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Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Kekalainen must have had inside intel on this player than most teams and scouts did not. I'm not so sure the Flames don't pick him at that position and I still have the THN draft issue where they compare both him and Laine and make a compelling case for that he was just as good of a player.
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I feel the draft can be a bit of a crapshoot, but most often if an obvious player drops down from their final ranking some teams have figured out a character problem or similar.
Let's take a look at the 2013 draft for example, several of the top ranked players not only fell down in the draft but became total busts. I also remember how big of a deal it was for Seth Jones to drop from 1 to 4, yet in the end he is doing amazing.
I was so upset when Blue Jackets skipped Poolparty, only to have the Oilers pick him right after. Most fans were upset at the time. He clearly has character and low IQ issues, and it's clear that Kekalainen spotted this or found some information that other GMs were not aware. Did Treleving truly intend to pick Tkachuk over Poolparty? We may never know but I wouldn't put it past him that he did some research, considering he ended up with a homerun pick in Tkachuk.