Quote:
Originally Posted by Aarongavey
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.
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Interestingly, Ruzicka is having a pretty good season.
45GP 19G 15A 34PTS
He is producing at a much higher rate than former 1st round pick German Rubtsov 45GP 12G 5A
Ruzicka seems to be the #1C on his team (based on production anyway), and leads his entire team in goals, and is in a 3-way tie for the team lead in points. It is also obviously a pretty good team, as they sit 3rd in the west right now. Ruzicka sits at 37th overall in scoring.
Yes, he got derailed in NA with his off-ice issues and I am glad that the Flames moved on from him, as one can only assume that they tried to help him. However, it does show that the Flames have been finding good players deep into the draft. If Ruzicka just stayed clean, he would have probably still been a Flame, and more than likely an effective player right now for them. Flames just keep finding players deep into drafts.