2017 NHL Draft

[bigrangy]

My ideal draft:

16: Vesalainen
109: Shen
140: Oksanen
171: Shvyryov
202: Turkulainen

#eurobias

I would like to take some defense but I fell like all of these guys would be great value for their picks. All of them have serious top end NHL potential imo.

[Poe969]

ya, you don't win the cup with a bunch of role players. You do need role players on the team but you need skill and this team doesn't have enough of it in the system. I would love to see more guys who are more skill then "2 way" because the days of grinding out games for the win are gone it seems.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Would the Flames pick a 6'2" RH RW sniper? He's essentially ticks the boxes of the type of player organization currently lacks so I don't see how they wouldn't take him if he's available at 16 unless they are in love with another player at that area which given how much they loved Piorier I'm not sure is a good idea to go off the board again. I certainly wouldn't want them to pass him up for for a guy like Robert Thomas that's a ppg player that scored only 16 goals last year as those types of junior stats typically translate to a bottom six NHL forward at best and the Flames have plenty of those types of guys in the organization.

Tippett has low hockey iq and profile looks eerily similar to Jake Virtanen. Pass on this guy, you either have hockey iq or you don't, it's not something that is learned. Don't mind swinging for fences but not on a guy like this.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Tippett has low hockey iq and profile looks eerily similar to Jake Virtanen. Pass on this guy, you either have hockey iq or you don't, it's not something that is learned. Don't mind swinging for fences but not on a guy like this.

Did you determine this yourself? I don't pretend to know these players inside out any more than I read but I have read more that he's an explosive offensive player than low IQ (apparently he could use his teammates more effectively). Eerily similar to Jake Virtanen would mean that he has question marks around fitness and commitment to the game as that's what's held Virtanen back more than anything. I realize he's a one dimensional player (coaches can work on this element) but guys like Kessel can still be incredibly useful providing you are not counting on them to be your franchise player and leader (where Toronto went wrong). Not every player needs to have Selke trophy qualities. The organization really could use a finisher and this kid projects to be the best pure sniper in the draft.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Did you determine this yourself? I don't pretend to know these players inside out any more than I read but I have read more that he's an explosive offensive player than low IQ (apparently he could use his teammates more effectively). Eerily similar to Jake Virtanen would mean that he has question marks around fitness and commitment to the game as that's what's held Virtanen back more than anything. I realize he's a one dimensional player (coaches can work on this element) but guys like Kessel can still be incredibly useful providing you are not counting on them to be your franchise player and leader (where Toronto went wrong). Not every player needs to have Selke trophy qualities. The organization really could use a finisher and this kid projects to be the best pure sniper in the draft.

No, I do not profess to be a junior hockey expert and rely on what others put out there. Thn profile says he has concerns over his work ethic and hockey smarts. Similar to Virtanen he has a great shot and is best natural scorer in draft (sound familiar)? Players with more goals than assists raise red flags as they may be the beneficiary of playing with good players vs making others around them better.

[Love]

If we got Necas I would be over the moon.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I certainly wouldn't want them to pass him up for for a guy like Robert Thomas that's a ppg player that scored only 16 goals last year as those types of junior stats typically translate to a bottom six NHL forward at best and the Flames have plenty of those types of guys in the organization.

Do they? I'd say the Flames have been pretty bad at drafting and developing bottom-six forwards and feeding them into the roster. Remember when we were pencilling Arnold, Klimchuk, and Knight into the roster?

Producing legitimate long-term NHL depth players is not easy. Especially for this team, for some reason. Which is why for years the team's depth positions have been full of overpaid vets.

At this point in the team's development, with the young core already in place, I'd rather the Flames drafted a player with a 60 per cent of being depth forward and a 40 per cent chance of busting, than a player with a 10 per cent chance of being an impact player, a 20 per cent chance of being a depth forward, and a 70 per cent chance of busting.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Do they? I'd say the Flames have been pretty bad at drafting and developing bottom-six forwards and feeding them into the roster. Remember when we were pencilling Arnold, Klimchuk, and Knight into the roster?

For starters there's Bouma, Ferland, Hathaway and in the wings you have Jankowski and Klimchuk. Then there's Granlund and Baertschi that are kind of tweeners but are NHL players. Backlund has kind of turned the corner into a 2nd line player but for most of his career he's been a bottom 6 guy. When you compare that to top 6 players developed which to date has really been just Monahan and Gadreau (Tkachuk and Bennett are close but a little early) it certainly appears they have done pretty decent when it comes to drafting forwards that are NHL caliber just not top 6 NHL caliber. Also it's hard for some of these AHL guys to graduate to bottom six roles when you have long time bottom 6 vets like Stajan on the team and Brouwer for another three years appears to be taking up a spot in the bottom six. Also Prust was a really good bottom line player and while Byron wasn't drafted by the Flames he was in the AHL system for a few years. Comparatively it's been a barren wasteland for defenseman and goaltenders.

