Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan
That makes me worried whether or not we make the right pick in the draft. Don't really think we can go wrong with having the 4th pick though. Seriously, if someone picks Ritchie/Dal Colle/Ehlers in the top 3, along with Draisaitl in the mix, we have a chance at Ekblad. However, I think Ekblad and Reinhart are a lock for the top 3. Would it hurt for us to trade up to the third or first pick in the draft? I would really love to steal Edmonton's Ekblad from them.
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Flames might be that 'someone' selecting Ritchie/Dal Colle/Ehlers/whomever else.
I am personally thinking they have Ritchie fairly high on their list now. Matches what Burke has said about needing to get bigger and more truculent. He does play with some snarl in his game, though it is a bit overrated in that category - Bennett probably plays with just as much snarl.
Would I be disappointed if Flames take someone else than the 'fab 4'? I personally selected 'Reinhart-Ekblad-Bennett-Dal Colle-Draisaitl' in this poll (but I have the last 2 flip-flopping quite a bit). Do I think Ritchie can supplant one of these 5? I think so - I think the Flames would be willing to give up a BIT of skill to gain a lot of size. Do I see Ehlers or Nylander supplant one of the top 5? I don't think so - Flames have a number of average and below average skill prospects in the system, so I doubt that they would be willing to give up some size in order to get more skill. You might argue that Ehlers or Nylander has more skill than a couple of the guys ranked in the top 4 this draft (some scouts seem to feel they might).
Personally the only player I really feel is head and shoulders above everyone else is Reinhart (but most scouting services don't see it that way - I just do personally), so I will be extremely disappointed if they pass on Reinhart to take a different forward (I can be 'ok' with Ekblad, even though I prefer Reinhart, because the defence prospect pool does need a bit of an injection and I do think Ekblad is probably #2 this year). However, after that - even though I have my own preferences, I see everyone else having a wart or two in their games, and see different values with all the other prospects (except Perlini - the more I see him, the more 'generic' he seems to be to me).
Trying to guess at the Flames' rankings is a bit futile though - I can't wait for Burke and/or Todd Button to come out with some quick overview with regards to the draft in a way like Tim Murray did. If I were to guess at their rankings, this would be my guess:
Reinhart
Ekblad
Bennett
Draisaitl
Ritchie
Dal Colle
Virtanen
Ehlers
Nylander
Kapanen
If the Flames had more skilled prospects that were bigger than average rather smaller, I would move Dal Colle to 5th, then stick Ehlers, Nylander and Kapanen right behind him, pushing Ritchie and Virtanen to the 9th and 10th spots.
I might have but Fleury in there somewhere, but the only other tidbit of info coming from the Flames that I have caught besides the 'size' issue was that Burke felt there was only 1 d-man in the top 10 this year.
I bet my own list in my head will change, as will my guess-ranking as to the Flames' list as more tidbits come out from the organization.