When was the last top 5 D to live up to his billing. You could add the Johnsons, Barker, Hedman, Bogosian etc. to Bouw as not living up to their billing Even though some of these guys are pretty good there is no way in hell they are better than Tavares, Stamkos and other forwards that their teams could of picked instead. It just never seems to work out better opportunity costwise.
I hear ya. That Doughty kid isn't bad though. Pietrangelo looks dece.
The top end forwards do seem a bit less risky than the top end defensemen in the draft.
Who are you quoting there? Did you watch Kopitar when he was 17? Like I said, Button grades his skating at 4/5. He'll never look explosive but in absolute terms his skating is not below average. His feet aren't going like a smaller, more explosive player, but I don't see him as someone who can't get from A to B.
My own eyes as well as scouts from Sportsnet and Hockey Prospectus. Thats okay your allowed to have your own opinion I just don't agree.
I actually really doubt the Flames will be drafting 1st overall. Being a near-cap team, they're bound to win the odd game the rest of the way, and the Panthers are just too awful being behind the Flames with 3 more games played. So, it's very doubtful that we'll have to worry about whether or not to pick Seth Jones... This is a good thing though, because I think they need to draft a franchise center, meaning one of MacKinnon or Barkov. I mean sure, our scouts think they have something in Jankowski, but if he turns out to be NHL quality, then great. But we can't put all our eggs in one basket. The stronger at the center position we are, the better.
I see us finishing in the 3rd-5th range (at best), which leaves us open to the all the top Cs in the draft, as it's likely Drouin and Jones will be picked with the first two.
Granted, I am easily impressed by razzle-dazzle and don't claim to be more knowledgable than the average fan, but when I look at the highlights, Drouin seems to have way more wow-factor than MackInnon. I know that such things can be misleading though (for example, Langkow was less showy than say Samsonov, but I know who I'd rather have).
While I think Drouin looks much better (flashy) in these clips than MacKinnon, I'd also like to bring up that Baertschi also man-handled players in the WHL with quick little moves and dekes almost regularly, though in the NHL almost nothing Sven does has worked (not that I blame him, he is still getting used to NHL quality d-men).
I'd go MacKinnon or Barkov over Drouin and Jones, but would be ecstatic over any of the big 4.
For those who really like Monohan, why? I know his stats aren't up to the rest of the top picks because his team is awful, but is he really that good?
If the Flames get the #1 overall pick and go for "gritty", defencemen, or goalies, I will cry. You always go for the skilled forward.
Defencemen and goalies take too long to develop. It's also much harder to predict how a defenceman's game will translate against larger opponents. The best young defencemen in the league to emerge lately, Subban, Letang, Karlsson, etc were not chosen within the top 10.
If the Flames pick Jones over MacKinnon, I will snap.
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I hear ya. That Doughty kid isn't bad though. Pietrangelo looks dece.
The top end forwards do seem a bit less risky than the top end defensemen in the draft.
When it comes to Jones I am concerned about how long he would want to play in a Northern Canadian city. I feel chances of retaining him when he is UFA is lower than a Canadian born player. There seems to be a preference for top American Born players to play for US teams. I know this long term stuff is just small part of the big picture but I feel you have to evaluate everything.
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When it comes to Jones I am concerned about how long he would want to play in a Northern Canadian city. I feel chances of retaining him when he is UFA is lower than a Canadian born player. There seems to be a preference for top American Born players to play for US teams. I know this long term stuff is just small part of the big picture but I feel you have to evaluate everything.
That's a real risk. The kid is from Texas and there's a chance he leaves after his seven years.
I actually really doubt the Flames will be drafting 1st overall. Being a near-cap team, they're bound to win the odd game the rest of the way, and the Panthers are just too awful being behind the Flames with 3 more games played. So, it's very doubtful that we'll have to worry about whether or not to pick Seth Jones... This is a good thing though, because I think they need to draft a franchise center, meaning one of MacKinnon or Barkov. I mean sure, our scouts think they have something in Jankowski, but if he turns out to be NHL quality, then great. But we can't put all our eggs in one basket. The stronger at the center position we are, the better.
I see us finishing in the 3rd-5th range (at best), which leaves us open to the all the top Cs in the draft, as it's likely Drouin and Jones will be picked with the first two.
Depends on how big of a firesale they have. If they sell all of Iginla, JBo, Kipper, Stajan, Stempniak, etc... they will no longer be icing anything close to a near cap team.
The teams currently beneath them are much younger and less likely to gut their team in the same way.
My own eyes as well as scouts from Sportsnet and Hockey Prospectus. Thats okay your allowed to have your own opinion I just don't agree.
Sorry if you feel that I'm hounding you or something. I know I'm "allowed" to disagree.
Last time I watched Barkov was two days ago. To me, "below average" suggests a prospect with skating issues. I don't think he has skating issues, in fact I think he has a decent stride and good leg strength for a teenager. His style doesn't involve a ton of full-tilt skating like you'll see with Canadian junior players.
When it comes to Jones I am concerned about how long he would want to play in a Northern Canadian city. I feel chances of retaining him when he is UFA is lower than a Canadian born player. There seems to be a preference for top American Born players to play for US teams. I know this long term stuff is just small part of the big picture but I feel you have to evaluate everything.
Thats an excellet point. Will he want to stay here or willhe leave for a big American city the first chance he gets?
When it comes to Jones I am concerned about how long he would want to play in a Northern Canadian city. I feel chances of retaining him when he is UFA is lower than a Canadian born player. There seems to be a preference for top American Born players to play for US teams. I know this long term stuff is just small part of the big picture but I feel you have to evaluate everything.
Maybe, but his dad (Popeye Jones) did not seem to mind Vancouver when he played for the grizzlies.
The next Schremp? Oh man, that's a good one. Anyone who's seen Drouin knows he isn't the next Schremp.
What a stupid comment.
Ok daigle?... I just don't see anything in him, all flash. He will get destroyed in the NHL, his tricks won't work just like it didn't for Omark and 600 goal scorer and 1300+ point forward Rob Schremp.
That's a real risk. The kid is from Texas and there's a chance he leaves after his seven years.
When's the last time a top US player signed in Canada as a free agent? The only one that comes to my mind is Bryan Gionta but and he's not even elite and I feel he probably knew no other team was going to offer him that contract.
Ok daigle... I just don't see anything in him, all flash. He will get destroyed in the NHL, his tricks won't work just like it didn't for Omark and 600 goal scorer and 1300+ point forward Rob Schremp.
Tricks?
He's a wizard with the puck. One of the best puckhandling forwards I've seen at his age. Miles ahead of Schremp in overall talent. He's also quite strong on his skates for his size. Oozes elite hockey sense.
Maybe you should start throwing some resumes around the scouting community. Looks like you've got a real eye for talent
When it comes to Jones I am concerned about how long he would want to play in a Northern Canadian city. I feel chances of retaining him when he is UFA is lower than a Canadian born player. There seems to be a preference for top American Born players to play for US teams. I know this long term stuff is just small part of the big picture but I feel you have to evaluate everything.
To be fair management will interview all the prospects in the top 40 (even more?), and some will have more than 1 interview so problems like this come up. Obviously players can lie and say they'd love to spend their entire career in Calgary, but I'm sure our scouts realize these kinds of things.
