[prizefighterinferno]

As has been rehashed at length at this point, Calgary has positional needs all over the ice and thus you can't afford to be overly choosy when it comes to position vs. projection (BPA). However, seeing as center is so critical to team success and the right wing has an absolute dearth of talent, I would target the following (pending draft positions, within a couple spots:

3rd/4th spot (Calgary's): MacKinnon (C/RW)/Barkov (C)

15th/16th: Alexander Wennberg (C) - like his two way game and puck protection skills, decent shot/hands/size, great speed.

29th/30th: Valentin Zykov (RW) - a bit of a risk for the usual Russian/QMJHL-related reasons, but has a great release and is tough to handle in traffic (6'1, 210-215 depending on the source). Reminds me of Vladimir Tarasenko.


Although I prefer to see forwards prioritized at the top end of the draft, if a guy like Pulock or Ristolainen is available at the St. Louis pick, it would be worth the investment in my opinion. Our defense has little to look forward to at this point, and could use an injection of higher-end talent.

There are certainly other players I would be more than happy to pick up as well - Drouin, Monahan, Nichushkin, Hagg, etc. - so at least with (likely) 3 picks, there is the potential to do a number of different things depending on how things shake down positionally/players available or due to trade, etc.