Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post

PeteMoss · 01-26-2022, 08:06 AM

I think part of the reason the Flames have the veteran 4th line - outside of Sutter's preference - is that the drafts where you'd expect guys to start to slot into 4th line roles were essentially barren.

We had 1 pick in the top 100 between the 2017 and 2018 draft. For comparison - in the last 2 drafts - we had 9 top 100 picks.

You'd obviously hope Valimaki will become a regular as the 16th pick. But everyone else in those drafts were 4th rounders and below. So you end up wishing on a tiny 6th rounder and undrafted guys to come save the 4th line. You just don't have the guys in the system now like Markus Granlund or Lance Bouma who while didn't have great careers, they can be NHLers for 4-5 years and fill those roles.

01-26-2022, 08:06 AM	#151
PeteMoss Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: SW Ontario Exp:	I think part of the reason the Flames have the veteran 4th line - outside of Sutter's preference - is that the drafts where you'd expect guys to start to slot into 4th line roles were essentially barren. We had 1 pick in the top 100 between the 2017 and 2018 draft. For comparison - in the last 2 drafts - we had 9 top 100 picks. You'd obviously hope Valimaki will become a regular as the 16th pick. But everyone else in those drafts were 4th rounders and below. So you end up wishing on a tiny 6th rounder and undrafted guys to come save the 4th line. You just don't have the guys in the system now like Markus Granlund or Lance Bouma who while didn't have great careers, they can be NHLers for 4-5 years and fill those roles.