Quote:
Originally Posted by sureLoss
Just basing it of Wheeler's early rankings, it looks like centre position is not very deep for the first half of the 1st round but lots to be found in the last half of the first round.
Here are his C rankings in his top 32:
Tier 3:
5. Tynan Lawrence
6. Ryan Roobroeck
8. Viggo Bjorck
Tier 5:
21. Jack Hextall
22. Tomas Chrenko
23. Oscar Holmertz
25. Beckham Edwards
26. Adam Valentini
27. Alessandro Di Iorio
31. Olivers Murnieks
32. Colin Fitzgerald
Of his top 3 C's only Roobroeck is over 6 feet tall at 6'4'' but he is also one of the oldest players in this draft. And yes Lawrence is listed at 6 feet, but an article from Sportsnet at the Hlinka says he is 5'11''.
LD also looks like to be a weak year as well. Only 3 LD made Wheeler's top 32.
Tier 4
13. Carson Carels
14. Xavier Villeneuve
Tier 5:
19. William Hakansson
Of course there is still 10 months of hockey still to be played and there is always kids that play up their early draft rankings and those that free fall.
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If Parekh can make the jump successfully and the young players the Flames already have at the NHL level continue to progress it is possible that the Flames could be in the draft position to get two of those centers in Tier 5 at the 2026 draft which would definitely add to their depth at center ice.