Craig's List 2014 Prospects

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

From looking at the standings, Nashville is worrying me because they are doing last minute tanking again.

A) Virtanen - I like the grit to his game, and has a wicked shot. I think he's listed as a LW, but I could see him being moved to the RW for us since we lack RWers.

Nashville finally got Rinne back. If he can round his game back into form he should be a substantial upgrade on Carter Hutton and crew. There is some hope that Nashville may actually be better at this end of this season with Rinne back.

Virtanen is listed as RW actually.

[Tbull8]

Anyone have a link to the video of bennett's suspension?

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

However there's lots of players ranked in the top 10 that are over 6 feet. And since that is where our first is going to land looking at the size of the entire first round is misleading.

Ekblad - 6'4
Reinhart - 6'1
Bennett - 6'0
Dal Colle - 6'2
Draisaitl - 6'1
Ritchie - 6'2
Fleury - 6'2
Perlini - 6'2
Virtanen - 6'0

That's 9 players to pick from that are often ranked top 10 and are over 6'0. Plenty there.

The major players getting top 10 consideration that are under 6'0 are Nylander and Ehlers, I'd imagine we pass on them.

Agreed - I'm not worried about our first, I'm concerned about our 2nds more than anything.

The temptation from Burke might be to go after size given his comments. Only problem is that we need some skill with that size. We have bottom 6 forwards and bottom pairing d in our pool which should be able to contribute. We need top 6 forwards and top 4 dmen which may not be available by the time we pick in the 2nd, leaving us with skilled shrimps or big checkers to pick from.

We will see how the rest of the season goes but as much as I want to have as many picks as possible, it might be prudent in this draft year to trade our 2nds for a late 1st to guarantee we have the type of player available and not be left to make decisions on skill vs. size. This is all premised by the fact we find a willing trade partner who is willing to trade their first for a couple of 2nds.

[YogiBerra]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Agreed - I'm not worried about our first, I'm concerned about our 2nds more than anything.

The temptation from Burke might be to go after size given his comments. Only problem is that we need some skill with that size. We have bottom 6 forwards and bottom pairing d in our pool which should be able to contribute. We need top 6 forwards and top 4 dmen which may not be available by the time we pick in the 2nd, leaving us with skilled shrimps or big checkers to pick from.

We will see how the rest of the season goes but as much as I want to have as many picks as possible, it might be prudent in this draft year to trade our 2nds for a late 1st to guarantee we have the type of player available and not be left to make decisions on skill vs. size. This is all premised by the fact we find a willing trade partner who is willing to trade their first for a couple of 2nds.

I wouldn't be too worried about getting size in the second round there is only 1 person under 6' from 31-50 on Bob Mckenzie's draft list. The lack of size seems to mostly be a problem in the mid-late first round.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by YogiBerra

I wouldn't be too worried about getting size in the second round there is only 1 person under 6' from 31-50 on Bob Mckenzie's draft list. The lack of size seems to mostly be a problem in the mid-late first round.

But what kind of skill comes at that size? We don't need big, unskilled forwards or dmen. Need size with upside is my point. Doesn't appear to be the case the further you get down.

As Burke stated in his presser when he fired Feaster, we need to get the draft right. Would rather move up to get a 2nd first where that size/skill combo appears to be present instead of gambling on wild cards (no problem if we do that with our 3rds, or even packaging the 3rds to get a 2nd). Quality vs quantity.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

However there's lots of players ranked in the top 10 that are over 6 feet. And since that is where our first is going to land looking at the size of the entire first round is misleading.

Ekblad - 6'4
Reinhart - 6'1
Bennett - 6'0
Dal Colle - 6'2
Draisaitl - 6'1
Ritchie - 6'2
Fleury - 6'2
Perlini - 6'2
Virtanen - 6'0

That's 9 players to pick from that are often ranked top 10 and are over 6'0. Plenty there.

The major players getting top 10 consideration that are under 6'0 are Nylander and Ehlers, I'd imagine we pass on them.

If Virtanen is only 6 ft I need a doctor to find out why I shrunk so much in a year.

He's seems a little taller than me and I'm 6'1

[devo22]

Originally Posted by T@T

If Virtanen is only 6 ft I need a doctor to find out why I shrunk so much in a year.

He's seems a little taller than me and I'm 6'1

WHL.ca has him listed at 6'1

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by T@T

If Virtanen is only 6 ft I need a doctor to find out why I shrunk so much in a year.

He's seems a little taller than me and I'm 6'1

I'm sure some of the stats are a little dated. A lot of these kids are still growing. Mackenzie's list has him at 6'0 (that's the list I used) and so does Button's. CSS has him at 6 foot, 3/4 inch.

I can't seem to find the CHL top prospects testing results which should be the most up to date. We will get the best measurements from the combine.

Here's the CSS rankings w/height/weight

1 BENNETT, SAMUEL 6' 0.25" 178
2 DRAISAITL, LEON 6' 1.75" 208
3 EKBLAD, AARON BARRIE 6' 3.5" 216
4 REINHART, SAM 6' 0.75" 185
5 DAL COLLE, MICHAEL 6' 1.5" 179
6 FLEURY, HAYDN 6' 2.5" 198
7 RITCHIE, NICHOLAS 6' 2.25" 231
8 PERLINI, BRENDAN 6' 2.5" 205
9 VIRTANEN, JAKE 6' 0.75" 208

Some of these kids will probably sprout another inch. So all in all it's a pretty good year for big players. Tons of guys over 6'0. A surprising amount of them over 200 lbs already. Not a horrible year to finish out of the top 3 considering our need is for size/strength. Our scouts should have a nice selection of big players to pick from in the #4-6 range.

