I am way more curious about what later round gems the Flames will find. Between 2011 and 2019 the Flames had 32 picks after the 3rd round (little more than 3 a year when theoretically they should have had 4 a year). Out of those 32 picks nine players played at least 30 NHL games with a number of very good players being found (9/32 - 28% hit rate).
The players that played more than 30 games were
Gaudreau (draft year 2011)
Broissant (2011)
Kulak (2012)
John Gilmour (2013)
Mangiapane (2015)
Phillips (2016)
Ruzicka (2017)
Pospisil (2018)
Wolf (2019)
Outside of Gilmour and Phillips (I believe Ruzicka could have been a player but for the off ice problems) the other 7 are legitimate NHL players. Flames just need more picks in general, they find talent in all areas of the draft.
|