2014 Draft Discussion

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Saqe

If you are picking at #5 or later you need to get Nylander if he still is there. Other picks outside the top 3-4 IMO are Draisatl and Kempe. Other than that it's a toss up.

I really don't see us taking a smaller, softer, skilled forward unless he's by far the best player available.

I'll stand by my statement, I'd be absolutely shocked if we took Nylander this year.

[Racki]

I would be shocked to see Burke draft Kasperi Kapanen or Nylander. Both are slick but not at all Burke types.

[Ashasx]

I've also been really impressed with Roland McKeown. I think I'd have him at 5/6 with Draisaitl.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Nylander has really fallen from grace this year. Not even invited to Sweden's U20 camp.

I think he goes around 10.

Swedes have 8 returning forwards; pretty tough for a 17 year old to crack that lineup

[sureLoss]

Anton Karlsson is someone I think Burke will look at hard.

His offense is behind some of the other names you hear in the top 5, but he has other things that Burke will like.

He is a good skater, plays a NA style game. Hits, gets under opponents skins and plays with a little bit of a swagger. Usually wears an 'A' or 'C' when representing Sweden internationally.

No scouting service has him as a top 5 pick... a few have going in the 5-15 range.

Not sure if I could support the pick though, Flames need a more dynamic offense talent.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Anton Karlsson is someone I think Burke will look at hard.

His offense is behind some of the other names you hear in the top 5, but he has other things that Burke will like.

He is a good skater, plays a NA style game. Hits, gets under opponents skins and plays with a little bit of a swagger. Usually wears an 'A' or 'C' when representing Sweden internationally.

No scouting service has him as a top 5 pick... a few have going in the 5-15 range.

Not sure if I could support the pick though, Flames need offensive talent.

please no

[H2SO4(aq)]

I think people focus too much on "Burke type players" when it comes to the draft.

Sedins dont fit that mold. Ryan probably doesnt either. Kessel doesnt fit that truculent style and he made a huge move for him.

I am confident that Burke will take the most VALUABLE player that is available at our draft position regardless of size. You dont just go pass over a drouin just cause hes small.

[bubbsy]

agreed. he took kadri despite being an obvious non-burke player.

i think the flames will draft high enough to pick #2, which i assume means that ekblad could be the guy this draft.

[Tinordi]

By my totally uneducated point of view, this year's top end looks decidedly worse than last year's. Though next year's draft has a stellar looking top 5.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

agreed. he took kadri despite being an obvious non-burke player.

i think the flames will draft high enough to pick #2, which i assume means that ekblad could be the guy this draft.

I think you are making some pretty bad assumptions about what a "Burke player" is. Burke gave up a lot for Kessel, probably the most he gave up for anyone he acquired in TOR. Is he a "Burke player" in your mind? If not then maybe you should reconsider what you think a "Burke player" is. Kadri was a Burke pick so presumably should be a "Burke player" too. Kadri is fairly feisty for his size, he does have some intensity. Like Burke has said, not every player needs to be big and strong. You can have room for smaller, more skilled players if you surround them with beef. There's room on a team for lots of different types of players and different sizes of players. But when all your skilled forwards are average size at best you just aren't going to be able to compete against the bigger teams in the West. The Flames are too small and too soft to contend, that's a fact.

The reason I don't think they'd take Nylander is because in the organization we have way too many small, skilled forwards while having very few big, skilled forwards. Burke might take a Nylander type. But its far less likely when we have Baertschi, Gaudreau, Hudler, Byron, etc already on the team or in the system. If we had drafted a bunch of big centres and big wingers then it would more likely we'd take a Nylander type. But when we're picking high in the draft you have to fill big organizational needs.

We completely lack a top two line powerforward with size unless Ferland or Hanowski turns into one. We completely lack a 1st pairing defenseman with size. We found one top two line centre with size in Monahan but certainly it wouldn't be bad to grab another top two line centre, preferably with size. I think Burke tries to grab one of these types of players or deals up to get one.

Another small, soft, skilled winger is the last thing we need at the top of this draft. Several of our top prospects fit that description. Organizationally we're deep in smaller, skilled wingers who can get pushed around by bigger players. Burke knows you need balance, unlike the Oilers brass who just keeps taking the most offensively talented forward regardless of his size/strength.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I think you are making some pretty bad assumptions about what a "Burke player" is. Burke gave up a lot for Kessel, probably the most he gave up for anyone he acquired in TOR. Is he a "Burke player" in your mind? If not then maybe you should reconsider what you think a "Burke player" is. Kadri was a Burke pick so presumably should be a "Burke player" too. Kadri is fairly feisty for his size, he does have some intensity. Like Burke has said, not every player needs to be big and strong. You can have room for smaller, more skilled players if you surround them with beef. There's room on a team for lots of different types of players and different sizes of players. But when all your skilled forwards are average size at best you just aren't going to be able to compete against the bigger teams in the West. The Flames are too small and too soft to contend, that's a fact.

