Quote:
Originally Posted by strombad
The glaring problem with the whole Janko situation is that he is probably 4-5 years away from really contributing at the NHL level (if development goes great and he progresses at a pretty substantial level). That's a long time, and while we may be in a rebuild, I'd wager that most fans hope the Flames are a contender by then, but everyone CERTAINLY expects them to be in the playoffs by then.
I think the most frustrating part of that pick is it doesn't help our rebuild. Janko is likely coming in at the tail end when the Flames are already a year or two into the upswing.
I'm of the mind that he could very easily be a fantastic pick, but I'm still 'meh' on it in general. I'm certainly not going to hassle people for not liking the pick or showing their frustrations with it though, it's entirely understandable.
I mean, let's look at it this way: He is currently well under half as productive as Gaudreau, while being just 1 year younger and in a much more 'NHL size' frame. A lot of people think Gaudreau is going to play, but there are a ton of questions on how effective he will be. Take a guy half as productive, and tell the fans he's going to be an all-star and the best of his draft class, and watch the reaction.
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I'm going to dismiss your "likely coming in at the tail end when the Flames are already a year or two into the upswing." comment by pointing out what the Hawks have been doing. Guys like Saad, Pirri are coming through the system. In a cap era you need cheaper home grown talent. If he develops properly, would it be a bad thing to get guy of his size, IQ, skill coming in 4-5 yeears and manning 2nd/3rd line? I don't think so. All top teams have guys drafted from different years emerging, thats what you need.
You need a wave of player or else we'll end up doing what the folks up north are doing, handing out 6 mill a year contracts to everyone and their mailman.
As for as Gaudreau goes, he production is an exception, how many NCAA guys are producing at his rate? Where Jankowski lacks in points right now he makes up for it in size. Right now imho Gaudreau is a bigger question mark then Jankowski and thats simply cause of his size.
Janko is at 0.65 ppg right now in a very defensive system
His first year playing center
His wingers aren't the most skilled guys
I agree he's a question mark but WE all knew this, we all knew he was a project that will take time but how many other guys are out there like him? His size, skill, vision? if he puts is all together then we have a gem on our hands, thats what excites me if he doesn't? well we then missed out.