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Calgary4LIfe · 03-22-2013, 12:24 PM

Elite players at any position trumps very good players at any position. To win the Stanley cup, you need elite talent. As many as possible.

With that being said, here is my quick run-down of players. Let's start with Drouin:

Drouin is listed as a LW, because he is playing LW. However, he is also a center! He has played center right up until this season when he went to play with his pal MacKinnon. Also, Drouin isn't really 'small' - not really anyways. He is 17, 5'11 and 185lbs. He is not a tiny guy. I would bet he will play in the NHL in his first season.

MacKinnon - An inch taller than Drouin, and lighter. Nobody is saying anything about him being small. Anyways, he has a non-stop motor. Though people have compared him to Crosby, and he downplays it - he does remind me of Crosby a bit. He is a non-stop checking machine. He forechecks AND backchecks with fire. He is pure speed, coupled with a high-level of skill and hockey smarts. Drouin has him beat on hockey smarts and skill, but the gap is not that huge. Slightly bigger and faster than Drouin (once MacKinnon fills out more).

Jones - Flames will be very interested in him. How well do you think they have scouted him? He plays with Wotherspoon. Instant chemistry with someone in the organization. This guy should be an elite defencemen. Yes, some other 1st round picks have been labeled as elite future defencemen, but few have as many strengths as Jones. He won't miss.

Barkov - First off, he is NOT slow! There is ZERO concerns with his skating. There is hardly anyone in the NHL that is as fast as MacKinnon RIGHT NOW. Barkov can (and will) keep up to the pace of the NHL. He is big (you can't teach size) and is already a very great 2-way player.

NONE of the top 4 will I complain about IF the Flames get to draft that high. The way I see it, you have 3 centers and one defencemen in this draft, all having elite potential.

With that being said, I have no idea who the Flames will target. Flames are really weak organizationally in their defensive prospects - more than centers. Will they take Jones, especially after watching him so much this season? Will they Drouin - starting in the Darryl Sutter days, this organization has shown a preference for the really smart cerebral "high hockey IQ" types - and there is nobody higher in that category than Drouin according to a lot of scouts out there.

I don't think the Flames will miss by taking MacKinnon or Barkov - MacKinnon is the type of player that just drives possession, has blazing speed (think Lombardi but with actual hands and IQ!), and there is NO WAY this kid is going to end up being less than a 1st line center unless he runs into some serious bad luck with injuries.

Barkov - show me one fault in this guy's game? The only negative thing that I can say about him is "MPS was playing against men too, and look at how he turned out"... Barkov is light years ahead of MPS in everything except maybe speed (MPS to me is a good comparable to Lombo - little hockey IQ or hands, but full of speed). Barkov is big, he is very cerebral, his skating is probably average (I would say above average from the limited times I saw him, and many scouts still say above average - compared to MacKinnon, almost the entire draft class is 'slow'), and he already plays a very solid 2-way game. He makes sick passes through players onto the tape of team mates, he can shoot... I really haven't heard of any weaknesses to his game at all.

This top 4 is simply amazing. I laugh at the 'Drouin is the next Shremp'! Drouin WILL be a superstar in this league. Will he play center? Good question.. he is playing LW now, but has played center apparently for his entire life. Anyone watch Halifax and can comment on what position Drouin played when MacKinnon was injured? I bet he got moved back to center.

The only reason I 'cringe' about Seth Jones is that when compared to the last 'x' number of defencemen that have been drafted 1st over-all, it is quite an underwhelming list. However, Pronger was drafted #2 behind Daigle. Teams have a very hard time without having an elite defencemen on this roster, and elite defencemen play half a game!

I would really love to know who Calgary has 1-4 on their list come draft day. I don't think they will get the #1 over-all, but it would be very interesting to me to see how they have all the players ranked, and their reasons behind it. I wish I always could find out every draft year, as teams have their orders so vastly different from other teams.

03-22-2013, 12:24 PM	#277
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	Elite players at any position trumps very good players at any position. To win the Stanley cup, you need elite talent. As many as possible. With that being said, here is my quick run-down of players. Let's start with Drouin: Drouin is listed as a LW, because he is playing LW. However, he is also a center! He has played center right up until this season when he went to play with his pal MacKinnon. Also, Drouin isn't really 'small' - not really anyways. He is 17, 5'11 and 185lbs. He is not a tiny guy. I would bet he will play in the NHL in his first season. MacKinnon - An inch taller than Drouin, and lighter. Nobody is saying anything about him being small. Anyways, he has a non-stop motor. Though people have compared him to Crosby, and he downplays it - he does remind me of Crosby a bit. He is a non-stop checking machine. He forechecks AND backchecks with fire. He is pure speed, coupled with a high-level of skill and hockey smarts. Drouin has him beat on hockey smarts and skill, but the gap is not that huge. Slightly bigger and faster than Drouin (once MacKinnon fills out more). Jones - Flames will be very interested in him. How well do you think they have scouted him? He plays with Wotherspoon. Instant chemistry with someone in the organization. This guy should be an elite defencemen. Yes, some other 1st round picks have been labeled as elite future defencemen, but few have as many strengths as Jones. He won't miss. Barkov - First off, he is NOT slow! There is ZERO concerns with his skating. There is hardly anyone in the NHL that is as fast as MacKinnon RIGHT NOW. Barkov can (and will) keep up to the pace of the NHL. He is big (you can't teach size) and is already a very great 2-way player. NONE of the top 4 will I complain about IF the Flames get to draft that high. The way I see it, you have 3 centers and one defencemen in this draft, all having elite potential. With that being said, I have no idea who the Flames will target. Flames are really weak organizationally in their defensive prospects - more than centers. Will they take Jones, especially after watching him so much this season? Will they Drouin - starting in the Darryl Sutter days, this organization has shown a preference for the really smart cerebral "high hockey IQ" types - and there is nobody higher in that category than Drouin according to a lot of scouts out there. I don't think the Flames will miss by taking MacKinnon or Barkov - MacKinnon is the type of player that just drives possession, has blazing speed (think Lombardi but with actual hands and IQ!), and there is NO WAY this kid is going to end up being less than a 1st line center unless he runs into some serious bad luck with injuries. Barkov - show me one fault in this guy's game? The only negative thing that I can say about him is "MPS was playing against men too, and look at how he turned out"... Barkov is light years ahead of MPS in everything except maybe speed (MPS to me is a good comparable to Lombo - little hockey IQ or hands, but full of speed). Barkov is big, he is very cerebral, his skating is probably average (I would say above average from the limited times I saw him, and many scouts still say above average - compared to MacKinnon, almost the entire draft class is 'slow'), and he already plays a very solid 2-way game. He makes sick passes through players onto the tape of team mates, he can shoot... I really haven't heard of any weaknesses to his game at all. This top 4 is simply amazing. I laugh at the 'Drouin is the next Shremp'! Drouin WILL be a superstar in this league. Will he play center? Good question.. he is playing LW now, but has played center apparently for his entire life. Anyone watch Halifax and can comment on what position Drouin played when MacKinnon was injured? I bet he got moved back to center. The only reason I 'cringe' about Seth Jones is that when compared to the last 'x' number of defencemen that have been drafted 1st over-all, it is quite an underwhelming list. However, Pronger was drafted #2 behind Daigle. Teams have a very hard time without having an elite defencemen on this roster, and elite defencemen play half a game! I would really love to know who Calgary has 1-4 on their list come draft day. I don't think they will get the #1 over-all, but it would be very interesting to me to see how they have all the players ranked, and their reasons behind it. I wish I always could find out every draft year, as teams have their orders so vastly different from other teams.