Mentioned in the trade thread that I would love to see the flames go into this draft with 3 first round picks, 3 second round picks and 3 third round picks. Hopefully their scouting staff can keep finding gems in the draft like they have over the last 5-10 years.
I’m never a fan of making “safe” picks iwhen picking outside the top 16… players with “high floors/Low ceilings” can always be found through free agency and trade IMO. Would rather the flames swing for the fences with any picks they have in the late first round or after that. Players who have fallen a lot from their predicted draft position or guys that missed time during their draft year so their viewing window was short are great examples. Players with elite offensive skills that are poor defensively or are under-sized, for example. I don’t know this draft well enough yet to know if there are any of these types of players expected to go late in the first round yet.
I remember a great example from a few years ago was Stankoven… seems like, despite the fantastic numbers he was putting up in Junior, he was never projected to be much higher than a late first round pick. I remember wanting the flames to grab him with their own second round pick but they didn’t and he fell all the way to the Stars. Now he’s a highly-touted prospect that’s worth a lot to the Stars both as a player and potentially as an asset in a trade. It surprised me at the time that so many teams would draft guys who might become 3rd/4th line players or 5th/6th defenceman instead of a guy who could potentially be a top six forward. Obviously he has done nothing at the NHL yet… but, even today, he has more value than most guys taken in the second round of that draft or even in the late first round.
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