[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

When this pick was originally made, I remember laughing out loud and applauding in my living room. I loved everything about it.

2012 was Iginla's last ride. Given our futility to acquire a #1C, I was convinced the only way to get our hands on one was to draft one. The best center Jarome ever played with was Olli Jokinen. That is unforgivable. But teams just don't trade #1Cs unless they're the Bruins. You have to draft them.

I wanted the Flames to prioritize the center position, and in my pre draft research, I noticed one player ranked in the middle of the 2nd round. He was a center, he was 6 ft 2 and he had 94 points. I thought 'huh. Why is a 6 ft 2 center with 94 points is ranked this low?'.

I didn't do any more investigation into him beyond that - I figured he wasn't the play at 14, and they didn't have a 2nd because they had to pay Buffalo to take Kotalik. #### my life.

Regardless, my thinking was this is the sort of player you should be taking a chance on - he's a center. If you want centers, you can't trade for them. Draft 6 ft 2 kids with 94 points.

I also loved the vision behind the pick. Yes, Feaster and Weisbrod loved to be the smartest guys in the room. But credit to them, they recognized this was not the draft to play it safe. They also recognized this was not a draft for now - nobody at 14 was going to help us in the short term, and nobody save Maatta or Hertl was worth much after 21. Jankowski may not be the best player in the draft, but he's on track to be one of the ten best players in that first round.

All the controversy, all the angst, all of it Feaster's fault... To watch this kid grow to perhaps be exactly what that crazy fat lawyer told us he would be... It's so satisfying.

I feel so happy for this kid - Mark, I hope you take this in as much as you can; you're never going to experience anything quite like it again.

Good luck, 77.

A lot of consternation at the time, which was understandable coming on the heels of picks like Greg Nemisz and Kris Chucko.