Foudy was drafted on this day, 18th overall in 2018 by the Blue Jackets. How has he done?
Liam Foudy is a big kid, listed at 6-foot-2 and 188 pounds, in theory, he could be a huge presence at the center position, but so far, he has yet to make an impact. He has a brother, Jean-Luc, who plays in the Colorado Avalanche system. In nine career NHL he has yet to register a point.
There was a buzz surrounding Foudy in 2018 when he was drafted. Hailing from Scarborough, ON, CAN, he played for the famed London Knights. He played four seasons in London. In 230 games he scored 97 goals and 191 points. He had himself a fine junior career.
Foudy has played in 41 career AHL games thus far. He has scored 10 goals and has 35 career points. In the 2019 AHL playoffs, he played in eight games and scored 2 goals.
It feels like Foudy has been in the CBJ system for more than 5 years but believe or not he did play in the 2020 NHL playoff bubble. In 10 games he scored one goal and had two points. He has actually played more games in the NHL than he has the AHL. He’s played a total of 89 games for the CBJ, with 62 of those coming this past season. Due to the injury situation in Columbus, he was needed big time. Foudy averaged around 12 minutes of TOI.
In those 62 games, he put together a solid season for himself. He had 7 goals and 14 points. His seven goals tied him with Emil Bemstrom. His 14 points also tied him with Nick Blankenburg and Gavin Bayreuther. To say the CBJ have a log jam at the forward position would be an understatement, but he filled in well. Technically, Foudy is a center, but he played mostly wing.
With the season he had last year, one would expect him to get a shot out of camp. But, with that log jam at wing, and the fact that the center position will be filled on all four lines, if he doesn’t show the new coach that he’s capable, he could be back in the AHL.
Per PuckPedia, Foudy is going into his final year of his current contract and will be RFA, being arbitration eligible after the season. He isn’t scheduled to become UFA until 2027, so we should get to see whether Foudy can put it together and become a full time NHLer. Last season proved that if given some decent playing time, he can in fact score some goals.
The team, the fans and the media all seem to love Liam Foudy and want him to be successful, now it’s up to him to make it happen. Everyone is cheering for him, that’s for sure.