If the Flames are picking at #7 or worse, and he is available, they should take the risk.
Elite potential is too high to pass up. You just have to wait 2 years to get him on the team. The guy is a legitimate talent. Risky? Yes. But I would sooner the Flames draft the best available player, and this guy is arguably right up there with Drouin and MacKinnon. Safer bets would be Lindholm and Monahan, but once they are gone, he is simply too enticing to pass up, and worth the risk.
Besides, what elite Russians don't come over? Radulov? Kuznetsov is apparently 'for sure' coming over. He stayed just to assure himself a position for the Olympics. No need to rush him in anyways. Hopefully by the time he comes over, Jankowski will be joining the team as well. How nice would that combo be? 2 BIG men with dazzling skill on the same line.
The only way he moves down to 10th is if teams require defencemen - Nurse, Pulock and Ristolainen. You have to get EXTREMELY lucky to be able to select a franchise player outside the top 10, even in a deep draft like this. Franchise players (at any position and from any country) is what this team needs desperately, and what a successful rebuild SHOULD be about.
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