Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
And only 4 of them are 1st rounders.
As bad as the Flames are in the 1st round, they do seem to have a decent history of drafting players in later rounds. Maybe a product of having good scouts, but a lousy GM, since the GMs often put their foot down in the 1st round or 2, then let the scouts hash it out after that as GMs have little time during the season to watch kids play.
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I disagree with the assertion that the Flames have been bad in the 1st round lately. The last truly bad pick was the Jankowski trade down fiasco in 2012.
Sam Bennett turned out to be a let down, but he was by far the consensus #4 pick at that point, and many had him in the top 3 or even 2. Nylander and Ehler at #8 and 9 clearly turned out better, but picking either of those picks would have meant going off the board in a big way.
I still think there's a chance Bennett could become the better pick too. A 50ish point crash and bang Bennett is much better than a 60ish point perimeter Nylander/Ehlers. The power forwards do take longer to develop, and Bennett's numbers have been skewed down by slavish coaching decisions concerning his deployment.