Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
I'm not even arguing that I don't like it, in fact, I'm actually saying there is a very solid chance I will like it, but I'm responding to the notion that 2nd round picks are valueless, or that it's just as easy to trade a player as it is a pick, or that it's a good thing to not have many quality prospects in the minors and other notions that some fans on this board have come to believe.
The Flames got into the position they were/are in because they failed to prioritize the draft, and now they are again deficit spending on draft picks to augment the roster. I don't necessarily disagree with that, it remains to be seen if Lazar will work out, but on the whole the Flames still need to be picking more frequently than their peers to find a diamond in the rough or two.
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While I do agree with you.. I remember a dark time where we embarrassingly had just 3 draft picks playing on the Flames that was not too long ago.. we now have 8 - 7 forwards / 1 D - and then when you look at a guy like Hamilton where we traded a 15th overall and a couple of 2nds for a guy like Dougie we are basically just fast tracking those picks to get a young, talented guy that we could only hope would turn into a Dougie Hamilton. Sure it's a bit of a gamble but the Flames do have enough prospect depth to make a few of these trades now and when you look at a trade like this Lazar one I see it as the Flames investing in a higher percentage of a chance to get an impact player who is young still but ready now. Conny said the biggest thing they were looking for was a player that could help now and in the future, someone in the same age group as the core and Lazar is exactly that.
We still have our first, we have key prospects like Jankowski, Andersson, Kylington, Hickey all pushing (I really feel something special is in store for Phillips, the kid is a magician.. I think he's a potential Gem) so when I look at where we've come from via the draft 5 years ago, to where we've gotten now I can accept a trade like this a lot easier than I ever could have 5 years ago which is truly a nod in the direction of our scouting and development.