Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I agree Kanzig was dumb no matter how you look at it as he was a guy they probably could have picked in the 4th or 5th round. Waste of a 3rd round pick essentially. Really though it's not like there was a spot for Gilmour on the big club. At least he's getting an opportunity to play for the Rangers as that wasn't going to happen in Calgary with better players ahead of him on the depth chart.
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Though it didn't turn out, you need context when it comes to Kanzig.
Kanzig was atrocious in his first year in the WHL on the Royals. Bona fide enforcer, and not much else. He played bottom pairing minutes and sucked.
In his draft year, he improved and kept moving up, and was routinely on the top pairing playing against the best players IIRC.
The Flames were holding their meetings in Vancouver with their scouting staff and the brass. They hopped the ferry and took in some Royals games - Button wanted to see what everyone else thought of Kanzig. Everyone apparently really liked him - they liked his size (of course), but also his defensive awareness, his leadership, his maturity (they spoke to people around the organization) and everything came back super positive.
Kanzig just didn't take that step, for whatever reason, after a MASSIVE increase in his development. He was an amazingly committed player as well (and his physique showed it). I think it was a fine gamble... if he did take a couple of steps, who knows how important he would have been to the Flames. It is just for whatever reason, he didn't progress (much), but at the time - and with context - I don't think it was a bad gamble.
Also, judging by Button's take on things and how the Flames seem to operate, they keep their eyes open for other teams' scouts and try to figure out who they are watching and how much they like him, and try and guess what rounds that teams take players in. They guessed right on Gaudreau, missed out on Kucherov, got it right with Jankowski, etc. Kanzig might not have been available later in the draft, though in hindsight that would have been a positive.