Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL
Yes, the Flames haven't had many picks, but based on the picks they have had, most draft models absolutely love their prospect pool, including Byron Bader, who has the Flames ranked as having the 6th strongest prospect pool in the NHL (8th in players, 11th in goalies):
https://twitter.com/user/status/1421117051733610496
Would be interesting to see how deep the Flames' prospect pool would be if they had more picks, but at the same time, in a situation like with Eichel, when you have a strong prospect pool and are looking to contend now, it's a no-brainer. |
My experience as a Flames fan has taught me that it doesn’t really matter how good the prospects are because Calgary will traditionally go sign 3 or so plug older grinder guys and fill the bottom of the roster. The maneuver is easy to justify because “young guys should have to push them out” but what happens in practice is that kids coming into a training camp lack the maturity and experience that the plug guys have and then get sent down. The end result is less to no chance to build confidence or adjust to NHL speed.
I expect more of the same with Darryl Sutter who focuses harshly on mistakes and doesn’t let his rookies / kids make them. I look at already the dubious handling of Kylington or even Valimaki and instead promotion of a guy like Stone. Call me crazy but I predict that when Kylington rolls along to another team he may just “all of a sudden get it” (how often does this happen to the Flames lol) and be amazing.
Calgary can draft A+ers all day long but they can’t develop worth ####. There’s gotta be a middle ground between Edmonton’s just throw them in the NHL day 1 and Calgary’s “let’s wait until they’re 25” mentalities.
In sum. Stop signing plugs in the off-season and play at least a rookie or two and let them develop in the NHL or rotate in/out multiple rookies / young players. Stop depending on the AHL to exclusively develop.
Yes there are lots of generalizations in this post but this should ring familiar to fans who have followed this train wreck organization for the last 30 years. Yes I’m a Flames fan stop crying in advance and no I’m not cheering for someone else deal with it.
I predict many people who only think in black / white will not understand this post or what I am referring to when I saw loosen the reigns just not all the way and balance younger player time. Stop making it almost impossible to crack the G D team because you’ve signed a $4MM 4th liner.