Quote:
Originally Posted by YyjFlames
Not me. They're drafting appears more well rounded than that, and goes beyond just the NHLe thing.
Last year, all of their picks except Misa were 6' or over and most of them are decently sized. They simply appear to have gotten value by perhaps finding a guy with a wart that other teams didn't like (Mews) or who they saw had more going on but might not have had the opportunity (Battaglia!).
This year, they drafted two slightly smaller guys in the first round, but they were arguably BPA at that spot and played the centre position, which was the Flames' area of need. That those guys are slightly shorter isn't really a big deal where they were drafted... (and Reschny at least doesn't play small).
Then they went with a big boy centre with their second rounder (who they feel has a ton more potential for health reasons) and a REALLY big boy defender in the third, so it's not as if they are focussing exclusively on smaller, skilled guys with good NHLe. They're just seeing something in their picks that other teams may be missing.
Anything after the third is found money and Wyttenbach seems like an excellent value pick in the fifth round, especially since they followed that pick with another good sized winger in Lane with high upside and a decently sized defender and forward that their area scouts liked a lot in the 7th.
This more just looks like a pattern of good scouting with a team of scouts that do their homework and use analytics who have a large amount of front office trust. I think it's only a question around here, because the Flames haven't had as many high picks in the last few years as they were in their competitive window.
|
Both their 7th rounders are much bigger than sites like EP project apparently. Both well over 6 feet tall, so I don't think the prospect group at forward is especially small.
The Flames make their share of big guy picks (Laing, Lane, Matveiko, Stockselius, Phillips) so I do think they are covering more bases than a team like Carolina that seem to put a huge premium on skill no matter the size.