Kublakov was actually signed by the Utica Comets this off-season. It will be Kivlenieks, Berube and Thiessen likely competing for the three spots. It shouldn't be anywhere near as bad as it once was. 

Overall it looks like the Blue Jackets are taking the approach to let their goalies develop to the best of their ability all over the world. VV, Tarasov Merzlikins and Thome are all promising but at different stages of development. It wouldn't be surprising to see each brought in, in consecutive years.

We are going to tackle this in a more in-depth article but I was referencing NHLe which is a rough equivalency that is updated from year to year outlining how players perform in the leagues comparatively to the NHL.

The WHL places right in between the OHL and QMJHL but all three are below most of the NCAA in equivalency. Good players can come from the WHL, it is just becoming more and more rare for a player to slip through the cracks like Fix-Wolansky. 

Here are a couple of articles that talk about NHLe:

https://dobberprospects.com/prospect-mailbag-how-the-2018-class-stacks-up-most-nhl-ready-prospects-and-nhle/

https://theathletic.com/391325/2018/06/19/the-2018-chl-draft-ranking-a-handy-resource-to-consider-prospects-nhle-age-and-primary-points-per-game/ ($)

https://www.nhlnumbers.com/2015/07/17/predicting-future-nhl-scoring-success-with-nhle-thresholds-related-factors

My head says that it is a 2/10. There is just no way I see it working out. Considering the smoke around him with Columbus that is the only reason it was so high. 

The comment was more about the perception of veterans around the league. Are the Blue Jackets a piece away from winning the Stanley Cup? Would Joe Thornton be that final piece? 

His player comp is tough. Not many successful players have come out of France. What he is doing in the Liiga isn't completely unheard of as an 18 year old. 

From the Blue Jackets subreddit on Liiga players at 18:

Texier: 13-9-22 in 53 games (.42 ppg)

Laine: 17-16-33 in 46 games (.72 ppg)

Puljujarvi: 13-15-28 in 50 games (.56 ppg)

Rantanen: 9-19-28 in 56 games (.5 ppg)

Aho: 4-8-13 in 30 games (.43 ppg)

Kapanen: 7-7-14 in 47 games (.29 ppg)

Barkov: 21-27-48 in 53 games (.91 ppg)

Lehkonen: 14-16-30 in 45 games (.67 ppg)

Teravainen: 11-7-18 in 40 games (.45 ppg)

You can also play around with his Corsi and goals. The team is much better when he is on the ice. He played bottom-six minutes and put up top-six rates. The sky is the limit.