[Flames Draft Watcher]

Couple more points I thought of Textcritic. A top 5 pick has a high likelihood of landings us an NHL ready powerwinger with size. A player we pick at 7 or 8 may need a couple years or may be a d-man. The Flames have current needs at wing. So while we don't want to rely on an 18 year old, drafting an NHL ready winger with size has the potential to help our depth immediately. And that player would likely be contributing at 2nd line level by his 19 year old season. Therefore drafting top 5 this year may help us achieve the playoffs a year sooner than picking a guy who is 2-3 years away. Which may help us contend a year sooner. So it may affect our immediate future in a big way.

Treliving sped up the rebuild last draft by turning a 1st and two 2nds into a 22 year old dman with massive upside. And I think the rebuild would be sped up again if we can land an NHL ready winger in the top 5. Wing is the easiest position for young players to break into and the position where you can most expect young players to excel early. I think our chances of finding an NHL ready player are much decreased in the 6-8 range although we may still get lucky.

Also I wanted to clarify on my post where I said the chances of trading up are higher if we have the 4 or 5 pick versus the 6-8th pick. I think the chances of trading up into the top 3 are higher. From 6-8 it may still be possible to trade up into the 4th/5th but I think moving into the top 3 would be cost prohibitive from that far back. So the value of trading up becomes less the further we are back.