I understand what GGG is saying here.... At the time of the pick, the Flames took the safer bet to make the NHL but the longer shot at being an NHL star. The odds of Kabanov making the NHL were lower than Reinharts but the odds of Reinhart being a game breaker were lower than Kabanovs. Kabanov was one of those "swing for the fences" pick. Who knows if he would have turned out that way under different circumstances. I think if a team like the wings would have taken him and showed him structure then he could have turned out better. But then there is the "do not draft list" that teams have and maybe the teams he could have succeeded on had him on their DND list.
Either way, Kabanov is a bust. Compare him to whomever you want but he's still not an NHL star and likely will never become one.
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Fan of the Flames, where being OK has become OK.
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