[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I think part of it, is that we're not pinning our hope on this draft. We've got a good young core in place for once.

I remember back when we drafted Backlund, it honestly felt like the best draft ever just because we drafted a skilled centre, something that team really needed to compete with Detroit. Sure, the chances of Backlund being able to compare with Datsyuk were virtually nil, but at least we didn't draft a grinding winger.

Then a lot of those years we didn't even have a 1st rounder. Sutter really managed to make us draft cynics in that sense.

2013 was really the first time we should have been excited about the draft, yet we only had 6th overall. Sure Monahan ended up being a great pick, but at the time it still felt like if we were gonna be bad, we should have been bad enough for MacKinnon. Last year should have been our first year of draft hype with the highest pick in franchise history and all that - but it was considered a weak draft class and even now, Reinhart and Draisaitl haven't made an NHL team yet.

But this year?

1) We've got Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett, and Brodie + as vets Gio and Hudler are extremely productive.
2) A lot of later round pick players from those previous draft classes - Bouma, Ferland, Gaudreau, Granlund, Brodie came off fantastic career seasons. It gets you excited about the team's amateur scouting AND player development.
3) For once, we had enough depth on the roster where we were actually a seller at the deadline. Yeah, the team has immediate holes that need filling, but they feel like surmountable obstacles. A 2nd line right winger? A #3 Defenseman? Those don't seem like they're out of grasp at 15th OA.
4) It's a deep draft class in terms of pure skill. The two most purely skilled teams in the NHL just finished the cup final.

Calgary only had one year where we didn't have a first rounder.

And in 2013, we had three first rounders.

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