Seven prospects come in, only one emerges as the best.

[korzym12]

Can we get a poll going please?

Which of these players will be the best? No specific date.

Jankowski
Cervenka
Baertschi
Gaudreau
Brossoit
Gilles
Horak

No political correctness. Which one is going to reach the same caliber as Iginla, Fleury, Nieuwendyk, Kiprusoff, etc?

[Mitch]

Lol @ Brust being there.

Baertschi will be the best.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

I vote Baertschi.

[getbak]

If you're going to include goalies, I'd put Brossoit and Gillies rather than Ramo and Brust because they're more at the same level as the other guys. It should probably also include some defencemen, like Brodie and Sieloff.



Anyway, my vote is for Johnny Hockey.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Baertschi is the only one that I would lay money on ever scoring 30 goals in the NHL.

[Vinny01]

Come on no way Sven loses this. There might be a couple votes for Johnny maybe Janko but Sven is the closest prospect the Flames have had to a sure thing since Dion

[korzym12]

Originally Posted by getbak

If you're going to include goalies, I'd put Brossoit and Gillies rather than Ramo and Brust because they're more at the same level as the other guys. It should probably also include some defencemen, like Brodie and Sieloff.



Anyway, my vote is for Johnny Hockey.

Done.

With Gaudreau beating the "odds", and Jankowski maturing..I think this could get interesting. There's a few that may challenge Baertschi. We'll see.

[Trailer Fire]

I think Sven has the best chance of being a high impact player but Johnny Hockey has the higher ceiling. I'd go with Sven though. He's pretty well a sure thing to impact at the NHL level.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Baertschi is the most sure thing. But I think Gaudreau and Jankowski have big upsides too.

[Alberta_Beef]

Gaudreau.

He just seems to have that intangible to make him the definition of clutch.

Don't get me wrong I think Sven will outscore Gaudreau more often than not in regular season play, but I picture Johnny Hockey being the one scoring or setting up all the big playoff goals.

But Sven is definitely more of a sure thing.

[moon]

Sven and it really isn't that close in my mind.

He is the most likely to make it, has the highest upside by a lot and is most likely to reach that potential.

I guess second would be Cervenka (although he seems out of place on the list) or Horak based on their likelihood of making the team.

The others seem like they still have a small shot of making it and much lower ceilings/likelihood of maxing out.

[thymebalm]

From what I've seen so far, Gaudreau has impressed me more. Gaudreau is just highlight after highlight. He's the best player in the NCAA. And that's not coming from me, that's basically the consensus.

Sven really impressed in junior and faces tougher competition than Gaudreau this year... I hope they wind up line mates.

[moon]

I understand that Gaudreau is the flavor of the week right now but it seems that people are really forgetting the season that Sven had last year and/or overrating Gaudreau.

[thymebalm]

Originally Posted by moon

I understand that Gaudreau is the flavor of the week right now but it seems that people are really forgetting the season that Sven had last year and/or overrating Gaudreau.

As I mentioned, Sven was great in juniors. He's at a PPG pace(ish) as a pro, that's incredible. Johnny is #1 on the Hobey Baker watch right now. He's flavor of the week for a reason. His NHLE is higher, and he's scoring like a mad man.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by moon

I understand that Gaudreau is the flavor of the week right now but it seems that people are really forgetting the season that Sven had last year and/or overrating Gaudreau.

No one is forgetting anything about Sven.

However in Gaudreau people are seeing a guy that was one of the top players in the USHL in his draft year, a playoff MVP in the USHL in his draft year, a point per game freshman in the NCAA, a playoff MVP as a NCAA freshman, now they are seeing him dominate and being in the mix for an award regularly handed out to Juniors and Seniors, which being clutch in almost every game.

Maybe we just see something you don't.

[Gary83]

I think it's safe to say Gaudreau is running a path similar to Sven. Very good in his draft year, domination the year after. There's just as much reason to be excited about Gaudreau as there is Sven, Sven just happens to appear to be a sure thing for at least 2nd line NHL time, there's no denying that Gaudreau has a flair for the dramatic, scoring huge goals, etc.

At this point I have my expectations tempered but it's hard not to be excited about Gaudreau, I can't even think of a good comparable to him, I know people say St. Louis or Kariya but I really don't know, he's just so friggin creative and dangerous anytime he has the puck.

[Trojan97]

In terms of overall impact on the franchise:

Baertschi
Gaudreau
Horak
Jankowski
Gilles
Brossoit
Cervenka

[_Q_]

Why isn't Brodie on this list? Is he now considered a full time NHLer?

[Calgary4LIfe]

If Jankowski hits his ceiling, then he will have the most impact on the Calgary Flames.

Baertschi is the "can't miss" blue-chip prospect. He will have the quickest impact - I would argue that he has already had an impact on the Flames.

Gaudreau - I think he has the highest ceiling out of all the above, but there is always that pesky 'will his size prove too much for him'. I think he could be a franchise winger, and I think he is more talented than Baertschi (unsure if he is more talented than Jankowski, but I would be he is).

If they ALL hit their ceilings, then I would say Jankowski, Gaudreau, Baertschi in terms of success/importance on the Flames. Baertschi is the only 'proven' (cup of coffee in the NHL that he looked good in, and he is looking great in the AHL while being the 'guy' that other teams focus on).

Brossoit and Gillies (and don't forget Ortio!) are simply too difficult to judge. They have all looked really great, but goalies just take a bit longer to gauge.

I like Horak, and he WILL be a player on the Flames, but I don't think there is much hype of him being on the 1st line, or even on the 2nd line. He will be a good 3rd liner - a good 2-way player.

I think Brodie will develop nicely, but I don't think he will ever be considered a 'franchise' player. Top 4 potential, possibly if he develops beyond most people's expectations, he will be a good #2 defencemen.

Seiloff just has top 4 potential as well. His ceiling I would say is much lower than Brodie. Culkin and Kulak both have higher ceilings, but Seiloff will probably be a regular on the Flames before those two.

The biggest wild-card really is Cervenka. I have no idea how his game will translate. I am not sure there is ever good timing for a lockout, but as a Flames' fan, it is terrible. New coach, new players in the top 6, new top 4 defencemen (and PP specialist), rookies that are on the cusp of not only being on the team, but actually making a positive impact... There was a lot to look forward to this season for a Flames' fan aside from 'will they make the playoffs' talk. I thought this season would have been the most interesting since the off-season when they hired Brent Sutter and got Bouwmeester.

[Enoch Root]

^ I pretty much agree with all of that