[News] Burke says he is unlikely to trade up... hasn't watched Bennett

[Roof-Daddy]

Just watch the draft go like so....

Florida - Ekblad
Buffalo - Reinhart
Edmonton - Draisaitl

...CP starts celebrating in anticipation of Sam Bennett soon pulling a Flames jersey over his head, you can feel the excitement building from this site all throughout the internet......Burke, with his silver porcupine hair, struts up to the podium, leans into the mic, "With the 4th overall pick in the 2014 NHL entry draft the Calgary Flames are proud to select, form the Peterborough Petes of the OHL.....Nick Ritchie".......

....and CP implodes and explodes at the same time. BOOM! Shockwaves of vitriol spew from keyboards all over the world instantaneously.

Haha. Would be epic to witness the meltdown that would immediately follow.

[nik-]

It would be so awesome to pick a lesser player for our team so we could laugh at posters.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by nik-

It would be so awesome to pick a lesser player for our team so we could laugh at posters.

Lesser player won't be known for some time and yes laughing at the overreactions that's typical of this board around draft time would be hilarious.

[nik-]

If we picked Ritchie over Bennett, we wouldn't be taking the better player. So people could rationalize with "every team has a different list blah blah" all they want, but it would be a straight up pick for size over ability ... with a fourth overall.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by nik-

If we picked Ritchie over Bennett, we wouldn't be taking the better player. So people could rationalize with "every team has a different list blah blah" all they want, but it would be a straight up pick for size over ability ... with a fourth overall.

I love Bennett, he's my pick but you or I don't know that. You're really talking out your backside if you're suggesting Nik Ritchie only has size and doesn't offer ability as well.

Every team has a different list.

[Roof-Daddy]

Instant reaction to my make believe story just goes to show how nuts the reaction would be if it really happened.

For the record, I didn't say I'd be happy about that happening, just that the reaction would be stuff of CP legend.


....and MMF is right, Bennett may be the better player now, but that doesn't mean that would still be the case 5 or 10 years from now.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Instant reaction to my make believe story just goes to show how nuts the reaction would be if it really happened.

For the record, I didn't say I'd be happy about that happening, just that the reaction would be stuff of CP legend.


....and MMF is right, Bennett may be the better player now, but that doesn't mean that would still be the case 5 or 10 years from now.

Yeah, I totally freaked out.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by nik-

Yeah, I totally freaked out.

lol, it took about 3 milliseconds after I put that post up for you to respond with what came across as a butthurt post just dripping with sarcasm.

[nik-]

I know, I'm just totally raging right now.

[stemit14]

Does anybody know what Ritchie projects to be in the NHL? His draft ranking makes me think of kassian in Vancouver though I hope I'm wrong.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by stemit14

Does anybody know what Ritchie projects to be in the NHL? His draft ranking makes me think of kassian in Vancouver though I hope I'm wrong.

Zach Kassian had 24 goals in his draft year, Nik Ritchie was one goal shy of 40.

[Enoch Root]

and for comparison, Poirier had 32 and Monahan had 31

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Zach Kassian had 24 goals in his draft year, Nik Ritchie was one goal shy of 40.

And to add to that -also faster (Kassian was slow, Ritchie is pretty quick), smarter (Kassian was noted for having low-IQ) and Ritchie is a pretty decent playmaker.

The only similarities are that they were both powerforwards. It ends there.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Zach Kassian had 24 goals in his draft year, Nik Ritchie was one goal shy of 40.

Kassian was known for his playmaking skills whereas Ritchie is a goalscorer. Buffalo hoped they had drafted a Bertuzzi clone, and Vancouver then traded for him buying that logic.

[Enoch Root]

Also, the fact that Kassian has disappointed so far in his development, doesn't mean that all power forward types will disappoint.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

More Edmonton media prepping Oiler fans for Draisaitl

Bob Stauffer @Bob_Stauffer
Seeing the big-bodied presence of Ryan Johansen come into his own makes you wonder if Draisaitl is a better option than Bennett or Reinhart

I hope the Oilers will pick him so we can have one of the Sam. Preffered Reinhart over Bennett but I don't think it will happen. Florida will be too crazy to pass on Ekblad so I definitely think he'll be the first pick unless he suck in the OHL playoffs. How is Barrie Colts doing in the playoffs this season?

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Dagger

Kassian was known for his playmaking skills whereas Ritchie is a goalscorer. Buffalo hoped they had drafted a Bertuzzi clone, and Vancouver then traded for him buying that logic.

Kassian had a high of 39 assists one year in the OHL. That doesn't scream "known for playmaking". Ritchie got 39 goals and 35 assists.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Kassian had a high of 39 assists one year in the OHL. That doesn't scream "known for playmaking". Ritchie got 39 goals and 35 assists.

He was still a very raw player. He's always had very good hands and surprisingly good vision. He's still not put it together today. Ritchie and him are 2 very different prospects either way.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Kassian had a high of 39 assists one year in the OHL. That doesn't scream "known for playmaking". Ritchie got 39 goals and 35 assists.

He put up 51 assists in 56 games in 10-11 in the OHL and in his junior career had an almost 2:1 ratio of assists to goals. Ritchie is more of a 1:1 guy, at least so far.

And watching him in the NHL he's shown some excellent playmaking abilities for a young power forward.

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Also, the fact that Kassian has disappointed so far in his development, doesn't mean that all power forward types will disappoint.

He hasn't been disappointing. Despite getting only 13 minutes a night mostly with scrubs he finished the season top 40 in ES points at his position, around guys like Vrbata, Semin, Doan, and Eriksson. With an increased role next year and some PP time I expect we'll see a jump towards decent 2nd line production. He already showed that in the 2nd half of the year scoring at a 47 point pace over the 2nd half of his season. There's no reason he can't be a 20-30 guy which is an enticing package for a player of his size.

That said, Ritchie is a better prospect than Kassian ever was, so the projections and expectations should be higher.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Just watch the draft go like so....

Florida - Ekblad
Buffalo - Reinhart
Edmonton - Draisaitl

...CP starts celebrating in anticipation of Sam Bennett soon pulling a Flames jersey over his head, you can feel the excitement building from this site all throughout the internet......Burke, with his silver porcupine hair, struts up to the podium, leans into the mic, "With the 4th overall pick in the 2014 NHL entry draft the Calgary Flames are proud to select, form the Peterborough Petes of the OHL.....Nick Ritchie".......

....and CP implodes and explodes at the same time. BOOM! Shockwaves of vitriol spew from keyboards all over the world instantaneously.

Haha. Would be epic to witness the meltdown that would immediately follow.

I'm not opposed to the idea of picking Ritchie, but if Bennett is still on the table by our turn that would make me one sad panda. This scenario has a somewhat plausible chance of happening too.