If they have a chance should the Flames Draft Ekblad

[Lanny_McDonald]

What a stupid question.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Florida's owners might be impatient with having no fans.... having one of the Sam's scoring 20 goals next year will add more value to the Franchise than having Ekblad in the organization playing in Juniors for a year or two.

From a Forbe's article 2013 The panthers are Valued at $240 M and lost 7.7M. The Flames are valued at $420 M and made 11.5 M.....

The Panthers are paying Luongo (age 35) at lot of money for a long time.... It would be nice to have a winning team in front of him before he is 40.

Dude....no one gives a rat's ass about Luongo or his happiness. That dude is living the dream.

Huge paycheque, no pressure, no requirement for results and glorious weather. He shouldnt care if a midget team was playing in front of him.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

I wonder if we can get Adam Larson from the Devils if we can't draft Ekblad.

I'd think about doing #4 for Larsson and #30 if NJ was allowed to trade their first rounder.

Pretty sure they're not allowed to trade that pick. Wouldn't want to do that deal anyway, we're getting a good player at #4.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Locke

Dude....no one gives a rat's ass about Luongo or his happiness. That dude is living the dream.

Huge paycheque, no pressure, no requirement for results and glorious weather. He shouldnt care if a midget team was playing in front of him.

The guys signing his pay cheque do. I am pretty sure that they consider him a top notch goalie that can backstop their young team: Barkov, Hurberdeau, Bjugstad, Kulikov, Gudbranson to respectability.

They are not paying Campbell 7.1M /yr for the next 2 years for him to be playing out the string or Luongo his 5.9M for the next 4 years. The Canucks are only pay Roberto 800k / yr to play for the Panthers.

They like all the other teams in the NHL (except for the Flames) and want and need to win now.

[CSharp]

If you're a team like the Flames and need center depth and you have a choice between a centerman and a defenceman with roughly the same size and nearly one or two rankings difference, I'd take the centerman. For Edmonton, they're small all over. And more than likely, they're better off taking a big good defenceman. They really need to trade away at least two of those small forwards. For Flames, Draisaitl or Reinhart fits the bill.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by CSharp

If you're a team like the Flames and need center depth and you have a choice between a centerman and a defenceman with roughly the same size and nearly one or two rankings difference, I'd take the centerman. For Edmonton, they're small all over. And more than likely, they're better off taking a big good defenceman. They really need to trade away at least two of those small forwards. For Flames, Draisaitl or Reinhart fits the bill.

Drafting in the top 4 is not a spot to get some depth. This is what I hope is a very limited chance to establish a core going forward. To get a true #1 centre and a #1 D-man is very difficult to do. I don't think the Flames are the Oilers who got 6-7 chances with the high draft picks.

They really need to trade away at least two of those small forwards While you are referring to the Oilers it applies equally to the Flames: Hudler, Byron, Baertschi, Backlund, Granlund, Gaudreau, Cammalleri....

[Erick Estrada]

Why does this thread even exist when we all know the answer? Take a look at our forward prospects and then our defenseman. Debate over.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

They really need to trade away at least two of those small forwards While you are referring to the Oilers it applies equally to the Flames: Hudler, Byron, Baertschi, Backlund, Granlund, Gaudreau, Cammalleri....

Or, we can draft, sign, and trade for big players around these small forwards.

Keep in mind that we don't have to be the biggest team in the NHL and you still need skill and speed. All of those forwards have one of the "SSS" attributes.

The only way we get Ekblad is trading up. Otherwise, drafting the likes of Reinhart or Draisaitl is going to benefit the Flames for a long time.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Or, we can draft, sign, and trade for big players around these small forwards.

Keep in mind that we don't have to be the biggest team in the NHL and you still need skill and speed. All of those forwards have one of the "SSS" attributes.

The only way we get Ekblad is trading up. Otherwise, drafting the likes of Reinhart or Draisaitl is going to benefit the Flames for a long time.

You do understand that the top 6 can only have 6 maybe 7 players on it.

If there are 3 smallish guys Baertschi, Gaudreau and Hudler for instance you will not be able to have spots in the top 6 for 4 or 5 big players to play with them.

a top 6 of

Baertshi- Monahan - Hudler
Gaudreau - Reinhart/Bennett/Draisaitl - Glencross/Colborne/Cammalleri


would have some great games not unlike Eberele-Hall-RNH-Gagner-Yakapov

Montreal is the unbelieveable small skilled speedy model....

Their MVP - Subban and Price

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

You do understand that the top 6 can only have 6 maybe 7 players on it.

If there are 3 smallish guys Baertschi, Gaudreau and Hudler for instance you will not be able to have spots in the top 6 for 4 or 5 big players to play with them.

a top 6 of

Baertshi- Monahan - Hudler
Gaudreau - Reinhart/Bennett/Draisaitl - Glencross/Colborne/Cammalleri


would have some great games not unlike Eberele-Hall-RNH-Gagner-Yakapov

Montreal is the unbelieveable small skilled speedy model....

