Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
I don't think there's a whole lot to argue about here.
But it's spin.
Those that want to see the happy side of life point to the graduates and the team being 2nd in the West.
Those that want to see the grumpy side of it point to a lack of picks in recent years as hurting the farm system.
Both are very very correct.
The saving grace to have a list at all is the number of times this group has found decent to great players in the third and later rounds in recent years. It would be a boatload worse if they didn't find Mangiapane, Fox, Phillips, Lindstrom, Ruzicka, Sveningsson, and pretty much the whole 2018 draft.
But would I prefer they hang on to more picks? Absolutely. I was pinning for the 2019 first to remain in Flames control.
|
That's not what is happening here, your post is the spin.
Enoch Root is saying the flames are graduating a bunch of players and more so than the average team.
I'm saying they are barely keeping pace with contenders and are just doing business as usual for an NHL roster which is enough to tread water but not make up ground.
Quote:
|
The fact that the prospect pool is now substantially depleted is not a surprise, and nor should it be considered a red flag or black mark on the organization. There are few teams that can present a similar list, with respect to both quality and quantity, across the league.
|
This is just not true, as the four conference finalists I listed have as numerous and as good picks graduating as the Flames do. The Flames are decidedly average around the league in this respect, but some/many on this board are acting as if this is some kind of pipeline. This is just what non-bad teams do as a regular course of business.
Dallas finished 15th in the league last year in points, let's see how their last 6 years have stacked up next to Calgary, just as a random team pulled from thin air:
Dallas:
Smith
Chiasson
Campbell
Nemeth
Klingberg
Jokipakka
Ritchie
Oleksiak
Faksa
Lindell
Shore
Dickinson
Nichuskin
Honka
Hintz
Heiskanen
Let's compare to a Canadian team, say Montreal:
White
Gallagher
Beaulieu
Galchenyuk
Hudon
Lehkonen
Andrighetto
De La Rose
McCarron?
Juulsen?
Mete
Sergachev
Kotkaniemi
I mean, that is absolutely dismal and it's still 11-13 guys. But then, the Habs have also drafted 15(!) times in the first 3 rounds over the last 3 drafts so any bets on what that number might be next year when the Flames will hope to graduate another player?
The only reason people on this board think this is some kind of pipeline was because the preceding 6 years of the timeline the flames graduated:
Backlund
Aulie
Brodie
Bouma
Prust
Pardy
Boyd
Yikes
It's not that I am grumpy, it's that I can count.