Alex Wennberg scores off end to end rush (Video)

Blue Jackets forward Alex Wennberg had to wait until December to score his first goal last season. This season, he wasted no time, scoring in his first game against the Boston Bruins.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be going young this season. They have a number of promising prospects and young players who will be getting significant playing time. One of them is 22 year old Alex Wennberg. Following the Ryan Johansen trade last season, he’s been getting more playing time. After waiting until December to score his first goal in 2015-16, he scored in his first game of the 2016-17 season off a nice end to end rush.

While Wennberg does a nice job getting down the ice quickly, this is a soft goal. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask didn’t get a good look at the shot. He probably should have saved it, but perhaps the inadvertent screen by the Bruins defensemen had a role in it. Rask usually saves shots like this, but on a Bruins team which is flawed defensively, he has to save those all the time.

Wennberg was drafted by the Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft with the 13th overall pick. In his first two NHL seasons, he has played in 137 games. He has 12 goals and 48 assists for 60 points in those 137 games. Last season, he set career highs with eight goals, 32 assists, and 40 points while playing over 15 minutes per game.

Whiel the Blue Jackets are expected to finish near the bottom of the standings, there is quite a bit to be optimistic about for Blue Jackets fans. Their youth movement has finally started. It’s led by guys like Zach Werenski and Oliver Bjorkstand. However, Wennberg is an often overlooked member of the young core the Blue Jackets are relying on.