[GranteedEV]

Anybody think Lipanov might still be there at 109?

[Love]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Anybody think Lipanov might still be there at 109?

Not a chance. He's a probable first rounder at this point.

[Freeway]

Two week warning.

[nightfx]

I hope they can somehow get a 2nd round pick and draft Lipanov or Heponiemi.

[VladtheImpaler]

I want no part of Tippett. He sounds like a dimwitted, one-dimensional winger who is good enough to get over in junior, but may not translate the scoring to the NHL. Hence, he is dropping on a lot of lists now. I think Craig's thinking mirrors our Button's to a large extent, so I think we are safe.

[N26]

I can't really decide who I want to see at 16 and I have decided to be happy enough with anyone as long as they don't go to far off the board. I think it will be Suzuki, Veselainen, Foote or Andersson baring any surprise faller.

What I definitely want though is to see a minimum of 3 (probably more) of RHS centres or right wings. As someone who played LW despite being a RHS himself I am not opposed to that situation as long as they have RW experience.

But if we draft a bunch of LHS left wingers I won't be happy. I know it works for some teams because Nashville drafted 4 defensemen with their first 5 picks last year but I think that's because they only took 1 in 2015 and somebody in the scouting department needed a fix.

Take the BPA at 16 and then work on the right side!

[Roof-Daddy]

Have a look at this Mock Draft

*drool*

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Do they? I'd say the Flames have been pretty bad at drafting and developing bottom-six forwards and feeding them into the roster. Remember when we were pencilling Arnold, Klimchuk, and Knight into the roster?

The Flames are a lot better at developing forwards than defensemen and goalies though.

Bouma, Ferland, Monahan, Bennett, Gaudreau, Backlund, Baertschi, Granlund and Prust were all drafted and (mostly) developed by the Flames.

In that same time period, Brodie and Pardy were those only defensemen that were drafted and developed by the Flames. No goaltenders were. Really, Kidd, Vernon, and maybe McElhinney were the only goalies in Flames history to be drafted and developed.

Whomever the Flames pick, they just need to remember to be patient.
After all, look how Backlund and Ferland are continuing to develop. Even now.
I could see Jankowski paying dividends in the near future. His progression has been slow but steady.

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

The Flames are a lot better at developing forwards than defensemen and goalies though.

Bouma, Ferland, Monahan, Bennett, Gaudreau, Backlund, Baertschi, Granlund and Prust were all drafted and (mostly) developed by the Flames.

In that same time period, Brodie and Pardy were those only defensemen that were drafted and developed by the Flames. No goaltenders were. Really, Kidd, Vernon, and maybe McElhinney were the only goalies in Flames history to be drafted and developed.

Whomever the Flames pick, they just need to remember to be patient.
After all, look how Backlund and Ferland are continuing to develop. Even now.
I could see Jankowski paying dividends in the near future. His progression has been slow but steady.

Monahan -- 6th OA pick for the Flames already came chalked full of talent. The fact that he made the team after the draft means he came NHL-ready. Although he has gotten bigger and stronger under the Flames. Nevertheless, they had Monahan all wrong and thought he was a playmaker

Bennett -- Highest Flames pick ever and there was really no alternative. However, I wouldn't peg Bennett has a positive outcome for the Flames just yet. If he doesn't take major steps forward next season, he could be a blackmark against their drafting and development.

Baertschi -- He's a blackmark IMO. He was absolutely pegged to be a sureshot top six forward and the Flames lost control of him. Feaster regrettably gave Bae an emergency call-up and Burke ran his name through the mud in front of the media. Ever since, Baer never panned out. He's an example of how the Flames fail in these areas.

Granlund -- Another blackmark. They could never develop Granlund to take the next step, even though Vancouver was able to. He just played on the 4th line for too long on the Flames.

[Love]

Fun mock draft tool to play around with. Can even simulate trade up/down scenarios

https://www.draftwired2.com:8443/apps/dwNHL

[Love]

Lol started with the Devils and traded back to 3, and then to 5 while picking up a surfeit of seconds in the process.

Walked away with: Vilardi, Timmins, PO Joseph, Rob Thomas, Oettinger, Gadjovich and Lipanov

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by Love

Lol started with the Devils and traded back to 3, and then to 5 while picking up a surfeit of seconds in the process.

Walked away with: Vilardi, Timmins, PO Joseph, Rob Thomas, Oettinger, Gadjovich and Lipanov

Did the Devils too:
Vilardi at 5
Tippett at 21
Foote at 22
Robertson 40
Lipanov 71

For the Flames, traded out of 16 to 28 in 4 separate deals: Just the first 3 rounds.
Connor Timmins RD at 28
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G at 47
Grant Mismash LW at 51
Aleksi Heponiemi at 69