Craig's List 2014 Prospects

[Aarongavey]

Virtanen seems low. Not surprising that he has Brayden Point going in the first round. Kid is going to be a very good player. It would be nice if the Flames could snag him with their second round pick.

[ForeverFlameFan]

I'd like a duo pick in 1-15 if we can. Assuming we go 4-6th, it'd be great to get an additional pick within the 8-12th pick.

If we can get two players out of these that are Bennett, Virtanen, Fleury, or Ritchie, that would be solid.

[H2SO4(aq)]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

I'd like a duo pick in 1-15 if we can. Assuming we go 4-6th, it'd be great to get an additional pick within the 8-12th pick.

If we can get two players out of these that are Bennett, Virtanen, Fleury, or Ritchie, that would be solid.

I think it will be awfully hard to do that without adding Baertschi along with both seconds to get back in the top 10 or even top 15.

And I really dont think any of those guys (8-12 range) would be any better than Sven.

Although it would be awesome to grab Bennett, Fleury and bolster two organizational needs.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by H2SO4(aq)

I think it will be awfully hard to do that without adding Baertschi along with both seconds to get back in the top 10 or even top 15.

And I really dont think any of those guys (8-12 range) would be any better than Sven.

Although it would be awesome to grab Bennett, Fleury and bolster two organizational needs.

It would be great if we did, but you're right about Sven. We can't let go of him yet. And I don't think Burke intends to trade for another first rounder. I think he intends to use every single pick this year.

[icarus]

I mentioned it in the Back Burner board but Perlini is an interesting player worth a look with skill and size, and his dad's number is retired with the (Guildford) Flames!

[GoFlamesGo1989]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Virtanen seems low. Not surprising that he has Brayden Point going in the first round. Kid is going to be a very good player. It would be nice if the Flames could snag him with their second round pick.

Is Brayden Point a family member of your or something? He would not fit our plans at all. Way to small.

[Goaltender]

Hypothetically if we win lottery who should we take? My gut says we should take Bennett or Ekblad, but if we draft ~4th we pray that Reinhart or Dal Colle are available. (I'm not a huge Draisaitl fan)

[codynw]

Based on my limited viewings, I personally think Reinhart should go first, and it's not even close.

[albertGQ]

I'd take Reinhart 1st. I think I'd take Bennet 2nd as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Ekblad drops like Jones did last year

[codynw]

Ekblad won't fall if the Greasers get their way.

[The Fonz]

Short of Edmonton/Calgary drafting 1st, I don't see any way that Reinhart isn't taken 1st overall.

I personally believe that 1 + 2 are a lock to go Reinhart then Ekblad.

[Tinordi]

If you're picking first you'd have to go with Reinhart. Ekblad is a very nice prospect but I don't see him as a generational defenceman, one that you pick 1st overall.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Short of Edmonton/Calgary drafting 1st, I don't see any way that Reinhart isn't taken.

That seems to be overstating things IMO. I can see plenty of ways that Reinhart doesn't go 1st.

1. Islanders win the lottery. At the top end it's centres and Ekblad. The Islanders seem set at centre with Tavares/Strome. They have no 1st pairing defencemen. Ekblad fills a massive need for them and would seem the obvious choice for them unless they are absolutely in love with someone else.

2. Florida wins the lottery. Similar to NYI they seem set with Barkov/Bjugstad/etc. They also lack a #1 defenceman. Ekblad fills their biggest need.

3. Calgary wins the lottery. We could go a few diff ways but Ekblad clearly fills our biggest need. Monahan despite people wanting to keep their expectations low looks likely to he a 1st line centre. Backlund seems to be progressing into a 2nd line centre. And we've still got our wild cards in Granlund and Jsnkowski. We have no future top 3 defencemen in the system.

4. Edmonton wins the lottery. Their biggest need is clearly for Ekblad, I think we can all agree on that.

5. Buffalo wins the lottery. They lack #1 centres and a #1 defenceman. I think they could go either way but they are the team in the bottom 5 most likely to prioritize a forward.

If you analyze the needs of the worst five teams in the league who have the highest chances of winning the lottery it seems to indicate Ekblad is probably the favourite to go 1st overall. Thus I find your statement highly questionable to me. Where do you disagree with my analysis?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Short of Edmonton/Calgary drafting 1st, I don't see any way that Reinhart isn't taken 1st overall.

I personally believe that 1 + 2 are a lock to go Reinhart then Ekblad.

I could see Ekblad dropping, like Tinordi said below he isn't a generational guy and the game is being built from the centre position out nowadays. A one-two punch of Monahan-Reinhart/Bennet/Draisaitl would set the Flames up for a very long time.

I'm a little worried about Bennet at centre, I know he was only moved there last year and seems to be playing fine but wonder about his NHL future at that position. Nothing to base that on though, just mindless worrying.

Originally Posted by Tinordi

If you're picking first you'd have to go with Reinhart. Ekblad is a very nice prospect but I don't see him as a generational defenceman, one that you pick 1st overall.

Agreed.

I do think Burke might prefer the big blueliner over the other guys though.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

If you're picking first you'd have to go with Reinhart. Ekblad is a very nice prospect but I don't see him as a generational defenceman, one that you pick 1st overall.

Shea Weber wasn't a generational defenseman when he was picked in the 2nd round. I fail to see your point. Who would be classified as a generational defenseman?

[Wolfman]

If Flames win the lottery Ekblad will be chosen. Burke says you build a team from the net out.

[H2SO4(aq)]

Talking to friends of mine that are oiler fans (i go to u of a) they think Ekblad is the next Shea Weber. And once Ekblad and Nurse dawn the blue and grease, they'll finally have the dynasty they've been promised. (heard that before...)

So for that very reason, the guy I want most is Ekblad, if only to see their mullets deflated.

[Tinordi]

It's really about managing risk. Ekblad could yes be the next Shea Weber but his odds of hitting his ceiling are propbably 20%. Reinhart meanwhile looks like he has about 50% odds of being an 80 point player. You can roll the dice on this stuff but I'd prefer to play the odds. Those odds though are really developed by teams in discussion with their professional scouts. If Todd Button really thinks Ekblad is the real deal then I'll defer to his opinion.

[PeteMoss]

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.

I've seen Draisaitl play once in the world juniors and never seen Virtanen... but Draisaitl has 97 points and is 29 points higher than anyone else on his team (40 points ahead of the next highest scoring forward who's been on his team all year.)

Virtanen is 3rd on his team in scoring and has 67 points in 8 more games. Doesn't seem anywhere near close to Draisaitl.

[Robbob]

If the Oilers want him that bad then they would probably over pay. Even with it being the Oilers I would consider letting them trade up to get him. You could probably squeeze a lot out of them. Maybe even get bring Buffalo in on it so Yakipov goes to Buffalo and we get Myers in the end once the music stops.