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Originally Posted by Aarongavey
The Flames drafted 3 centers with their first 3 picks last year. I would guess they will draft at least 3 more in the first two rounds of the 2026 and 2027 drafts. The only concern around center depth is based around whether the Flames want to be competitive right now because they are definitely filling the pipeline in that regard and will likely continue to do so.
Will have to see how Minten turns out but guys who don’t score in junior rarely become offensive players in the NHL. I would guess the Flames missed out on a 3rd line center by missing out on Minten.
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I think the concern is that C is probably the position that scouts do the best job at, and seemingly one of the hardest positions to developed.
Top 4 defensemen and top line wingers come out of the middle rounds all of the time. Goalies take a while to develop and can come out of anywhere. But later round centers who do make it, typically make it as wingers.
So if you're not picking in the top 30ish and the guy isn't developing great your odds of getting a #1 or #2 center are low.
Maybe the Flames have found 1 in Reschney, but he has a ways to go. This years draft is looking like it might only produce 1-2 guys in that caliber and the Flames will be likely to draft both ahead of and behind where they should be going.
There's always a chance they could do the even rarer thing and try to convert a winger to center. But it's certainly shaping up to be the hardest thing about developing this roster.