Summer Prospect Ranking Poll Round 8

[wingmaker]

Knight is older and obviously more NHL ready. Can't see how he is a superior prospect long term, though. Poirier has the upside of a first line right wing.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by home_sweet_dome

Lol at all the Knight votes. He's a 22 year old (who will be 23 before the season starts), 5th round pick in the 09 draft, who we just got for a 4th round pick in the 13 draft, and projects to be a 3rd line C in the NHL.

That's nice and all and I'm not trying to dump on him as i do like him as a prospect, but no GM in the league would trade Poirier or Klimchuk (or anyone else drafted in the 1st round this year) for him at this point.

You need excellent third liners to win championships. Knight appears to be a possible excellent third liner. There are no surprises here - people respect a quality checking center.

[GGG]

Went with Pourier, that speed is addicting and top 6 upside is better than knights 3/4 line center/PK/faceoff specialist even though knight has a higher probability of sucess.

[seve927]

I really like Knight as well. It's not often that a guy really stands out for his defensive responsibility. He looks like he's got pretty sweet hands too. Poirier just looks to me like the most 'exciting' prospect (outside of Gaudreau maybe) as a guy who'll bring the fans out of their seats.

[Enoch Root]

I voted for Reinhart, simply because I think he and Knight are about even and he doesn't seem to be getting the recognition he deserves.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Who the heck keeps picking Agostino? lol

Why is it funny? To be quite honest it is no different than picking Knight.

They have similar playing styles and Agostino has actually put up better college numbers while playing with less heralded teammates. Plus the guy just happened to lead his team to the national championship last year.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

Agreed. People seem to be thinking of Poirier and Klimchuk as 2nd and 3rd rounders respectively because they were our 2nd and 3rd round picks this year. But they were first rounders in one of the deepest drafts ever. There is a very good chance both of these guys are top 6 impact players.

Knight's upside is to be Manny Malholtra. Obviously to be a true cup contender you need a guy like that... but he is pretty meaningless if you don't have impact guys to play on the top 2 lines. I can't even imagine how hated Knight would be around here if Feaster had given up one of the first rounders for him this year.

I'm extremely happy we picked up Knight for next to nothing, and I think he could be a Flame regular for a long time starting this year, but if at least one of Poirer or Klimchuk don't greatly exceed his impact on the team this rebuild will take forever.

I am not going to speak for anyone else, but I haven't voted for them so far and yet I am not stupid enough to think that they are 2nd and 3rd rounders.

First of all, it isn't the deepest draft in history until it actually produces NHLers. It projects to possibly becoming that.

Second, a draft is simply a knot in the rope. It is a snapshot in time. Yes they were both 1st round picks in a draft that was deep with talented prospects, but I still want to see some progression from them before I push them up the list.

Wotherspoon and Sieloff have progressed since their darft and thus have moved up. Nemisz and Howse haven't progressed as well and thus have slided. Gaudreau continues to excel at every level and thus has skyrocketed.

I am really hoping that Poirier can make Team Canada because it will give us a chance to see him play and it will likely bolster his development. Obviously, a solid showing at the WJC would really boost his ranking.

But let's wait until they actually show some progress before we anoint them.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Why is it funny? To be quite honest it is no different than picking Knight.

They have similar playing styles and Agostino has actually put up better college numbers while playing with less heralded teammates. Plus the guy just happened to lead his team to the national championship last year.

Agreed - Knight and Agostino should be considered almost identical in development. The only difference being that Knight is a big C who is excellent at face-offs. And for an organization that is starving for that skill-set, he gets a boost for it.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Why is it funny? To be quite honest it is no different than picking Knight.

They have similar playing styles and Agostino has actually put up better college numbers while playing with less heralded teammates. Plus the guy just happened to lead his team to the national championship last year.

Good centers are harder to come by. In my books, that puts Knight well ahead of Agostino. Lets not forget being a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award either, among other accolades collected over his collegiate career.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I am not going to speak for anyone else, but I haven't voted for them so far and yet I am not stupid enough to think that they are 2nd and 3rd rounders.

First of all, it isn't the deepest draft in history until it actually produces NHLers. It projects to possibly becoming that.

Second, a draft is simply a knot in the rope. It is a snapshot in time. Yes they were both 1st round picks in a draft that was deep with talented prospects, but I still want to see some progression from them before I push them up the list.

