Quote:
Originally Posted by $ven27
A center depth of Seguin and RNH/Huberdeau + Murray on the back end is a solid trio to build around.
xx-Seguin/Huberdeau-Eberle
xx-Seguin/Huberdeau-Gagner?
Murray-Schultz
xxx-xxx
xxx-xxx
Now that would be much better, so I'm glad they picked who they did.  |
I'm responding to a post from a OOT Scorboard thread but it seems more appropriate here.
Huberdeau looks like may stay as a LW in the NHL much like his role on Team Canada. He was drafted as a LW/C I believe, didn't Phillips centre him in junior?
I think arguably the Hall and RNH picks don't look bad. It's still too early to say on Yakupov. A year later Galchenyuk and Trouba can be argued for IMO. In retrospect however they could sure use a player like Landeskog. I think he's a lot harder to play against than RNH is. I don't think RNH over Landeskog is necessarily a mistake but it seems like EDM could use some size and strength.
To me none of the #1 picks looks like a clear mistake and yet as has been pointed out by Flames fans the fit of them together as the core does lack certain elements. They don't have a powerforward among their elite young guys, really lack in size at centre and didn't spend any of their top picks on defensemen. They could have found a better balance with different picks that's for sure.
You can make interesting combos out of:
2007: Voracek/Couture (they took Gagner)
2008: Eberle
2010: Seguin/Hall
2011: RNH/Landeskog/Hamilton(deal down)
2012: Yakupov/Galchenyuk/Trouba(deal down)
I mean Sam Gagner is a really good NHLer. But if you end up picking RNH as well that is just too small at centre. I guess they didn't expect they'd be drafting higher 3 of the next 5 years and have multiple chances to draft legit 1st line centres. Voracek/Couture arguably would be upgrades there with how things turned out but they couldn't necessarily know that at the time.
Couture, Eberle, Hall, Landeskog, Galchenyuk
Voracek, Eberle, Seguin, RNH, Trouba (deal down)
Couture, Eberle, Seguin, Landeskog, Yakupov
Voracek, Eberle, Seguin, Landeskog, Galchenyuk
Seem a bit more balanced to me.
They took:
Gagner, Eberle, Hall, RNH, Yakupov
The problem as I see it is that too many similar players were picked. And they failed to find certain key commodities that are hard to acquire and championship teams are made of.
Gagner and RNH are both small, skilled centres. Really tough for them to physically match up against the Getzlaf, Toews, Malkin, Thornton, Koivu type centres especially in the defensive zone. Tough for them to power through big defensemen as well. So a smaller centre can be physically shut down easier and has a much tougher time defending against big, strong centres.
Hall and Yakupov are both quick strike, fast, goal scorers.
Small, skilled centres and goal scoring wingers can be a nice part of a championship team. But I think you find a lot of championship teams have some size at centre, often have a powerforward or two and at least one really strong top pairing defenseman. Somehow with a #6 pick, and three #1 picks they didn't end up with a big centreman, a potential top pairing defenseman or a powerforward. Those are potentially the hardest commodities in hockey to find. I mean elite goalscorers are hard to find but them being traded is not exactly unheard of (Kovalchuk, Hossa, Gaborik, Heatley, Nash have all moved once or more often and now even Iginla.) Big, #1 centres are moved less often IMO. And skilled powerforwards might be one of the rarest commodities in hockey. It's hard to name more than a handful.
I think Seguin (size at centre) and Landeskog (powerforward) would have changed the complexion of their forward core quite nicely. Easy to rationalize why they took the guys they did, as I said each pick is quite defensible but when you look at what they ended up with they are missing some key elements of your typical championship team.
This draft they have a chance to take size at centre (Monahan) or a potential top pairing defenseman (Nurse). Drafting Monahan or Lindholm seems to make Gagner redundant which makes that pick and not grabbing Voracek or Couture seem like a mistake with hindsight. And that is why most teams don't draft tiny centres early.