Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
True. And yet MacKinnon isn't particularly big.
And yet we also need a #1 d-man. And a franchise goalie. And a 1st line winger.
We have needs all over the place.
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Many posters on this board are conditioned to think that getting a #1center should be our #1 priority, but as they say in The Wire: the Game dun changed. Since we've begun the rebuild & traded our best forward, best defenceman and could imminently lose our best goalie I think it's fair to say BPA is the only way to go. We actually have some good young centermen coming through the ranks for once, and while I'd be over the moon to get a new Nieuwendyk we cannot ignore that we have glaring holes at all positions (except LW)
Jones is reported to be 'more than NHL ready'. Right-sided, big, smart, fast, tough franchise defenceman. Yes please. Colorado & Florida have the best chance of picking him, barring a minor miracle, but if he fell in our laps it would be absolutely idiotic not to take him as he fills a pretty major organisational need.
Nichushkin could well be a better prospect than any of the other forwards, but the KHL risk factor has seen his stock decrease. If he's still available at #8-10 I would strongly consider packaging the Pittsburgh & St Louis picks to move up, but it's very wise not to use a top 5 pick on him when there are so many good options available.
Regarding Drouin, my only reservation on taking him before Mackinnon is that our ONLY organisational strength currently is small, very skilled left-shooting LWers. He definitely considers himself a center & he would be a great pick, but we would have a logjam at all levels of our organisation at LW and very little depth anywhere else.
Mackinnon is the best pick for us because, though he's a center he is right-sided (relatively rare asset) and he can play RW naturally. If you look at our entire franchise we have one legit top 6 Right Wing in Stempniak, and no one else anywhere that projects. There's also a good chance he drops to #3 or 4 which is likely where we will pick thanks to Colorada and Florida sucking harder than anyone has sucked since the Oilers.
In summary, our draft strategy in the first round should be as follows:
-BPA with first pick (Jones, Mackinnon, Drouin, Barkov, Monahan, Lindholm, Nichushkin, Nurse)
-no goalie in the first round (I'm taking to YOU, Feaster)
-prioritise right-sided C, RW & D
-prioritise top-6/first D-pairing players 6' or above with later picks (Gauthier, Nichushkin, Mantha, Ristolainen)
-deal from our only position of depth (LW) to acquire good assets elsewhere (Tangs/Cammy/Glenny could be tempting bait to acquire more picks; packaged with the late first to move up; packaged with a first to acquire top NHL talent)
Bring in the draft already.