Wotherspoon and Sieloff have progressed since their darft and thus have moved up. Nemisz and Howse haven't progressed as well and thus have slided.

I am really hoping that Poirier can make Team Canada because it will give us a chance to see him play and it will likely bolster his development. Obviously, a solid showing at the WJC would really boost his ranking.

But let's wait until they actually show some progress before we anoint them.

I certainly didn't mean to imply that people are 'stupid' for having different ranking criteria than I do. Your reasoning all makes sense. I'm just in the camp of 'potential' greatly trumping 'chance of reaching potential' in a prospect ranking exercise.

[Bingo]

I went Klimchuk again but the Poirier clips from the WJC camp were pretty tempting.

Love the banter and debate that has grown from round to round based on the two very different camps of hockey fans;

1) Ceiling Driven
2) Likelihood Driven

I sit with a 75/25 weighting of the two and refuse to tell others that they are wrong, but it really creates a good discussion.

I'll echo the comments of those that are gobsmacked by the fact that we still have two recent first round picks not in the mix through eight picks.

Amazing.

[kyuss275]

It was tough but i went with Poirier. He beat out Klimchuk, Knight and Reinhart mainly because he is a RW and the flames have so little in that department.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I went Klimchuk again but the Poirier clips from the WJC camp were pretty tempting.

Not a Klimchuk fan at this point. He's got a lot to prove before I would say he was better than many of the kids we've already drafted and have shown growth in their games. Has an interesting skill set, but I see him more of a Richard Kromm or Wes Walz type of guy. What makes you believe he has something special to be ranked so highly?

[The Fonz]

How is it that a guy (Knight) we used the 97th overall pick in 2013 to acquire is viewed by some as more valuable than the guy (Poirier) we drafted at 22nd overall the very same year?

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Good centers are harder to come by. In my books, that puts Knight well ahead of Agostino. Lets not forget being a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award either, among other accolades collected over his collegiate career.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

A center puts him above a little bit but it shouldn't make voting for Agostino laughable at this spot.

Remember that Agostino is almost two years younger (1992 vs 1990) yet their PPG last year was almost identical (1.19 for Knight and 1.11 for Agostino).

I honestly put about equal stock in leading your team to the NCAA Championship compared to being a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker, especially since the Hobey Baker is an award that is for Seniors.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

How is it that a guy (Knight) we used the 97th overall pick in 2013 to acquire is viewed by some as more valuable than the guy (Poirier) we drafted at 22nd overall the very same year?

I voted for Poirier but Knight cost more than a 4th to aquire. He cost a 4th plus being willing to sign with us. The fact that the Panthers had no choice but to trade him and everyone knew it deminished his value significantly.

I would suspect under contract now we could get at least a second round pick for him.

[herashak]

How tall is agositino? I saw heights ranging from 5'11 to 6'2

[moon]

Originally Posted by New Era

Not a Klimchuk fan at this point. He's got a lot to prove before I would say he was better than many of the kids we've already drafted and have shown growth in their games. Has an interesting skill set, but I see him more of a Richard Kromm or Wes Walz type of guy. What makes you believe he has something special to be ranked so highly?

I am not sure if being 8th in the Flames prospect pool is "so highly" but he was a guy that was a high bantam pick, first round draft choice and has put up good offensive numbers at the WHL level. To me that shows that he has offensive skill and now we see if he can translate those skills to the NHL.

We are at the point where you are trying to find little things to separate a lot of close (but not similar) guys that likely don't make it or make it in a limited role so for me the potential for a top 6 offensive guy is why I went with Klimchuk this round and last. Which is completely opposite from my thinking earlier when I went with the more sure things, but for me the "sure NHLers" left are either too old/experienced for me to consider prospects (Bouma, Horak, two goalies) or very limited upside so bottom d or bottom line F.

[Flames_F.T.W]

[QUOTE=mikephoen;4355385]Agreed. People seem to be thinking of Poirier and Klimchuk as 2nd and 3rd rounders respectively because they were our 2nd and 3rd round picks this year. But they were first rounders in one of the deepest drafts ever. There is a very good chance both of these guys are top 6 impact players.

I'm guilty of thinking like this from time to time. Its fun to think that one or both could turn out to be impact players in the league, along with Monohan

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by GGG

I would suspect under contract now we could get at least a second round pick for him.

At least a 2nd round pick for a 23 year old ppg college player?

I hope he turns out to be a stud for us just like everyone else, but suggesting what you just did is delusional IMO.