I wonder if Tkachuk has a chance of dropping just due to his mediocre skating? Is it just me or does he look slower than earlier in the year? I think the foot injury from last round of the OHL Playoffs might be bothering him. I wonder if that causes any worrying in the war rooms. I mean he really shouldn't drop because of that since skating is something that can be improved on. Horvat looked way faster this year for example, his skating wasn't exceptional in his draft year. But maybe some scouts forget he had that foot injury and that skating nags at them.
I think VAN really values skating although Benning has talked Tkachuk up. EDM seems to like Tkachuk from hearing Chiarelli talk about him. If Tkachuk and Dubois are fairly equally liked by certain teams than maybe Dubois gets the nod due to skating?
If EDM takes Dubois at #4 then I'm not sure Benning automatically takes Tkachuk. Their last two picks are wingers (Virtanen/Boeser) and they've got young Baertschi as well. How on earth does VAN find top pairing dmen or a 1st line centre if they don't draft one this year? IMO it would be a huge mistake for VAN to draft wingers in three straight drafts with two top 6 picks when wing is the least important position in the NHL. Of course we shouldn't overestimate Dim Jim
IMO the following scenario is not out of the question:
#4 - EDM - Dubois (C/W)
#5 - VAN - Brown (C) or Sergachev (D) or Chychrun (D) or Juolevi (D)
#6 - CGY - Tkachuk (LW)
Maybe it's wishful thinking. I've also reconsidered my stance on trading up to #4. Not sure it would be worth it to do so if the Flames are truly comfortable with the kids in the 4-6 range. Pretty comfortable we'll get a great prospect at #6.