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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
It's a toss up. Probably many scouts have very different top 4 lists. I don't think Drouin is now the clearcut, consensus #2. I don't think there's a lot separating some of these guys.
If the Flames have all these guys ranked super closely then I suspect we might not go for the LW as we have Baertschi and Gaudreau already at that position. But if they do take Drouin I'll be fine with it as he is an absolute wizard with the puck and has a higher upside than Baertschi IMO.
I'd prefer Jones, MacKinnon or Barkov over Drouin but taking Drouin would be fine too. Wish I had seen a few more games of these players. I'll definitely be ordering some draft publications this year.
There are more possibilities this year IMO for the bottom 4 teams to swap picks and try and get the guy they like best.
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Honestly given past drafts and the situation this team is in I wouldn't be surprised to see the Flames do a little wheeling and dealing with other teams in the top 5. Might be a great way to recover a 2nd round pick + more. It will all depend on things shake out, but I can't see them targetting Jones or Drouin for reasons you outlined already. I think we have gone into quite a bit of depth that drafting the best player available isn't always the best option, filling clubs needs is our priority IMO and a #1 center is where it is at.
Imagine a tandom of Mackinnon/Barkov and Jankowski as the 1 2 punch going forward, with Bearchi/Gaudreau filling out the left side. It'd be almost like a Sedin situation (ok just stick with me here, not comparing them to the Sedins skill level) in the sense that we can plug in that RW at random and see what sticks.. it would be a much better situation than where the team is now, trying to stick mud against the wall in the center position.