Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan
Well there it is, Ritchie in the top five but he is a LW so he may not be a priority.
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Yep but in other ways he fills our biggest need which is size and physicality up front.
With Monahan, Backlund, Granlund, Jankowski, Reinhart, Knight, etc we're actually quite deep at centre so you can say that C isn't really the biggest priority either. All the top players in the draft except Ekblad are at positions we're quite deep in (C and LW).
We really don't have any powerforwards of any ilk except Ferland. I think the impact of powerforwards gets underrated by many a fan. They win important board battles and net battles which generates offense. They can't be shut down easily and can power through many a defenseman. They open up space for their teammates and wear down the opposition defensemen through their physicality.
Therefore IMO Ritchie actually fills one of the biggest needs we have in our organization. Ritchie and Ekblad are the two most unique commodities from the Flames perspective IMO.
I still favour Bennett over Ritchie for sure and I'm not sure we could pass on Reinhart for Ritchie. Draisaitl vs Ritchie might be closer than some think from a Flames perspective since Draisaitl is very similar to Monahan. If the Flames think Backlund can be a #2 centre then we are actually in great shape at centre with Monahan/Backlund as your 1-2 punch with Granlund and Jankowski as backup options and guys like Reinhart and Knight potential checking line centre options for the future.
True powerforwards with enough skill to play on a scoring line might be one of the two rarest commodities in the NHL right now along with true #1 defensemen. IMO there's more 1st line centres in the NHL than there are top line powerforwards.