[bigrangy]

My List (I haven't looked at the thread yet)

I can't completely decide between the top 5, but they are ahead of the rest by a clear margin. Also, do the Flames still have Aagaard? You missed him if they do.

1 Kylington, Dynamic d-man has succeeded everywhere he goes. He will fix his holes and he will be a strong top 4 guy in the NHL sooner rather than later.
2 Jankowski, It's been a long time coming but Janko is finally ready to be unchained. While there is very little opportunity available at centre on the big team, Jankowski may just threaten to take someone's job away.
3 Valimaki, The most recent 1st is a bit of an enigma. Usually, 6'2" defenseman that put up a point per game in their draft year go top 3 but he fell a bit to 16. He's only at 3 because Jankowski is a lot closer to ready than Valimaki is.
4 Andersson, All around solid, with a decent NHL debut this season. Should be a top 4 guy once he makes it. Might not play fast enough to handle top pair/1st PP duties though.
5 Parsons, Incredible resume, but goalies are voodoo. I can't help but buy into the hype a little bit though
6 Kulak, Kulak is an NHL defenseman and he's got potential to be more. Doesn't have the scoring upside of Andersson but he's definitely not a liability
7 Fox, Absolutely wild array of offensive talents, but the hype is limited somewhat by his small frame and relatively poor skating. Could be a 2-time cup winning, Norris vote receiving Justin Schultz or he could be a grease defenseman Justin Schultz
8 Mangiapane, the 2nd best forward prospect. Great junior numbers, great first pro year should lead to a quality middle sixer hopefully. Wouldn't look out of place on a Mangiapane-Backlund-Frolik line I bet.
9 Rittich, Goalies are voodoo so I take Rittich as #2. He had a better year than Gillies.
10 Gillies, He's still good, but I'm hoping for a real strong season this year, especially with Parsons threatening to steal the AHL job.
11 Klimchuk, similar to Mangiapane. He's got good pedigree and good production. He could likely hang with Backlund and Frolik as well this year.
12 Dube, Dube has some serious talent and he should be the focal point of the Rockets this year with Thurkauf, Merkley, and Gardiner all leaving for pro. This year could do a lot to indicate whether he could be a top 6er or just a middle six guy.
13 Shinkaruk, maybe Shinkaruk turns it around, maybe not. He's got the skill, but he needs to be put in a position to succeed. #1 wing minutes in Stockton or maaaaaybe middle six minutes in Calgary should be his usage this year.
14 Karnaukhov, The most underrated Flames prospect, Karnaukhov is sort of like a Russian Jankowski. He does everything well but is obviously a little further away from being an NHL guy. He will be one though if he wants to be.
15 Foo, I'm not as high on him as most people, but 62 points in the NCAA is 62 points. Watching his highlight vids, I think he's just a product of Vecchione but there could be a player here. If I had to bet on one of them I'd take his brother Parker over him.
16 Poirier, Poirier, like Shinkaruk has the talent, but he's got a different set of hurdles that he'll have to overcome. Hopefully this year goes well for him.
17 Lomberg. Lomberg will play an NHL game. It might only be a token one at the end of the year, but I think the org loves him and I like him too. That's not to say he doesn't have talent though, he was a strong scorer in junior and college and is finally getting a chance to show he can play at the AHL level. Hopefully he gets a fair shot at being the #1C in Stockton.
18 Wotherspoon, Wotherspoon could be a depth guy in the NHL today, but I don't see him ever doing more than that. Still, that has value.
19 Rafikov, He's got talent but is a bit of a question mark to come over. With the Flames signing Stone and acquiring Hamonic (notwithstanding being the #5 on the LD depth prospect depth chart) he may move on when he gets the chance
20 Ollas Mattson, AOM is solid and maybe there's a bottom pairing guy here. He's trusted to play decent minutes in the SHL and he looked decent at the Juniors when he was there
21 Smith, I believe in Smith but I can't put him much higher than here. He should be an excellent 4th liner in his prime. He'd be way higher on this list if he could actually fight though.
22 Hathaway, Hathaway dominated the AHL with Jankowski and Mangiapane last year, but he hasn't really looked like a good hockey player at the NHL level yet and he's 25. I'm pulling for him though.
23 Tuulola, Getting into the real long shots now, Tuulola had a disappointing year in the WHL after blowing everyone away at Dev Camp and is now heading back to Finland. He's got serious talent and I hope he gets a lot of ice this year.
24 Lindstrom, I was expecting a little more from Lindstrom this year but he's progressing well. Looking more like bottom six than top 6 though.
25 Pribyl, An injury filled year dampened fans' hopes lat year but Pribyl should be poised to bounce back as the #1C in Stockton (if Lomberg doesn't steal it)
26 Ruzicka, some size and pedigree makes Ruzicka interesting but he's a long shot for now
27 Healey, big and physical is always nice but he stays here until I can actually watch him play some AHL games.
28 Phillips, Haters gonna hate. Phillips has some serious game but he looked almost completely out of place in the few AHL games he played this year. His skating was just not up to par which is a death sentence for a small guy. He should tear up the WJC's this year though and there's a lot of development time left for him. No rush.
29 Aagaard, I love his play but I'm not sure how much upside there is.
30 Joly, Longshot with the name of the draft, Joly could be decent or he could be a nobody. We'll see what happens at Dev Camp.
31 Sveningsson, Another longshot. I don't particularly like this pick in the seventh. He's small and didn't produce at a spectacular rate. When there's guys like Pavel Shen, Artyom Minulin, and Jerry Turkulainen available it's ridiculous that you go for a guy like this.
32 McDonald, Now we're in "guys that I would bet on busting" category. However, if anyone is going to make it from here, it will be McDonald, because like I've said, goalies are voodoo.
33 Mattson, I don't see what anyone sees with this guy, but he's probably a better bet than the rest
34 Fischer, Maybe there's some untapped upside here but this pick is one that shouldn't have been made. Maybe in the 7th but not in the 5th. Still, he's probably more talented than Bouma and he had a career so why not.
35 Schneider, A disaster of a year for Schneider and he ends up here. I'm not sure what the future holds for him.
36 Doetzel, There's not NHL talent left past 35, but I like Doetzel the most. He's fun to watch but I do hope Kylington gets a better partner next season.
37 Carroll, Bouma made it so Carroll might too but I really don't see it.
38 Pollock, Poor Pollock. I guess he was just a contract dump in the Russell deal.