Their MVP - Subban and Price

Correct me if I am wrong, but the players I bolded have decent size. Reinhart and Glencross are in the middle, but not considered small. Monahan, Colborne, Draisaitl are big boys. We actually have size on our team (assuming you draft Reinhart or Draisaitl). Our bottom six has the Big Ern, BVB, Bouma, D. Jones, Wolf, plenty of size!

What we lack in is the talent, the skill aspect.

[BloodFetish]

If a bear has a chance, does he #### in the woods?

[TheDebaser]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

What we lack in is the talent, the skill aspect.

Bold the other names, there's your talent.

What we need is a right handed #1 defenseman.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Yes.

But they won't have the chance IMO.

I'm sure we all would have said the same thing about Seth Jones last year too.

[YYC in LAX]

Haven't paid much attention in this thread, and while Edm is rumoured to be drafting Draisatl, IMO there is no way they pass on Ekblad if he is available. I'm sure they are focusing their efforts on which forward to draft, but if Ekblad is still around for pick 3 it's probably a no brainer for them. I REALLY hope that isn't the case though.

[Monahan23]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

This is an interesting draft for the Flames.

The propaganda from Edmonton wanting Draisaitl and Florida looking for offers for the #1 seems to me to open up the possibility that Ekblad may be available when the Flames pick at #4.

Should they take Ekblad if they have a chance?

They have the least expectation and longest time frame for drafting a player that doesn't have an immediate impact out of the bottom 4 teams.

The Flames will have Gaudreau as a rookie next season if not Granlund and/or Baertschi and/or Max Reinhart and/or Poirier and or McKnight. The roster will not be as wide open for the either of the Sams or Draisaitl to step in like Monahan.

I would like the Flames to draft Ekbad with the expectation that he goes back to Juniors for 2014-15 and makes the Flames as 4/5 in 2015-16 and is 1/2 in 2015-16.

There is a better chance that any one of the forwards will make an impact sooner but right now the Flames have numerous prospects that have the potential of being top 6 players in 2015-16 and basically Brodie (and Gio) in line to be top 2 Or even strong top 4 in 2015-16…. Smid and/or Wideman might fill in a top 4 spot on a good playoff team but the team would have a much more realistic chance with them as 4/5.

It is really hard to get that commodity without drafting in the top 4. Even with a top 10 pick the odds fall off rather dramatically.

This year or possibly next is the Flames chance to fill this need.

In the last 6 drafts there have been 23 d-men chosen in the top 10 and only 9 picked in the top 4

Of the 9 picked in the top 4
Seth Jones (2013)
Ryan Murray (2012)
Griffin Reinhart (2012)
Adam Larson (2011)
Erik Gudbranson (2010)
Victor Hedman (2009)
Drew Doughty (2008)
Zach Bogosian (2008)
Alex Pietrangelo (2008)

Only 3 (Doughty, Pietroangelo and Hedman) have established themselves as clear cut #1 D-men. Using Pietrangelo’s 2 years of juniors after being drafted there is still a chance 3 (Jones, Murray and Reinhart) have a chance to be a clear cut #1 and the other 3 look like they might end up topping out at #3/4 as Larson and Gudbranson and Bogosian are running out of runway.

On the other 14 picked in the top 10 3 Trouba and Brodin and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are really close to that clear cut #1 status. . 7 are still developing and have a reasonable chance of being a clear cut #1 d-man…
Luke Schenn and Cowan seem to have topped out as #4

Two (Dylan McIlrath and Koekker) are giving all signs of being a bust.

Of the 23 top ten picks only 6 have contributed at the NHL level as a 19 year olds ( Doughty, Jones, Larson, Schenn, Bogosian, Ristolainen) 3 haven’t developed as fast or as high as anyone would have wanted and the data on Jones and Ristolainen is very thin.

Top 10 overall Defensemen pick over the last 6 years

2013

Seth Jones #1 D-man #4 overall... ( 20 minutes a game, -23 on non-playoff team)

Darnell Nurse #2 D-man #7 overall ( basically same sort of year in juniors that he had as an 18 year old)

Rasmus Ristolainen #3 D-man #8 overall (19 minutes a game in 34 games -15 for bottom team

2012

Ryan Murray #1 D-man #2 overall ( as a 19 year old basically same sort of year in juniors that he had as an 18 year old as 20 year old #4 D-man on playoff team)

Griffin Reinhart #2 d-man #4 overall ( as a 19 year old basically same sort of year in juniors that he had as an 18 year old maybe a bit worse as 20 year old better year as a junior)

Morgan Rielly #3 D-man #5 overall (back to Jr as 19 year old #5 d-man on Leafs as 20 year old)

Hampus Lindholm #4 D-man #6 overall (AHL as 19 year old , #4/5 with the Ducks as a 20 year old)

Mathew Dumba #5 D-man #7 overall (junior as a 19 year old, somehow got 13 games with the Wild as a 20 year old as 5/6 and then had a very strong Jr season)

Derrick Pouliot #6 D-man #8 overall (Jr as a 19 year old, dominate Junior as 20 year old)

