I just can't see any of Ekblad, Reinhart and Bennett fall out of the top 3. So unless we win the lottery (come on hockey gods!) or trade up, the Flames will probably end up with one of Michael Dal Colle, Leon Draisaitl and Jake Virtanen.
I haven't spent a lot of time reading and watching stuff about Dal Colle ... simply because we are already stacked at the LW position (Gaudreau, Baertschi, Agostino, Klimchuk, Ferland etc). If Dal Colle was a RH shot, I'd be all for it ... but as it stands, even our only legitimate RW prospect is a LH shot and it's simply getting to a point where it's an LW overkill. However, I believe he played center before and if they'd convert him back it could be a different story.
Draisaitl is a guy I really can't get a good read on. Every time I saw him play he really disappointed me - at the World Juniors, I thought he looked worse than last year, and the Top Prospect Game didn't convince me either. Yet all I see is him shooting up the rankings and getting rave reviews ... maybe that's why I'm not a scout lol.
I've become more and more open to the idea of drafting Virtanen. At first thought that people just hyped him because he's a Hitman, but I see the appeal. Right-handed RW with some size and grit ... definitely fits an organizational need. I guess the Flames scouts will know him better than anybody else in the draft. By far the youngest player in the top 10 of WHL goal scoring ... can only imagine what he can do if he develops properly and is paired with a good playmaking center.
Right now, for me it's Virtanen > Draisaitl > Dal Colle in terms of what we need ... just not sold on Draisaitl and I guess Dal Colle will be an Isles pick at 4 anyway. Current center depth (Monahan, Backlund, Stajan etc) is certainly good enough for next season again ... and next year there are numerous good centermen available (McDavid, Eichel, Barzal, Strome, Konecny).
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