[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sport...aft/55649854/1

Interesting in this mock draft by the head scout for Redline Report they have Jankowski going at 15 as a "shoot-for-the-home-run upside type of pick." Done before the draft.

That mock has us taking Maata at 14, too.

The 2012 draft looks awful. The Flames drafted a 6 ft 2 170 lb beanpole out of Canadian high school hockey.

Now, they have a 6 ft 3 200+ lb NCAA national champion centre who is still barely older than 3-year NHL veteran Sean Monahan.

Olli Maata has missed time due to cancer. Tomas Hertl hasn't done much outside his rooster game. Teravainen is a good player, but it doesn't make sense to draft him a year after picking Baertschi and Gaudreau. Cody Ceci is decent, but certainly would only ever be the 4th best D on this team over the next decade (Ditto Maata).

I've always struggled to find an NHL comparable to Jankowski - I don't like the Nieuwendyk comparisons, but my memories of Nieuwendyk are almost entirely of him in his late 30s/40s. Is Pittsburgh-era Jordan Staal reasonable? Would you take Pittsburgh-era Staal over the players we could have drafted? I know I would.