Jacob Trouba #7 D-man #9 overall ( Freshman at Michigan as 19 year old and #1 D man on the Jets as a 20 year old. so far the best d-man picked in the 2012 draft)

Slater Koekkoek #8 D-man #10 0verall ( 2 more years of so-so Junior... drafted with only 26 games played in his draft year)

2011

Adam Larrson #1 d-man #4 overall (#5 D-man on good NJ team as an 19 year old and then as a 4/5 as a 20 year old and then a year with split seasons between AHL and the Devils as a 21 year old)

Dougie Hamilton #2 d-man #8 overall (Junior as 19 year old, 2 years as #5 D-man with Boston)

Jonas Brodin #3 D-man #10 overall ( a year in Sweden as 19 year old...straight to #2 with the Wild .. best D-man of the 2011 crop so far)

2010

Erik Gudbranson #1 D-man #3 overall (19 year old Jr., 5/6 with Florida as 20 year old and 2 more years as #4/5)

Dylan McIlrath #2 D-man #10 overall (19 and 20 year old Jr., then 2 years in the AHL)

The best d-man from 2010 was #3 d-man #12 overall Cam Fowler who jumped to the Ducks as a 19 year old and had 2 seasons of -25 and -28.

2009

Victor Hedman #1 D-man #2 overall (straight to Tampa as a 19 year old as 1/2 for 5 years) Best d-man drafted in 2009

Oliver Ekman-Larsson #2 D-man #6 overall ( 19 year old season in Sweden , 5/6 D-man with Phx as 20 year old and 1/2 since)

Jared Cowen #3 D-man #9 overall (19 year old and 20 year old season in Junior a year a 4/5, a year lost to injury and a year as 3/4)

2008

Drew Doughty #1 D-man #2 overall (Immediately became Kings #1 D-man was best D-man drafted)

Zach Bogosian #2 d-man #3 overall (#4/5 d-man with Atlanta as 19 year old , top 3 d-man since)

Alex Pietrangelo #3 d-man #4 overall (2 year back to juniors, #1 D-man with St.L since)

Luke Schenn #4 d-man #5 overall (#4 D-man with Leafs as 19 year old , bad years a 20 year old, then a year as top 4 and then 5/6 and then top 4 and then 5/6?????)

, so we should pass on Ekblad if available for Dal Colle or Ehlers or Ritchie,

[OzSome]

No way Ekblad will still be available when Flames turn to select their pick. If Florida and pass on him, I am sure MacTavish would not be stupid enough to pass on him either since the Oilers needed help in the blueline. But if those 3 pass on him, then definitely. I think he can be a Pronger type of D in the NHL.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Why does this thread even exist when we all know the answer? Take a look at our forward prospects and then our defenseman. Debate over.

It is basically a duplicate of the "trade for first" question. Unlike Seth Jones, Ekblad has been in the conversation for first overall since before his draft year. Now that the draft is nearly upon us, I doubt Ekblad will pull a Jones and drop to us in fourth because Ekblad has always been considered better than Jones.

Either we trade to acquire Ekblad or we hope and pray that he drops but with the understanding that he will not.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Wolven

It is basically a duplicate of the "trade for first" question. Unlike Seth Jones, Ekblad has been in the conversation for first overall since before his draft year. Now that the draft is nearly upon us, I doubt Ekblad will pull a Jones and drop to us in fourth because Ekblad has always been considered better than Jones.

Either we trade to acquire Ekblad or we hope and pray that he drops but with the understanding that he will not.

Ekblad has never been considered better than Jones from everything I've read. Jones was also in the mix for first overall from before his draft year, him and MacKinnon were at the 2012 draft and interviewed by TSN. Perhaps the only thing Ekblad has over Jones in his draft year is his body is more NHL ready.

The reason he won't pull a Jones at the draft is the forwards aren't as good, and Edmonton wasn't picking third last year.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by nik-

Ekblad has never been considered better than Jones from everything I've read. Jones was also in the mix for first overall from before his draft year, him and MacKinnon were at the 2012 draft and interviewed by TSN.

The reason he won't pull a Jones at the draft is the forwards aren't as good, and Edmonton wasn't picking third last year.

Everything I read last year stated that Jones was good but Ekblad was better (and not yet available).

[mile]

Originally Posted by Wolven

It is basically a duplicate of the "trade for first" question. Unlike Seth Jones, Ekblad has been in the conversation for first overall since before his draft year. Now that the draft is nearly upon us, I doubt Ekblad will pull a Jones and drop to us in fourth because Ekblad has always been considered better than Jones.

Either we trade to acquire Ekblad or we hope and pray that he drops but with the understanding that he will not.

I agree that it is extremely unlikely Ekblad drops like Jones - Although I'm pretty sure Jones has always been considered to be the better prospect than Ekblad. At the start of the season, it sounded like Jones and Ekblad were at different tiers but the gap has now closed.

Still, if Jones were eligible for this draft, he would be the clear cut #1.

Jones dropping had more to do with having three other franchise forwards available in his draft class, unlike this years draft where Ekblad appears to be the prospect who is the closest to having franchise player potential.