Righteous indignation over hoping the Flames finish low and thereby get a high pick is misplaced. It's not like we go out and honk our horns whenever our team loses. It's just taking a big-picture approach.
I'm certainly not "cheering" for last. Finishing 29th-25th overall is more than sufficient. Finding that vaunted #1C is at least as good as getting the first overall pick and landing Jones.
This team probably won't finish dead last anyway; Florida is just simply pathetic, the Sabres are a train wreck, and there are a couple of teams pretty comparable to the Flames.
If drafting 2nd overall-MacKinnon
3rd overall - Drouin
4th - Barkov
5th - Monahan
6th - Lindholm
7th - Nurse
8th - Nichushkin
After that it gets a bit hazy. Shinkaruk & maybe that Zadorov behemoth are probably up there. As long as they go top-7/8 and do not trade down, the Flames should get a very good player.
Just imagine getting a high-end C this draft, and then a highly rated D next year, not to mention acquiring prospects through trades and in later rounds of the next two drafts. There is a huge opportunity for this team to be very well stocked within 2 seasons. (Of course, I'd prefer a playoff run, but let's be realistic).
|