Part of the Flames’ continuing mediocrity problem is the lack of high first round draft picks, which have the most likelihood of developing into top 6 forwards or first pairing defencemen. Most of the Flames success in acquiring those players has come from trades or luck with late round picks.
Looking at our main western rivals since 1979, in comparison to the Flames 1 top 5 and 8 picks in the top 6-10: Edmonton had 8 top 5, and 11 in the 6-10 order; Vancouver had 9 top 5, and 14 6-10 picks; LA had 11 top 5, and 6 6-10; and the 2 iterations of Winnipeg Jets have had a total of 5 top 5 and 8 in the 6-10.
I haven’t looked beyond these teams, but I suspect if one did, the Flames would come out near the bottom of the league in top 10 picks.
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