Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Would you say STL, SJ, BOS or LA have elite first line forwards?
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Yes, definitely.
However I believe team building is about more than just adding skilled goalscorers. And I think that is where EDM has come up short. Part of the reason of the success of teams like BOS and LA is that they have high end talent but also have size and skating. Powerforwards and agitators can be key components of a contending team.
EDM lacks a top two line powerforward (MacTavish, "We need a Lucic type"). EDM lacks size at centre. EDM lacks a Marchand type agitator. Some of the underrated components of our 03-04 run were the powerforward (Simon) and agitator (Nieminen.) EDM does have the goalscoring talent you need but lacks a #1 defensemen, a powerforward, a big top two line centre and an agitator.
Now lets look at Calgary. We lack almost everything. We need goalscoring talent, we need size at centre, we need a powerforward, we need a #1 defenseman, we need an agitator, we need a #1 goalie. Historically it seems obvious that getting a #1 centre outside of the top 5-10 picks in the draft is almost impossible. Getting a true #1 defensemen is just plain hard to do.
If we trade up to get MacKinnon or Barkov we get our franchise #1 centre which solves one major hole. If we don't trade up we have to hope that Monahan/Lindholm can turn into a #1 centre. I don't have any problems trading up to get a #1 centre since it is something we need badly and it is a hard slot to fill. EDM didn't manage to get a #1 centre with size despite having three straight #1 picks.
If we don't trade up we have a couple rolls of the dice at some of the other roles we need. We maybe could land a skilled agitator like Hartman who could be our Marchand. We maybe could trade #22 and #28 for a pick in the teens and grab a defenseman like Zadorov, Morin, Ristolainen who could be big top pairing guys. We could maybe land a powerforward some of the potential ones are Erne, Rychel, or Horvat.