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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Or we could just have Gaudreau, Baertschi, Dal Colle or Bennett opposite Poirier.
If we drafted Ehlers we'd be forced to move one of Baertschi or Gaudreau. Can't have three undersized skilled wingers in your top 6 (four with Hudler). Two of our top prospects are undersized skilled LWers.
When you're drafting top 5 for the first time ever you need to get a rare commodity. An undersized, skilled LW does not fit the bill for us. Potential top line centre or skilled winger with size are what we'll get IMO.
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If your smallest need is a centre and there's a centre sitting there, you take him. If your lowest priority is a defenceman and there's a defenceman sitting there, you take him.
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Burke also said that it would be the best player overall, no question, in the draft for the remainder. "The depth chart is addressed in free agency," he said.
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That's what Burke said after the lottery. If Ehlers is the best talent on the board, and his stock is quickly rising we'll take him.
I also don't think he's averse to taking smaller guys. He took Kadri(6'0 167) ahead of bigger forwards like MPS, Glennie and Kassian in 2009. The pick after Kadri was Jared Cowen who was already 6'5 220. Kadri was only marginally bigger than Ehlers is right now.
Morgan Reilly wasn't exactly a giant of a defenseman at 6'0 190 coming in. Burke had him as the #1 player that year, and this is ahead of defensemen like Trouba(6'2 196), Reinhart(6'4 207), and Lindholm (6'3 196).
The point is Burke knows the hardest thing to acquire in the league is skill, and he's not going to overlook players because they are small. What he does care about in conjunction with the skill is work ethic, demeanour, compete level and hockey IQ. There are quotes littered everywhere about him talking about this.
We're taking the BPA at 4, and I think it's unfair to dismiss or anoint players based on there size right now.