I'd like to get the 411 on Virtanen. There must be folks in Calgary that can give a perspective on him after watching him with the Hitmen. Button has him in 2nd round but I wonder if he could go earlier? Would he be someone to select in the 2nd with one of our two picks? He's a RW so he interests me as that is a big hole in the organization.
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I'd like to get the 411 on Virtanen. There must be folks in Calgary that can give a perspective on him after watching him with the Hitmen. Button has him in 2nd round but I wonder if he could go earlier? Would he be someone to select in the 2nd with one of our two picks? He's a RW so he interests me as that is a big hole in the organization.
I think Button is the only guy who has him out of the top 15. No chance he is around in the 2nd round. In fact, if the Flames pick drops as low as 7-8-9, he could be a guy we want to look at with that first pick.
He has speed, strength and a pro level shot already and scored 45 (ish?) in the WHL as a 17 year old. He could turn into a top 6 finisher at the NHL level.
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I'd like to get the 411 on Virtanen. There must be folks in Calgary that can give a perspective on him after watching him with the Hitmen. Button has him in 2nd round but I wonder if he could go earlier? Would he be someone to select in the 2nd with one of our two picks? He's a RW so he interests me as that is a big hole in the organization.
Mark my words, zero chance Virtanen doesn't go in the first round and very little chance he's not in the top 10.
Ask Button how many huge great skating power forwards that score a PPG (41-30-71pts) with a 100 pims in their second CHL season don't get picked in the 1st round? ridiculous. This kid still has some holes in his game but he has great pedigree(1st overall pick in the WHL draft) and won't be 18 till Aug. this kid could be a bigger Iginla for upside...
I have him 5th on my list of wants.
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Craig Button's mock had Calgary getting Reinhart at 5, which would be amazing. But he also had the Islanders giving up this years pick which I just can't see them doing. The only way I could see Bennett falling to 5 is the following.
Buffalo: Ekblad
Oilers: Draisaitl
Panthers: Dal Colle
Islanders: Reinhart
Then Bennett 5th.
Which at this rate is probably Anaheim via Ottawa.
Are Ehlers, Perlini, Ritchie and Dal Colle really that much better than Virtanen or Fleury? If not, we may as well go with one of the latter two since we are so weak in RW & D prospects.
Also, unlike Dal Colle & Ritchie, Fleury & Virtanen are already excellent skaters.
There is no way the Bennett falls to the 5th, 6th spot.
I like what I read about Bennett the most out of any of the forward prospects. He sounds like a gritty Duchene and doesn't seem to have any question marks.
I will also be surprised if he isn't one of the top two forwards taken.
Are Ehlers, Perlini, Ritchie and Dal Colle really that much better than Virtanen or Fleury? If not, we may as well go with one of the latter two since we are so weak in RW & D prospects.
Also, unlike Dal Colle & Ritchie, Fleury & Virtanen are already excellent skaters.
If Virtanen didn't play in Calgary, we'd not be having this discussion. Dal Colle outscored Virtanen by a mile (95 points to 71). Ritchie is a guy who can fight and is physically imposing.
If Virtanen didn't play in Calgary, we'd not be having this discussion. Dal Colle outscored Virtanen by a mile (95 points to 71). Ritchie is a guy who can fight and is physically imposing.
Virtanen on paper is a player who should definitely go top 10, but there's obviously a reason there has been absolutely no discussion whatsoever about him going top 5.
He's possibly the fastest skater in the draft class. He has a monster shot. He's big and can play an imposing game. What's not to like? Lack of consistency has been mentioned, and I've heard nothing mentioned about his hockey IQ.
My fear is that he has all the tools but no toolbox. Any observations from our resident amateur scouts?
I think there's consensus around here that one of Ekblad, Reinhart, or Bennett would be a huge win for the Flames. I just can't see it happening without a trade.
Here's the crappy scenario: Edmonton sucks! They will not choose higher than 3rd overall, meaning Ekblad will not be there for the 4th pick.
Here's some scenarios:
1) Flames win the lottery (8.1% chance currently). We take Ekblad.
2) Buffalo wins the lottery (25% chance) and takes Ekblad. Even if Edmonton takes Draisaitl at #2, FLA and NYI will take Reinhart and Bennett.
3) A team below the Oilers, but not the Flames, wins the lottery (48.1% chance). Again, I can't see any of Reinhart, Ekblad, and Bennett making it outside the top 4. Even if Ekblad and Bennett are taken #1 and #2, and the Oilers take Draisaitl, the next team would be stupid to not draft Reinhart.
In conclusion, the Flames will not get one of the 3 studs unless they win the lotto, make a trade, or finish worse in the standings. If they finish in the bottom 3, great. If they finish 4th last, and Draisaitl gets taken by the Oilers because Ekblad is already snatched, great.
Virtanen on paper is a player who should definitely go top 10, but there's obviously a reason there has been absolutely no discussion whatsoever about him going top 5.
He's possibly the fastest skater in the draft class. He has a monster shot. He's big and can play an imposing game. What's not to like? Lack of consistency has been mentioned, and I've heard nothing mentioned about his hockey IQ.
My fear is that he has all the tools but no toolbox. Any observations from our resident amateur scouts?
From watching this video specifically, he has bits of everything that you need, but nothing at an elite level. In that manner he's a bit like Monahan, albeit at a lesser level in virtually every way than Mono is.
Virtanen should become a solid secondary player, and anyone picking in the 7-10 range should be thrilled to get him. However, because he doesn't have that upper level skill, you're likely looking at someone that's more of a second liner at the NHL level if that.
That's not knocking him at all, he should be a successful pick for where he should go. However with the Flames likely picking in the 4-6 range, it would be a bit of a bad pick with guys that do have higher level skill like Ehlers Draisaitl, Dal Colle on the board.
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I agree with that. Under normal circumstances, all of Bennett, Reinhart and Ekblad will be gone ... Florida (Barkov, Bjugstad, Pirri, Trocheck, Shore) and the Isles (Tavares, Nielsen, Strome, Lee) both have great center depth already, but you simply can't pass drafting one of the top guys. Our best chance would be trading up ... Burkie has experience in doing so and if acquisition cost isn't too high, I'd be all over trading up to 3rd which would ensure getting one of the "big three".
Craig Button's mock had Calgary getting Reinhart at 5, which would be amazing. But he also had the Islanders giving up this years pick which I just can't see them doing. The only way I could see Bennett falling to 5 is the following.
Buffalo: Ekblad
Oilers: Draisaitl
Panthers: Dal Colle
Islanders: Reinhart
Then Bennett 5th.
Which at this rate is probably Anaheim via Ottawa.
My guess in the Bennett scenario would probably be:
Buffalo will go after a forward this year. Reinhart is touted as the best prospect, or the 2nd best prospect.
Oilers will more than likely take Ekblad as he would be the best (or the 2nd best anyways, depending on how you see it) prospect left and fills organizational need. If they don't take Ekblad, apparently they are very high on Draisaitl which fills another organizational need - 2nd line center with size.
Panthers and Isles - they could both use defencemen, but really doubtful they select a D when the next D is ranked far below. They may view Bennett differently. Perhaps with him requiring another season in junior ranks him a bit lower than Draisaitl who could be NHL ready now? Perhaps one of them rank a winger a bit higher?
I have a hard time seeing it myself, but you never know. Crosby's Hat has always been very reliable with his insider info. Besides, all it takes is for one or two players to have a very strong playoffs to change things.
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