Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
In terms of where they'll finish in the standings this year? The first team. In terms of the talent they'll be able to inject into the lineup in the future on cheap deals? The team with more guys who haven't graduated. It's not like Pronman is saying this list shows who will be the best team in the league in five years. At best, it's a ranking of who is likely to have good new players injected into their existing lineup in the next 2 seasons or so.
I think I agree with this, even though I'm not that high on Dube. Meanwhile Valimaki looks like a real long term NHL contributor at the very least and possibly a long-term top 4, while Bouchard can't skate (which seems like an important skill for a hockey player to have), so that's a pretty easy bet to make.
Anyway, I just think people need to get over it. No matter where you set the bar, I doubt the Flames would be higher than 20th. Given that they won their conference last year, that's not something to get too worked up about. Just suggests that they should try to stop trading away first and second round picks and re-stock the cupboards a bit.
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Speculative at best. He'd have said the same last year with both Dube and Valimaki "ungraduated". It's more likely than not that the majority of Edmonton's prospect pool doesn't move their bar at all.
Plus it's exactly one more year of a cheap ELC contract on their best day. Hell, Yamamoto already costs more than Dube if they are both in the NHL.
If anything, last years experience might show that Calgary's depth drafting (2nd round onwards) is superior, and therefore the guys evaluating prospect pools may just not be as good as the present amateur scouting staff.