The reason I don't think they'd take Nylander is because in the organization we have way too many small, skilled forwards while having very few big, skilled forwards. Burke might take a Nylander type. But its far less likely when we have Baertschi, Gaudreau, Hudler, Byron, etc already on the team or in the system. If we had drafted a bunch of big centres and big wingers then it would more likely we'd take a Nylander type. But when we're picking high in the draft you have to fill big organizational needs.

We completely lack a top two line powerforward with size unless Ferland or Hanowski turns into one. We completely lack a 1st pairing defenseman with size. We found one top two line centre with size in Monahan but certainly it wouldn't be bad to grab another top two line centre, preferably with size. I think Burke tries to grab one of these types of players or deals up to get one.

Another small, soft, skilled winger is the last thing we need at the top of this draft. Several of our top prospects fit that description. Organizationally we're deep in smaller, skilled wingers who can get pushed around by bigger players. Burke knows you need balance, unlike the Oilers brass who just keeps taking the most offensively talented forward regardless of his size/strength.

my post is actually in-line with your sentiment. What i meant to say is that though a guy may not be a player that is often considered a "burke type" big, "truculent" player, that doesn't stop burke from going after these guys. He went after kessel, like you said, kadri, heck he even went after a hard working player like grabovski.

[djsFlames]

BPA... if the mentality is anything else it'll be a huge squandered opportunity.

We don't need a damned grinder with our 2-3rd overall pick. Even if it turns out to be a Prust caliber guy.

Ekblad, Dal Colle or fail.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

BPA... if the mentality is anything else it'll be a huge squandered opportunity.

We don't need a damned grinder with our 2-3rd overall pick. Even if it turns out to be a Prust caliber guy.

Ekblad, Dal Colle or fail.

Best player available for sure.

But when you make your list of best players available there are often groupings of players that are fairly close. What pushes one ahead of the others is what attributes your management and scouts prioritize most. If two players are close I'd expect us to take the bigger, stronger player.

Obviously we're not going to be looking to take a grinder at the top end of the draft.

The early favourites for me include Ekblad, Reinhart, Dal Colle, Bennett and Draisatl. I've got all the World Juniors PVR'd so I'm going to have a better read on 3 of those guys after I get around to watching the games in the next week.

[The Original FFIV]

Ekblad's skating and decision making look questionable in today's game. I get the love for big defensemen but his play in the first period raised some question marks for me. Reminds me of Dana Murzyn with his stride (not in a good way) and had a bad pinch and a bad giveaway.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Ekblad's skating and decision making look questionable in today's game. I get the love for big defensemen but his play in the first period raised some question marks for me. Reminds me of Dana Murzyn with his stride (not in a good way) and had a bad pinch and a bad giveaway.

You're right. We should be going after players who never make mistakes, particularly in a tournament dominated by players 1-2 years older than them.

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Anton Karlsson is someone I think Burke will look at hard.

His offense is behind some of the other names you hear in the top 5, but he has other things that Burke will like.

He is a good skater, plays a NA style game. Hits, gets under opponents skins and plays with a little bit of a swagger. Usually wears an 'A' or 'C' when representing Sweden internationally.

No scouting service has him as a top 5 pick... a few have going in the 5-15 range.

Not sure if I could support the pick though, Flames need a more dynamic offense talent.

If the Flames can somehow get another pick in the top 20 he's a guy I would like to look at, we need a super pest who isn't a liability out there and can put up solid minutes but I want the Flames to somehow obtain Ekblad.

If we can come out of this draft with another 2 first round picks that would be 5 in the last 2 years which would be a huge success IMO. It's just too bad we went with Janko over Terivainen (spl??) and even Maatta who is having a really good rookie season in Pitts.

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Ekblad's skating and decision making look questionable in today's game. I get the love for big defensemen but his play in the first period raised some question marks for me. Reminds me of Dana Murzyn with his stride (not in a good way) and had a bad pinch and a bad giveaway.

It's such a small sample size and a short tournament to boot. You win and lose as a team usually and today the entire team tried to do too much. Ekblad has the makings of a warrior and an element on the backend we currently lack outside of Gio. Please, please, please let the Flames draft this kid.

[Tinordi]

Did Bryan Allen look like Ekblad as a prospect?

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Did Bryan Allen look like Ekblad as a prospect?

Just taking a quick look at their CHL stats, I don't really see how they compare.





I think numbers wise paired with style of play his ceiling projects to more like a Shea Weber with less of an edge at the CHL level, but Weber's game seemingly has taken on less PIM's as he's been relied on more as a top guy for Nashville:

[Da_Chief]

We're getting a top 3 pick; One of Reinhart, Ekblad or Del Colle.

This team is bad and will only get worse as the vets are sold.