THW 2014 NHL Draft HQ Thread

[Freeway]

The Flames saw a LOT of Bleackley this year in the 'Dome. I can't imagine they don't like a lot of the things he does. (Maybe a poor man's Monahan who can play wing?)

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Freeway

The Flames saw a LOT of Bleackley this year in the 'Dome. I can't imagine they don't like a lot of the things he does. (Maybe a poor man's Monahan who can play wing?)

Bleackley is good, but is somewhat boring (like Monahan). There's nothing flashy there. I'm not sure that his skills are quite good enough to be more than a depth forward (2nd/3rd liner) down the road.

If he's on the board at 55? or 64, that wouldn't be a bad pick. At 34 though, he'd be a bad pick only in so much as there are more interesting guys (namely big defensemen)

[cral12]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Bleackley is good, but is somewhat boring (like Monahan). There's nothing flashy there. I'm not sure that his skills are quite good enough to be more than a depth forward (2nd/3rd liner) down the road.

If he's on the board at 55? or 64, that wouldn't be a bad pick. At 34 though, he'd be a bad pick only in so much as there are more interesting guys (namely big defensemen)

If Bleackley available at 34th, you don't hesitate to call his name - I'd be very surprised if he makes it past the 1st rnd.

At 34th, it would be Grand Theft Bleackley!

[cral12]

They lad who likely goes just before our pick:

The Deutschland Dangler, Leon Draisaitl, profiled, The Next Ones style, by Andy Eide:

click here for full profile

[cral12]

Blake Clarke, a true enigma, profiled now as well - from Carl Maloney of THW:

click here for full profile

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by cral12

Blake Clarke, a true enigma, profiled now as well - from Carl Maloney of THW:

Pretty epic fail in his draft year... still there was something there once. IMO For Calgary this guy is a "if he falls to the 6th round then why not" situation.

[cral12]

Definitely Parallex - reminiscent fall of Nick "Mr Irrelevent 2012" Ebert couple years back - he's turned it around (although still remains to be seen of course how far he goes) after being initially thought of a high 1st rnd pick.

[cral12]

Many CPers liken this lad as the Flames 4th overall pick:

Michael Dal Colle - the latest to go through a rigorous review, profiled The Next Ones style by Shawn Reznik.

Full profile here

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by cral12

Many CPers liken this lad as the Flames 4th overall pick:

Michael Dal Colle - the latest to go through a rigorous review, profiled The Next Ones style by Shawn Reznik.

Full profile here

If we take him, I'd like to see him go back to junior for a year and play centre.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

If we take him, I'd like to see him go back to junior for a year and play centre.

His lack of a physical game is worrisome. I know he doesn't avoid the physical game, but he doesn't engage in it. That's not really the new Flames' M.O.

[Vulcan]

I just saw Bennett on the Memorial Cup intermission. He's listed at 6' and 180 lbs. which is believable but he looks pretty solid on a small frame. I don't think he's going to get a lot bigger whereas Dal Colle is a skinny 6' 2" and 175 lbs and has room for growth. I'm not saying one will be the better choice, just looking at their body types.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by cral12

If Bleackley available at 34th, you don't hesitate to call his name - I'd be very surprised if he makes it past the 1st rnd.

At 34th, it would be Grand Theft Bleackley!

I could easily see him getting picked at 25 or so. It's just that we have too many forwards, so unless they have something exceptional about them, I'd rather go D.

If we took Bleackley at 34, I would not be disappointed, I just think there are players with higher upside, and that address greater areas of need.

If say Nick Magyar, Bleackley, and Jakub Vrana were all available at 34 and we were going to pick a forward, I'd take either Magyar or Vrana ahead just because they seem to have another gear from what I've watched of each. Both are riskier than Bleackley, but if they do hit their potential, they have a higher ceiling in my opinion.

Bleackley to me looks Stajan-esk. Solid all round guy that might put up 50 points at some point. That's great for a second round pick, but is kind of meh.

[cral12]

One of the many prospects with bloodlines in the "City of Brotherly Love" Draft:

Nick Ritchie profiled by Shawn Reznik

[Vulcan]

One thing about Bleakley is that he looks well schooled by Brent. In the under 18s he was out there all the time in critical situations. He won't wow you but I could see him making the NHL next season just because he plays such a mature game.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

One thing about Bleakley is that he looks well schooled by Brent. In the under 18s he was out there all the time in critical situations. He won't wow you but I could see him making the NHL next season just because he plays such a mature game.

Definitely agree there. He looks really solid and will probably be a good middle of the lineup player. Anyone that takes him will be getting a talented player. If we didn't have the depth that we do, I'd be a lot more interested in taking him than I am. It's difficult when you already have Granlund, Knight, Backlund, Jankowski, Poirier, Klimchuk, Reinhart, and Baertschi all fighting for more or less the same spots.

[cral12]

Our list of prospect features (profiles in War Room & Next Ones format as well as interviews) completely updated:

2014 NHL Draft Prospect Index

>60 prospects featured thus far.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by cral12

Our list of prospect features (profiles in War Room & Next Ones format as well as interviews) completely updated:

2014 NHL Draft Prospect Index

>60 prospects featured thus far.

Big fan of your in-depth profiles. Have been for a couple of years now.

Draisaitl versus Dal Colle: which player is faster (as in, less slow)? Which player better suits the Flames? On paper they seem like they could be fairly similar prospects...

[cral12]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Big fan of your in-depth profiles. Have been for a couple of years now.

Draisaitl versus Dal Colle: which player is faster (as in, less slow)? Which player better suits the Flames? On paper they seem like they could be fairly similar prospects...

Thanks FZ!

Wish I had the time to respond more in depth. You read the descriptions and you're right, they sound like similar prospects, but I think they are quite a bit different as well.

Dal Colle is faster. Now while Draisaitl's skating comes up as something he needs to work, he is what I would call deceptively fast - in other words, it doesn't impair what he does on the ice - and I think he can and will improve it.

At this point, I think you could say either player would fit the Flames. I thought all along I would say Dal Colle, but I really think they have to look at all possibilities. I think we're all guilty about looking at the current team, the prospect pool and trying to slate someone in. I think, without question, you have to take the Best Prospect Available. You can't bank on other stuff "turning out".
Cop out, but I wouldn't be disappointed with either although my preference would be that we nab one of Sam Reinhart, Ekblad or Bennett.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by cral12

Thanks FZ!

Wish I had the time to respond more in depth. You read the descriptions and you're right, they sound like similar prospects, but I think they are quite a bit different as well.

Dal Colle is faster. Now while Draisaitl's skating comes up as something he needs to work, he is what I would call deceptively fast - in other words, it doesn't impair what he does on the ice - and I think he can and will improve it.

At this point, I think you could say either player would fit the Flames. I thought all along I would say Dal Colle, but I really think they have to look at all possibilities. I think we're all guilty about looking at the current team, the prospect pool and trying to slate someone in. I think, without question, you have to take the Best Prospect Available. You can't bank on other stuff "turning out".
Cop out, but I wouldn't be disappointed with either although my preference would be that we nab one of Sam Reinhart, Ekblad or Bennett.

I couldn't agree more. I would feel a bit of disappointment if we didn't end up with one of those three, but Draisaitl or Dal Colle would be good acquisitions.

[cral12]

Few more profiles released in The Next Ones series:

- Sam Reinhart
- Nik Ehlers
- Brycen Martin