flames get 1st overall pick, today who would you pick?

[$ven27]

In order of preference: MacKinnon, Barkov, Jones, Monahan, Drouin.

[dammage79]

My personal preference and by no means at all accurate to current draft Rankings.

1. Barkov (by a fair margin, the size, the skill, the winning of face offs in a mens league, Mikko Koivu type player.)

2. MacKinnon (not sold on his skill and his slipping in the rankings verify my suspicion)

3. Drouin (If taking BPA, he has to go number one, kid has insane skill. but we dont need wingers, we have plenty)

4. Ristolainen (thought he was uber impressive in the WJC and I know one tournament does not make a clear picture of a player but by all acounts is real real good)

5. Jones (Portland has some sort of wicked magic when it comes to developing prospects and Jones looks no different. Just not completely sold on the hype and he was good in the WJC but there were some bad bad plays he made that make me worry.)

[868904]

Originally Posted by speeds

EDM's drafting with their recent #1 picks has not been a problem.

They took Hall 1st in 2010, if you want to say they should have picked Seguin, I disagree, but that's fine and either way you'd have picked a F. In 2011 they took RNH, some had Landeskog ahead, a few had Larsson but I don't think you can look at that and say they clearly made a mistake, although it's obviously too soon to be certain for any of the 3. In 2012 Yakupov was arguably considered the most consensus #1 of the 3 years, I think it would have been a mistake to pick anyone but Yakupov at the time (based on the information I've seen), but that of course does not mean he's guaranteed to be the best player or anything.

Of course it does not mean Yakupov is going to be the best player, because we know that it's going to be Jankowski

In all seriousness, looking back at that draft class, I don't think Edmonton could have gone any other way. Murray just reaks of a Bouwmeester type, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'd want more star power out of a 1st overall. It would have taken some big balls for the Oilers to take Galchenyuk with the 1st overall and the rest of the top 10 was not first overall material.

Maybe the only thing the Oilers could have done to better themselves would have been to trade the pick for a young established centreman or defenceman instead.

[Canada 02]

BPA

if you have similar ranked players, my order of preference is center, defence, wingers, goalie

[North East Goon]

Originally Posted by moon

Mackinnon is best player and Center so I go with him.

Where are reports of Jones being consensus number one pick coming from? I have seen him ranked number one but most reports have scouts split between him and Mackinnon and a consensus not being there at all.

Bob Mackenzie is saying 70% of the scouts he is in contact with prefer Jones over Mackinnon. Whether that means he is the consensus better player is probably still debateable.

[Radically Red]

MacKinnon, Jones, Drouin
I prefer the number one Center at this point.

[Komskies]

MacKinnon, Barkov, or Monahan. We desparately need a #1 center.

[neo45]

I'm going to be pretty happy when the Flames draft Darnell Nurse or Max Domi at #8

They probably won't have a shot at anybody mentioned in this thread unless they trade up

[the-rasta-masta]

I'm in the Drouin camp. Everytime I've watched the Mooseheads he is much more noticeable than Mackinnon. Always a good sign to see somebody rising during their draft year as well.

[nik-]

Not a lot of love for Lindholm here?

In terms of center being priority I would go MacKinnon, Barkov, Jones, Lindholm, Drouin, Monahan.

We won't get top 4 or 5 ... so my wish is that Lindholm drops a bit and we can get him.

[Tinordi]

I'm leaning more than ever to Jones. Mackinnon looks like he may not have the skill to be a big point guy.

[TurdFerguson]

The top 6 in this draft is sooo good. If there was ever a year to take a step back this year sure looks good. Short season, limited suffering, fantastic top-end skill.

McKinnon, Jones, Barkov, Drouin, Lindholm, Monahan

I don't like taking a dman top 3 in most drafts however Jones is special, no doubt. Doesn't fit the flames needs particularly well but that's not to say he cannot be moved for someone who does.

[Canada 02]

Draft lottery odds will remain the same this year

the league discussed making odds for the 14 non-playoff teams more balanced, but it won't happen this year.

The only difference in this year's draft lottery will remain that the team that wins the lottery will be awarded the first overall pick. In previous years, winning the lottery only allowed a team to move up a maximum of four places in the draft order.

http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/story/?id=416279

[FlamesAddiction]

Has anyone seen any reputable sources rank anyone other than Jones or MacKinnon as the likely #1 overall pick?