Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
The fortunes of the Flames won't turn around until the team can regularly graduate effective NHLers from their system. They're not yet doing that. It's only four years into the rebuild, so we should show some patience. But if the franchise doesn't start showing something from its 2nd round and late 1st round picks within the next few years, changing goalies and replacing coaches isn't going to matter much. You can't compete in the NHL today paying $3 mil and $4 mil for depth players.
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I agree, they have definitely missed on the late 1st and 2nd rounders.
2013 is a prime example. Kimchuk and Poirier are not going to turn into NHL players (Klimchuk may turn into a marginal player if we're lucky).
Meanwhile, Andre Burakovsky and Ryan Hartman were both ranked ahead of Poirier and Klimchuk but the Flames passed on them. They're both solid producers for Washington and Chicago and Hartman also plays with sandpaper.
The Poirier selection especially was the Flames reaching and thinking they've outsmarted everyone only to end up with a bust. Also doesn't help when they reached again and drafted Keegan Kanzig in the third round.
Monahan luckily fell into our lap but the rest of the draft was a failure and it's hurting the team right now. Those are the players you should be inserting into your lineup 3-4 years after drafting them.