Size doesn't necessarily mean a bruiser. Being tough to play against doesn't necessarily mean you're a bruiser either. Joe Thornton and Jaromir Jagr are tough to play against because of theirsize. They protect the puck well and have the advantage of using that wing span to make plays. They are both hard to move when they get planted. Say all the crap you want about Colborne, but the guy can be a force in front of the net and is probably one of our best possession forwards when we try to cycle. His size is important to this club and we could use a few more bodies his size with similar or better skill.
I think there are a few guys that are available this draft that meet the Flames needs for size and skill. Logan Brown, Julien Gauthier, Riley Tufte, Mitch Mattson and Nathan Bastien are all big guys with skill. If we could score 6'5 215 pound Brown and 6'4 220 pound Gauthier, that would be some nice beef with skill to add to a growing lineup. Adding these guys to the stable of 6'4 200 pound Mark Jankowski, 6'3 200 pound Brett Pollack, 6'4 215 pound Auston Carroll, 6'2 210 pound Garnet Hathaway and 6'7 225 Hunter Smith provides some good beef to our lineup.
If the Flames are looking to add guys that are just tough to play against there are a couple available in this draft as well. 6'1 185 pound Michael McLeod and 6'2 185 pound Max Jones are both decent sized players but come with great motors and that black and blue mentality. Frankly, these guys just scream black and blue hockey, so it would make sense to target them as possible Flames.
This is going to be an interesting draft. I think it definitely will signal how serious about this whole black and blue thing the team is and whether the likes of Shinkaruk, Klimchuk, Mangiapane, etc. should be concerned about the hopes they have for playing in the NHL.
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