[News] With the 54th overall pick the Flames select RW Hunter Smith

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Exactly, what fan comes on a forum to criticize a Flames draft pick on draft day unless it is Jankowski. Furthermore who would criticize a pick by Burke and company. This Smith guy reminds me of a less talented Chris Dingman from his size, his numbers in junior, his apparent inability to skate, his truculence, etc. but I know I should not say that because Dingman was merely a 4th liner.

I would like to know how many drafted players have anything less than some form of NHLer as their projected ceiling though. That would be real bad if Burke drafted this guy in the 2nd round and his ceiling was a 4th liner or AHLer.

The Lucic stuff is equally as embarrassing for fans as some guy saying he will be a NHL hockey player on the 4th line. When Lucic was 18 he had 30 goals and 68 points, slightly better numbers than Smith in his 18 year old year.

It was Lucic's 17 year old year when he had the 19 points, in Smith's 17 year old year he had 1 point. Their is really very little that is similar between the two players numbers at least outside of both being big guys. But somehow a Lucic comparison is a fair comparable but a 4th liner is ridiculous, colour me bemused.

What is with everyone's obsession with Chris Dingman lately?

[cannon7]

Definitely a swing-for-the-fences pick, Smith needs to sharpen his offensive weapons if he's going to be a legit power forward in the NHL. There aren't a ton of 6'7" wingers in the NHL, they tend to either lack the foot speed or break down physically. So that gives me concern. But I like the pick, kind of an antu-Gaudreau pick -- taking a chance on an oversized winger vs. undersized.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Exactly, what fan comes on a forum to criticize a Flames draft pick on draft day unless it is Jankowski. Furthermore who would criticize a pick by Burke and company. This Smith guy reminds me of a less talented Chris Dingman from his size, his numbers in junior, his apparent inability to skate, his truculence, etc. but I know I should not say that because Dingman was merely a 4th liner.

I would like to know how many drafted players have anything less than some form of NHLer as their projected ceiling though. That would be real bad if Burke drafted this guy in the 2nd round and his ceiling was a 4th liner or AHLer.

The Lucic stuff is equally as embarrassing for fans as some guy saying he will be a NHL hockey player on the 4th line. When Lucic was 18 he had 30 goals and 68 points, slightly better numbers than Smith in his 18 year old year.

It was Lucic's 17 year old year when he had the 19 points, in Smith's 17 year old year he had 1 point. Their is really very little that is similar between the two players numbers at least outside of both being big guys. But somehow a Lucic comparison is a fair comparable but a 4th liner is ridiculous, colour me bemused.

Criticism is welcome.

Making crap up (ceiling is a fourth liner / can't skate) will generate criticism towards your post.

Typically, really big kids take a while to get their skating. The important thing with Hunter, IMO, is the amount of improvement in the last year (which was similar with Lucic). It is always about progression.

He is a month older than Draisaitl and is 6'7" 220. The fact that he can skate at all is somewhat remarkable.

It will be interesting to see how he progresses this year - that will tell us a lot. Personally, I would want to see at least 25-30 goals.

[greentree]

Love this pick. Rare physical attributes, late bloomer, fanatastic character. Could be a steal. See you in our breakout 2015-16 season, Hunter!

[GreenLantern2814]

So far I've only been able to see one highlight of Smith where he's actually scoring a goal and not kicking the crap out of Darnell Nurse, Nick Ritchie or some other unfortunate kid in the O. On the goal I saw, he found his way into a hole in coverage and fired a shot off the post and in. But if this makes any sense, it seemed like his puck skills were lacking - the shot was a rocket and went in but it seemed really accidental.

I'm hopeful he becomes a real player; I really like the idea of him riding shotgun with Monahan and Gaudreau.

If this turned into our lineup in three or four years, how does this grab everyone?

Gaudreau-Monahan-Smith
Baertschi-Bennett-Poirier
Klimchuk-Backlund-Jankowski
Bouma-Reinhart-Knight

Never in my life as a Flame fan have we had forward prospect depth like that.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Smith is an interesting prospect. Passed over last year but seemingly most scouting services and opinions had him going around where the Flames took him. John Shannon had him in the late first round.

He's only three months older then teammate and now draft-mate Michael Dal Colle, who obviously wasn't doing the draft a 2nd time. That sheds some light on Hunter Smith still being protected then taken high this time around. He was super young last year and his birthday is right near the cut off.

Will be fun to see what he can do this year, but anyone who hasn't watched him and is brushing him off because he was eligible last year looks ignorant.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

If this turned into our lineup in three or four years, how does this grab everyone?

Gaudreau-Monahan-Smith
Baertschi-Bennett-Poirier
Klimchuk-Backlund-Jankowski
Bouma-Reinhart-Knight

Never in my life as a Flame fan have we had forward prospect depth like that.

...and that's not including Granlund, Arnold, Agostino, Ferland, Hanowski, Colborne or Byron. Of course not all these guys will pan out but future looks bright.

I think Smith will have a breakout type of year this year similar to Poirier. He had a good playoffs for the Generals and I think next year he'll continue that trend of improvement.

