Championships, he had the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo. He’ll soon get on a plane and head to Los Angeles for the draft, another step in a career that’s only just getting started.

The prospect of getting drafted by an NHL team excites him. The prospect of that team being the Blue Jackets?

“That’d be something special. Obviously living in Columbus and going to all those games, it feels like home,” Boumedienne said.

“For me, it would be really special,” Josef said. “I worked for this organization for 11 years, and that’s the longest tenure I’ve had with one team counting my playing career as well. I love the Columbus Blue Jackets. If that were to happen, that would be great.”

Hundreds of miles away, Cannone will be tuning into the draft, as will many others in Columbus. Boumedienne has called so many places home, but the AAA program is proud to have aided him on a big step in his hockey career.

“It means a lot that I got to play there,” Boumedienne said. “They do a really good job, and we had a blast playing there.”

“Columbus is an area where hockey’s been growing for a while now,” Cannone said. “We’re still continuing to grow. So it’s very rewarding to see the kids that grew up here (and) move here do big things, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice.”