Nutivaara has the potential to be the Columbus Blue Jackets long time 3rd defenseman. Obviously as Seth Jones and Zach Werenski currently headline the blueline, and will continue to do so for a long time, but Markus Nutivaara has shown himself as the class of the current Blue Jackets young defensive core.
Coming from Oulu, Finland standing 6’1” it’s hard to miss Nutivaara’s big frame. After playing 66 games and only putting up 7 points with the Jackets his rookie season in 2016-17, Nutivaara broke out in a big way his sophomore season with 23 points in the 2017-18 campaign.