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Exactly, what fan comes on a forum to criticize a Flames draft pick on draft day unless it is Jankowski. Furthermore who would criticize a pick by Burke and company. This Smith guy reminds me of a less talented Chris Dingman from his size, his numbers in junior, his apparent inability to skate, his truculence, etc. but I know I should not say that because Dingman was merely a 4th liner.

I would like to know how many drafted players have anything less than some form of NHLer as their projected ceiling though. That would be real bad if Burke drafted this guy in the 2nd round and his ceiling was a 4th liner or AHLer.

The Lucic stuff is equally as embarrassing for fans as some guy saying he will be a NHL hockey player on the 4th line. When Lucic was 18 he had 30 goals and 68 points, slightly better numbers than Smith in his 18 year old year.

It was Lucic's 17 year old year when he had the 19 points, in Smith's 17 year old year he had 1 point. Their is really very little that is similar between the two players numbers at least outside of both being big guys. But somehow a Lucic comparison is a fair comparable but a 4th liner is ridiculous, colour me bemused.

Chris Dingman has two Stanley Cup rings. You need different kinds of players in different roles in order to win a championship. Including 3rd/4th line players.

[JJ1532]

Originally Posted by GettinIggyWithIt

...and that's not including Granlund, Arnold, Agostino, Ferland, Hanowski, Colborne or Byron. Of course not all these guys will pan out but future looks bright.

I think Smith will have a breakout type of year this year similar to Poirier. He had a good playoffs for the Generals and I think next year he'll continue that trend of improvement.

And thats also not including the fact that obviously we won't have a complete roster of prospects(well, they won't be prospects in 3 years obviously, but you get my point). We will have a sprinkling of 30+ vets, mid range FA pickups in the 25-30 range etc.

But we are getting ourselves into a good position for sure. With realistically half of any roster going to be taken up by non prospects, it means that only the best prospects we have will be given roster spots. No rushing of the prospects that aren't ready, it will also give us some useful pieces if we want to pick up mid to late round draft picks in the future as well. Looking good in the offence for sure, just need 1-2 1st round D-men now.

[Geeoff]

Things we know about him:

-He's huge
-He's on an upward trajectory
-He's a fan of Carly Rae Jepsen

[JohnnyT]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Things we know about him:

-He's huge
-He's on an upward trajectory
-He's a fan of Carly Rae Jepsen

Also has soft enough hands to fill jelly timbits

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by GettinIggyWithIt

...and that's not including Granlund, Arnold, Agostino, Ferland, Hanowski, Colborne or Byron. Of course not all these guys will pan out but future looks bright.

I think Smith will have a breakout type of year this year similar to Poirier. He had a good playoffs for the Generals and I think next year he'll continue that trend of improvement.

Forgot about Arnold, what's his current potential look like? 3rd liner?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Smith is an interesting prospect. Passed over last year but seemingly most scouting services and opinions had him going around where the Flames took him. John Shannon had him in the late first round.

He's only three months older then teammate and now draft-mate Michael Dal Colle, who obviously wasn't doing the draft a 2nd time. That sheds some light on Hunter Smith still being protected then taken high this time around. He was super young last year and his birthday is right near the cut off.

Will be fun to see what he can do this year, but anyone who hasn't watched him and is brushing him off because he was eligible last year looks ignorant.

Travis Zajac was undrafted in 2003, than picked in the first round the next season. There are a lot of guys who end up in the NHL despite not being drafted in their first chance thru. One thing I heard about this draft was that a lot of guys passed over last year would be taken this year due to the depth of this draft class. As you mention, Smith was 4 days from not being eligible for last year's draft.

[killer_carlson]

I spent some time on youtube looking at Hunter Smith fights. Quite frankly he needs some assistance in there or his NHL career will end very quickly in exhibition season. If he takes the same kind of hits at the NHL level he'll be carried out by his teammates more often than not.

I'm hoping he is smart enough to speak to McGratton about this.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

Chris Dingman has two Stanley Cup rings. You need different kinds of players in different roles in order to win a championship. Including 3rd/4th line players.

That was my point exactly, that he is a 4th line grinder or fighter. I have never really heard of a guy above 6'5 scoring 20 goals in a season, if Smith pulled it off he would be an anomaly.

[TheDebaser]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

That was my point exactly, that he is a 4th line grinder or fighter. I have never really heard of a guy above 6'5 scoring 20 goals in a season, if Smith pulled it off he would be an anomaly.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3358/

[Shawnski]

Eric Daze.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3358/

Oh, snap!

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Shawnski

Eric Daze.

Yes, but Daze never scored 20.
He scored 38, 33, 31, 30 etc.
But never 20

[djsFlames]

Except Smith said himself he was barely played last season when he had the single point. Coach did not give him the ice time to rack up the points.

If anything I'd throw last season away and focus on what he was able to show this year and how he can build on that.

With his maturity and upswing in production who knows what he projects to be, but his character and physcial attributes certainly are that of an NHLer.