Quote:
Originally Posted by Oil Stain
Again you talk about depth of prospects, but outside the top 5 or so at any given time, the rest of the prospects don't have much impact on the future of a team. Again going back to the Flames prospects from 2013. Half of them are no longer Flames property 2 seasons later. I think as a team you are just as likely to find an NHLer by signing a european/college/undrafted free agent as you are in your drafted depth prospects. That's another reason quality trumps depth. There are probably 2-3 times the amount of players in the world than there are in the NHL that could conceivably fill in a depth role on an NHL team.
1. Monahan
2. Baertschi
3. Gaudreau
4. Gillies
5. Jankowski
6. Wotherspoon
7. Sieloff
8. Knight
9. Poirier
10.Klimchuck
11.Horak
12.Agostino
12.Granlund
14.Reinhart
15.Cundari
16.Ramage
17.Brossoit
18.Arnold
19.Breen
20.Berra
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You really are clueless when it comes to this topic, aren't you. Having prospect depth allows you to make moves to improve the team. Continuing to draft solid prospects is what keeps your system healthy and able to move some of your current prospects for futures of pieces in a bigger deal.
For example, even though Baertschi was not living up to expectations, and held a gun to the head of the team, the Flames had enough prospect depth that the loss of Baertschi was not felt. Gaudreau had already stepped in a surpassed Baertschi. Micheal Ferland and Kenny Agostino had both surpassed Baertschi in the system. Markus Granlund can play LW as well, making another player that clearly surpassed Baertschi. Even with Sven looking like he wasn't going to pan out for the Flames they were still able to convert Baertschi into a 2nd round pick. That second round pick then gave the Flames the flexibility to target a bigger need in the organization and acquire Dougie Hamilton, while still maintaining enough picks to have a draft where they addressed organizational weakness as well.
Going down the list of highlighted players really shows you don't understand the importance of good prospects. Knight was traded for Shore, maintaining a balance in the prospect pool, or actually improving said pool. Reinhart, like Baertschi, was bypassed by numerous prospects and traded for another draft pick. That is a good thing and something you hope to see, as it means your prospect depth is continually improving. Cundari, Ramage and Breen were all released from the Flames system for pretty much the same reason. Better prospects had come along and had made these guys expendable. That is what prospect depth does for you.
That prospect depth is never more evident than ever when you look at the final three names on your list. Reto Berra, the #20 prospect on the list, was moved for 2nd round pick that turned into Hunter Smith! Roman Horak and Laurent Brossoit, the #11 and 17 prospects, were traded for Laddy Smid and Oliver Roy. We got a NHL defenseman out of two guys that had fallen down our list to the point where it was a long shot for them to make the club. Ironically, one of those guys (Horak) was one of your best prospects and you let him walk with having nothing in the system to back fill the position. The other guy (Brossoit) who never would have got a sniff of the NHL in Calgary's system is now in your top five. That is a pretty damning condemnation of the Oilers' system and lack of prospect depth. When a guy that was buried in Calgary is now in your top five, that says something about how bad your system is.
The depth in the Flames system allowed the club to trade away unneeded players for draft picks to continue the cycle and keep the system well sticked and healthy. The Oilers lack of depth had them investing picks in players other teams were willing to cast off. To try and manufacture some depth the Oilers gave away the very picks needed to build depth. The difference there is very obvious, but you fail to let this register. This is why you have to cling to the hope/belief that your top prospects are the only important ones. For the Oilers that is doubly sad, because your top five is comprised of guys other teams gave away.