Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan
There also wouldn't be any trades up or down to get the player you want at the place you believe he'll be available.
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True. Perhaps I understated how much teams can know in relation to other teams. The Flames traded down in Jankowski's year because they thought there would be a good chance he'd still be there at 21. And they were right but they did risk another team taking him in between 14 and 21.
In Bennett's year if you look at the Flames reaction to picking Bennett ("we thought we'd get one of the Sams") it seems that they knew the Oilers were going to take Draisaitl. This was heavily rumoured before the draft. Is that more a matter of the Oilers not being secretive enough or good investigative research by everyone? It's not clear. I would suggest there were reasons to believe that BUF loved Reinhart as many of their fans were convinced he was their guy. Their scouting staff showed up en masse to see his dismantling of the Hitmen.
You can find out what some teams are up to but if they are secretive enough you'll never know for sure. Some teams are more transparent than others. Some teams try to hide their intentions around later picks but are more willing to divulge on earlier pick. In the EDM taking Draisaitl example there wasn't much to be gained from hiding it I suppose.