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Originally Posted by stemit14
The proposed trades I posted did include a 2024/2025 first round pick from Pittsburgh so the chance at a sober second thought in future drafts is there. I understand that acquiring additional prospects as well is ideal but teams are less eager to trade promising prospects that they have been developing already and could be cost-controlled during their competitive windows. Not many of the 2023 picks taken outside of the top ten will likely contribute much to those competitive teams within the next 1-2 years so they might be more willing to trade those picks instead of NHL-ready prospects.
There’s a risk to making picks of course. Picking 5 times in the first round, it is likely at best only 2 of those picks become impact NHLers. Drafting success can be greatly helped by not forcing your scouting staff to choose between equally skilled players that ranked close together.
Imagine if the flames left the first day of the draft with Cristall, Danielson, Wood, Musty and Ritchie… or say Moore, Danielson, Barlow, Willander and Simachev. Or any combination of those players. Who knows who would be available at picks 13, 14, 16, 17 and 30 but there would be a real chance to come out of the first round with a loaded prospect cupboard like that.
Conroy says he has 3 guys that they have on their list that they think might be there around 16… they could get all 3. Boston in 2015 is a cautionary tale for this strategy though. If you trust your scouting staff and think they have a good read on these players, then I think it’s a great move. Overall, I think the flames scouts have done pretty well with the picks they have made in recent drafts so I would feel confident if they had that many kicks at this draft.
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Sounds like a potential cap nightmare in 4-5 years if all those guys come up at the same time and are playing well.
Would also have quite a few holes to plug in your roster between now and then if you’re sending out 5 players and only taking one (Granlund) back. Perhaps Coronato can take one spot but doesn’t sound like Zary or Piorier are particularly ready from what I’ve heard people close to the team say. Maybe Ruzika? But, as a manager, you also have to be mindful of your minor league teams, do there’s holes there to fill also if the plan is to graduate AHL players who may not even be ready for NHL mins.
So, you’re either looking to fill those spots by trading assets for NHL players or signing UFA’s which is terribly out of fashion.
I’m not against the principle here but I think it’s more realistic to gain a pick, or two, at this years draft and make some other moves over the course of the season for the 2024 draft. You may also need to take money back, specifically this year due to the modest cap increase. That’s fine so long as the returning players have 1-2 years left. You still need an NHL roster, not an NHL/AHL roster.