Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashasx
The Flames recently took Stromgren over Stankoven. Not sure they would have picked Point today without the benefit of hindsight.
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They also took Coronato over guys like Bolduc or Lucius who were bigger prospects.
I think at this point the Flames are drafting the guys they think are the best player.
Unfortunately in the case of Stromgren and Stankoven it looks like they were wrong. Also much easier to say in hindsight - especially with the weirdness of the 2021 draft and the lack of hockey played by the prospects in that draft.
Stankoven barely played in his draft year, Stromgren had a pretty strong draft year NHL Equivalency with strong numbers. So not like he was a big guy that didn't produce at all that they drafted just because he was BIG.
In regards to Francis I'm a bit surprised he didn't sign. I do wonder if that was the Flames or Francis that made that decision.
Francis had great years in 19-20 and 20-21, but seemed to regress this past season. So Flames could have made decision to cut ties. Seems weird they wouldn't want to sign him when they had played him in AHL games this year and seemed fond of the player though.
Francis might also see an organization that has guys like Gaudreau, Mangiapane, Phillips, Pelletier, and Coronato as undersized forwards already and think that he's unlikely to get a good look in this org.