went Falkovsky. Big dman, with decent mobility, who picked up points (ie. not drafted as a "shutdown" guy), who's OHL coach raved about as high potential/prospect...
http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=889983
Quote:
He was a fish out of water when he first came here, having to adapt to the North American game and the speed of our league,” said Brown, a veteran of 700-plus NHL games as a defenceman. “But he’s a smart kid and a smart player who after realizing he couldn’t rely on just his long reach started to move his feet and he became a very effective player for us after that.”
By season’s end, the towering rearguard who speaks little English, demonstrated he had no problem acclimatizing to the North American game in the nation’s capital.
He not only finished tied with overager Evan De Haan for scoring by team defencemen with nine goals and 32 points in 58 games but finished with a team-best plus-17 rating.
“Six-foot-seven and moves the puck really well,” Button said. “Fairly mobile and wants to stay in North America and play. If he was in college, he might be one of those free agent’s that in two years everyone is looking at. We think we got a head start by getting him in the draft.”
As does Brown, who was shocked his standout defender, who went undrafted in 2015 despite being ranked 44th among European skaters, had taken so long to come off the board this time around in Buffalo.
“I was very surprised,” said Brown, whose own son Logan was taken 11th overall by the Ottawa Senators. “You can’t teach size and to move with that size. The kid has a good hockey brain. If he can put it all together the Flames are going to have one heck of a blue chip prospect on their hands.”
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