Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
This is why I hate the 'just take the BPA' argument. The Flames have been doing that for 40 years, and the result is that we are ALWAYS thin at C.
Centers are taken early because - wait for it - they are a scarce commodity. If you sit around hoping the C will fall to you as the BPA, you will never get one.
The Flames should be drafting 4 Cs with their first 4 picks this year. Three at a minimum (if someone crazy falls into their lap for one of the picks)
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I doubt the Flames, or any team, just pick 100% BPA, but they tier their players and most teams aren't going to reach for a player in a tier below if they think that player is a fairly big step back.
Looking at who they picked over the last decade, I also don't think the Flames have really ignored the position either, but haven't had as many high picks (or many picks altogether) and just haven't been able to find a stud centre with a late first rounder or later in the draft.
The only year that this might hold where the Flames needed centres and took another player first is maybe in 2023 where the Flames took Honzek and Oliver Moore and Charlie Stramel were available. But it sounded like the Flames' scouts REALLY liked Honzek, and it's hard to not take a guy you have ranked considerably higher than anyone else on the list.
But you could also argue that in 2022, they prioritized a centre for their first pick instead of BPA and took Topi Ronni (blech) over Hutson. Mckenzie had Ronni ranked as 65 on his list and Wheeler had him at 80. Mckenzie had Hutson at 40 and Wheeler had him at 19.
This year, fortunately, it looks like there will be plenty of centres in the first round who will be in the same BPA tiers -- but generally, I'm not a fan of reaching for a position as a team is generally at the whim of where they're drafting.