Quote:
Originally Posted by dammage79
If you know the player never intends to sign, you move on. You don't make the pick. The fox comparable isn't great as he wasn't a 1st round pick to begin with, he was a 3rd, which is an acceptable risk.
I don't believe the American player jitters need to die. The Flames in particular have been burned too many times in the last five years to not be jittery.
What it comes down to is risk assessment and due diligence .
I get what your saying but I don't agree with it totally.
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have they? Sure, Gaudreau burned them, but apart from that mess? Maybe I'm missing someone, but Fox was the only pick that didn't want to sign (plus that was in 2018). And even with him, it wasn't a US/Canada issue, it was an entitlement issue. Carolina couldn't get him signed either.
Sure, upcoming UFAs wanted to leave. But Gaudreau played in Calgary for 8 seasons, Tkachuk for 6, Hanifin for almost 6. Then they wanted to leave, but that shouldn't dissuade the Flames from drafting American players though. The only lesson they need to learn is avoiding another Gaudreau situation, and they seemily have, given that they traded all their upcoming UFAs this season. But in terms of drafting? They didn't have any issue signing Coronato out of college.