When it comes to draft picks, it seems easy to forget the circumstances surrounding the pick.
Jankowski was a legitimate pick at #21 if the team wanted to draft a forward. He had high upside and was considered a project. Immediate contributions was never expected of him. The fact that he is still in college and not in the NHL like some other prospects shouldn't be a surprise. His lack of development and domination of the college ranks is a bit worrisome at this point. The biggest issues for us fans was that Maata was the consensus highest rated guy on the board at the time and Girgensons and Teravainen were the guys the Flames were bypassing by trading down. THOSE were the choices facing management at the time.
In terms of scouting Jankowski itself, please don't say that it doesn't matter because those responsible have been fired. Button was the guy who first scouted Jankowski and got Weisbrod to go out to the middle of nowhere and watch him play.
The 2012 draft was considered, at the time, a very successful draft for the Flames if it is true that Jankowski was the guy they targeted even with the 14th pick and they had Sieloff ranked pretty highly.
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