The Flames 2021 draft is in the books. I felt they had a decent draft and I am excited about a few of the players added to the system.
The Athletic ranked the Flames as “Overtime Winners” in the first round and for the rest of the draft:
Quote:
9. Calgary Flames
Day 1 rank: No. 14 (overtime winners)
I really liked the William Stromgren pick for the Flames in the middle of the sixth round (he was picked three slots after where I had him ranked). I know there are scouts who saw him as a first-round talent and I’m sure the Flames probably felt about the same way. He’s a big kid but he actually plays more of a finesse game than a power one, which is always of interest to me because it’ll be easier for him to fill into his frame and leverage his size than it is for other 6-foot-3 kids to add his skill elements. I don’t think he’s going to be a big point producer at the next level per se, but he might become a good complementary offensive winger.
After years of drafting smaller forwards, the Flames went back to the size well they tapped into with Stromgren by drafting another 6-foot-3 forward in Cole Huckins (66th on my board, taken 77th) in the third round. I like his versatility offensively. He uses his long stride to forecheck hard, he takes a ton of pucks off of the wall to attack the inside of the ice, he’s got good touch on the puck and around the net, and he’s a proficient passer.
Staff with the Ottawa 67’s pushed hard for Jack Beck, who is by all accounts a great kid who had another level to find on the ice but didn’t get to find it in the OHL this year, so I was happy to see him selected after not having played this season.
Cameron Whynot and Cole Jordan are both B-grade defense prospects, in that order for me. But both top out as third-pairing types at their ceilings if all goes well. Jordan became a bit of a public sphere darling for his size-skating-transition package but I worry about his comfort level with the puck when things cave in on him.
I haven’t seen anything in Lucas Ciona that feels particularly projectable so that one was a mild surprise but hey, it’s the sixth round.
And I don’t have a book on seventh-round goalie Arseni Sergeyev because I don’t do a good enough job fitting the NAHL into my rotation.
Their Day 2 left me feeling “those kids are fine but…”
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How did you rank the 2021 draft for the Flames?