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Columbus Blue Jackets
2000 Expansion Team

2000   D R A F T   C H O I C E S
Round	Pick	Player	Pos	League/Country
1	4	Rotislav Klesla	D	OHL
3	69	Ben Knopp	LW	WHL
5	133	Petteri Nummelin	D	Switzerland
5	138 (From Bruins)	Scott Heffernan	D	OHL
5	150 (From Sabres via Sharks)	Tyler Kolarik	C	USHSE
6	169	Shane Bendera	G	WHL
7	200	Janne Jokila	LW	Finland
8	231	Peter Zingoni	C	EJHL
9	278 (From Sharks)	Martin Paroulek	NA	NA
* - denotes compensatory pick

The expansion Columbus Blue Jackets used the first draft pick in team history, fourth overall, on Czech defenseman Rostislav Klesla.

Considered the best two-way defenseman available, Klesla was NHL Central Scouting's second-ranked North American prospect after picking up 16 goals, 29 assists and 174 penalty minutes in 67 games with Brampton of the Ontario junior league.

The 6-2, 198-pound Klesla came to North America at the age of 15 and spent the 1998-99 season with Sioux City of the U.S. junior league.

This season, he scored a goal in the Top Prospects Game, where he finished second in the hardest shot competition. He also was a finalist as top body checker in the Western Conference in a poll of OHL coaches.

Klesla displays remarkable maturity for an 18-year-old who used to get into trouble in the Czech Republic for playing "too rough." That shouldn't be a problem when he reaches the NHL.

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