The Blue Jackets never doubted that Kris Russell would become a dangerous NHL defenseman. They just didn't know when it would happen.

Turns out, most people missed it.

Russell's blossoming began this season --not in the past week, but when the Blue Jackets were in the throes of a terrible losing streak.

"I've liked his game for more than a month now," general manager Scott Howson said. "You can see that he's got a lot of confidence, that he's taken a significant step forward for us. He's now on the cusp of being a top-four defenseman, which is quite a stride from where he was even three or four months ago."

In a season that will likely go down as a disappointment for the Jackets, Russell's emergence could be one positive development.

On Saturday, Russell was the best player on the ice even though he didn't score a point in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 rout of the Buffalo Sabres in Nationwide Arena. He had the puck all night, carried it with speed through all three zones and created open ice for the rest of the Blue Jackets by forcing the Sabres to scramble out of position to chase him.

"Has he ever played a better game? Not in my opinion," interim coach Claude Noel said. "The last play he made, where he went through the entire Sabres team whoa. That's another level. That's something else. My recollection of that from the bench is that he was just a blur.

"I'll just say that I've always liked Kris Russell. In my eyes, I didn't know if it would be the next day that he was a complete NHL player, or in five years. But I knew it would be somewhere in between the two."

Howson, Noel and Russell himself are quick to say that there's still a long way for him to go before he has "made it."

But Russell described his last two months as such:

"The ice is starting to open up and slow down for me, and because of that, I'm trying to attack the play more. That's the part of my game -- the skating -- that I have to use to be effective, and it's starting to feel more natural now."

Russell said he's forever indebted to Howson and former coach Ken Hitchcock for giving him a chance to play in the NHL at an early age.

But it was an opportunity rife with risk, especially for an organization that has rushed other prospects (Gilbert Brule, Rostislav Klesla) and paid for it.

Howson said that he "worried a little bit that it was too much too soon" for Russell last season, when the Blue Jackets sent him to minor-league Syracuse to regain his confidence.

The rule of thumb in the NHL is that defensemen take longer to develop. But Russell's size -- he's 5 feet 10 and 167 pounds -- figured to make it an even tougher adjustment.

A player who could relate is Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski, who was Russell's size in his early 20s. Rafalski, however, spent four years at the University of Wisconsin and four more years playing in Europe, delaying his NHL career until he was 26.

"The focus (in North America) is defense, size," said Rafalski, a three-time All-Star. "So, it would have been different developmentally for me. The years I spent over in Sweden and Finland were really good. Over there, it was hold onto the puck, pass, control it. For me to be effective in the NHL, that was important to me."

Russell, 22, learned by being thrown into the fire.

After putting up four goals in his first 150 NHL games, he has six goals in his past 33 games.

On a club with more minuses than a PGA leader board, Russell's minus-7 rating is tops among Blue Jackets regular defensemen.

"I can still to a better job," Russell said. "I think I can still get a lot better, make better decisions and create even more."

aportzline@dispatch.com