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Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus
Obviously the conversation is not about where in the first round they were selected....both players were their teams first round picks that year and Valimaki is primed to be more impactful than Makar at this point - he's actually been playing as a pro all year vs NCAA competition. It's not even close. You can argue a forward can pull it off, but I'd bet you'd be hard pressed to find much of a track record of an NCAA player stepping into the playoffs and contributing at more than a replacement level.
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Oh boy. The homerism is strong in this one.
Valimaki had a great year. He's right on track for overperforming his 17th overall selection. And he's got some nice tools and hockey sense. But he's never been considered the same tier of prospect as Makar. You wouldn't offer him to the Avs for Makar and expect them to take that trade.
And using generalizations about NCAA players is missing the point, he's not an average NCAA player. Here's a list of ALL U21 Hobey Baker winners.
Paul Kariya
John Gaudreau
Jack Eichel
Cale Makar
So maybe you need to admit he's not just an ordinary prospect. Even Zach Werenski and Charlie McAvoy didn't dominate that league as much nor were they drafted so high, and they jumped right into the NHL as top pair defenseman. McAvoy right into the... you guessed it... playoffs. Werenski's team wasn't playoff eligible when he signed, but he probably plays for CBJ in the 2016 playoffs too. Instead he had to settle for playing for Jared Bednar and leading them to the Calder Cup in the AHL as their #1D.
Girard wasn't hurt two nights ago when Bednar was raving about Makar. Bedner, who we see above knows a thing or two about defensemen straight out of the NCAA.
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and the Avs are out of options beyond Makar unless they want to put a Prout level player into the lineup in Barbiero. No depth. At least the Flames can go to Stone, Valimaki, Kylington before they have to dip into relative AHL level or Collegiate level players after their first injury. Depth.
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Valimaki is by your warped definition an "AHL level player" too though.
You're overvaluing NHL experience. Especially in April when a lot of these guys are fully dialed into their games, as opposed to October when all players, not just prospects but seasoned vets, have a lot of rust in their game that gets mistaken for inexperience. Yeah, the NHL playoffs are fast, and a huge step up. But elite talents make that adjustment quickly, and Makar is an elite talent.
Makar would be playing whether Girard were injured or not, it's not really a matter of depth, it's a matter of adding an elite talent to your lineup.
That said Calgary should be able to neutralize him and anyone else on the Avs not named MacKinnon because we have a damn good team.