If the average career for a solid NHL player is 7 years (wild guess) and every team has say 9 solid F, 4 solid D, 1 solid G, and a bunch of replacement players, then teams need to graduate 2 solid NHL players on average each year. and add to the fairly large pool of replacement players.
Following this logic, which I totally made up, 2 of these players should make the Flames this coming season, or at least play their way into a full time role the following season like Klapka did. 2 more the following year, then they start to age out, so maybe one more. Meanwhile new picks are coming in to fill the pipeline. I don't see the Flames ever graduating more than 2 players a year into full-time roles.
Based on this I could see Parekh and one of Suniev/Honzek/Brzustewicz making the team next season in terms of players who are the most ready. Gridin looks like a lock in a year or two. The guys going to NCAA probably 2 years away. The rest I don't know. It's also likely that one or two of the main spots will be taken by less sexy picks, particularly on D, and players like Morton will rotate into the replacement player slots.
Not a great analysis, but it does suggest that while the Flames might have more than 5 really good prospects on the list it's unlikely they will all play for the Flames or even other teams due to the numbers game.
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