[T@T]

[Quote = devo22; 4663910] WHL.ca has him listed at 6'1 [/Quote]
Phew, thought I had a shrinkage issue, I shook his hand a few weeks ago and he seemed a little taller but I didn't look at his footwear, I was wearing thin soled shoes so 6'1 is a good bet.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by PlayfulGenius

I can't see it being that much at all...

... for Burke to forego Ekblad and settle for Bennet... I don't see it taking much more than Nurse... certainly not another 1st and 2nd round picks... no GM would ever pay that much.

Now, to drop down to #4 where there's a well-documented drop-off, a 2015 1st and 2nd might very well be necessary.

You do realize not only are the Oilers our division rivals but our provincial rivals as well and Burke hates Lowe. I would definitely take more than Nurse. I would say Eberle plus EDM 1st.

[YogiBerra]

Craig is saying Draisatl is number 4 on his list, he thinks he can challenge for the first overall now. Hopefully we can get into the top 4 this year.
GP G A P +/-
Sam Reinhart Nov. 6/95 C R 6'1/185 56 34 63 97 22

Aaron Ekblad Feb. 7/96 D R 6'4/216 55 22 28 50 4

Sam Bennett Jun. 20/96 C L 6'0/178 56 36 55 91 34

Leon Draisaitl Oct. 27/95 LW L 6'1/208 60 35 62 97 2

Dal Colle Jun. 20/96 LW L 6'2/184 65 38 56 94 9

http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=49649

[Spinach]

I'm not at all liking what I've read about Draisaitl. His pace (both thinking and skating) is on the slow side, he's a little soft, inconsistent, a number of scouts are very skeptical about his upside as a #1C. Button just appeared on TSN really plugging him, though. Taking Dal Colle seems like an overdose of LW's.

Virtanen or Fleury sound just as good at 4-6. When the best player available isn't clear, there's nothing wrong with drafting based on need, provided your scouts are high on the guy.

[herashak]

Originally Posted by Spinach

I'm not at all liking what I've read about Draisaitl. His pace (both thinking and skating) is on the slow side, he's a little soft, inconsistent, a number of scouts are very skeptical about his upside as a #1C. Button just appeared on TSN really plugging him, though. Taking Dal Colle seems like an overdose of LW's.

Virtanen or Fleury sound just as good at 4-6. When the best player available isn't clear, there's nothing wrong with drafting based on need, provided your scouts are high on the guy.

Have you even seen draisatl?

[FlameZilla]

Draisatl is nicknamed the German Gretzky for a reason; when he has the puck he completely dictates the pace of the game. His vision & playmaking are his strengths. His game isn't based on athleticism as much as hockey sense.

He couldn't be a more stark contrast to Virtanen, who scouts describe as the best & fastest skater in the draft with a high-end NHL calibre shot. When he chooses to he plays a strong physical game. I've seen him listed as 6'1", 208lbs in places (roughly Iggy's size). On paper he fits the bill of exactly what I would be looking for in a player to add to our prospect pool. It just concerns me that so many scouts are so adamant that he's not in the same tier of player as the top 3 (or 4 including Draisatl). Is his consistency an issue? Is it a Brendl/Fata scenario where a player has all the tools and no 'took box'? Why do scouts have a reservation about him when he sounds like he could be a pure sniper?

[Red Slinger]

Button seems to be pretty low on Virtanen for some reason. Most of the rankings have him listed in the top 15 but Button seems to be the outlier when it comes to Virtanen.

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

Button seems to be pretty low on Virtanen for some reason. Most of the rankings have him listed in the top 15 but Button seems to be the outlier when it comes to Virtanen.

Yeah, consistently ranks outside the top 30.

I wonder what he's seeing that nobody else is. Or maybe he's missing something that everyone else can clearly see.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Yeah, consistently ranks outside the top 30.

I wonder what he's seeing that nobody else is. Or maybe he's missing something that everyone else can clearly see.

Or Burke really loves him and told Todd to feed Craig false information to make other GMs be a bit more wary of him.

#conspiracytheories

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Or Burke really loves him and told Todd to feed Craig false information to make other GMs be a bit more wary of him.

#conspiracytheories

That could be!

Though if we remember back to 2012, Craig Button was the only one who ranked Jankowski in the top 30. Not only that, but I believe he put him at #14, which was our original pick.

With that in mind, and considering Virtanen plays for the Hitmen, maybe he's ranking him in the 40s because the Flames scouts (Todd) aren't high on him.

[saXon]

Originally Posted by YogiBerra

Craig is saying Draisatl is number 4 on his list, he thinks he can challenge for the first overall now. Hopefully we can get into the top 4 this year.
GP G A P +/-
Sam Reinhart Nov. 6/95 C R 6'1/185 56 34 63 97 22

Aaron Ekblad Feb. 7/96 D R 6'4/216 55 22 28 50 4

Sam Bennett Jun. 20/96 C L 6'0/178 56 36 55 91 34

Leon Draisaitl Oct. 27/95 LW L 6'1/208 60 35 62 97 2

Dal Colle Jun. 20/96 LW L 6'2/184 65 38 56 94 9

http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=49649

Excellent. He's the guy this team needs. A duo of Draisaitl and Monahan down the middle would be absolutely mint.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Draisaitl is pretty interesting, I'm hoping if we don't end up with Reinhart Burke gets us one of those two guys. Really hoping the Flames don't drop too far back of the suck leaders but other teams seem to be going full tank.