Revisiting the 2014 draft. What if the Flames had traded for a second 1st round pick

[The Original FFIV]

Really slow news day on New Year's Day so here's something to mull over:

The New York Rangers' first-round pick went to the New York Islanders as the result of a trade on June 27, 2014 that sent the Islanders and Montreal's second-round picks both in 2014 (35th and 57th overall) to Tampa Bay in exchange for this pick.

What if we sent our 2 2nd round picks in 2014 (used to pick Mason McDonald and hunter smith) to TB for that 1st (28th overall) instead of making our picks? Our selections were actually earlier than the picks nyi traded so imagine a deal was there. Players that were picked before McDonald and this pick were as follows

Josh Ho-Sang
Adrian Kempe
John Quenneville
Brendan Lemieux
Jayce Hawryluk
Ivan Barbashev

What of these players would you rather have instead of McDonald/Smith? Did Treliving make the right call by holding onto the picks?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Right call. Keep the picks.

[Finger Cookin]

I'm glad McDonald is in the pipeline, and the Flames drafted him without having to move up. So yeah, I'm fine with the decision made by Treliving to hold on to the picks.

[Samonadreau]

Maybe if Kempe was a righty but hes not and at the time Poirier was looking pretty promising anyways so right call.

Whether McDonald and Smith were the right choices with those picks only time will tell.

[flamesfan1297]

Im okay with having the picks

[JonDuke]

Have seen Barbashev play a couple of times in the Q and thought he was super fun to watch.

[Vinny01]

keep the picks

[TheScorpion]

Yeah, you keep the picks.

[DropIt]

Kempe or Barbashev would be nice to have

[dammage79]

Kempe and Barbashev would have been great additions. I'm also sure Barbashev was the guy they had ahead of McDonald on their list. He came close to falling to the Flames, stupid Blues.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Kempe and Barbashev would have been great additions. I'm also sure Barbashev was the guy they had ahead of McDonald on their list. He came close to falling to the Flames, stupid Blues.

That's probably what it came down to. Do you pass on a potential starting G (McDonald) and go for a scoring W (Kempe or Barbashev)? I was pissed at the time when we picked McDonald as Gillies was highly touted so didn't see the need to pick a G with a high pick. McDonalds trajectory makes the pick look better with time and there were questions on Kempe's ceiling and the Russian factor with Barbashev.

Nyi paid a high price to move up a few spots to get Ho Sang. I'm sure treliving would have taken some heat from some if he made a similar deal.

Would have been nice to have another top end F prospect (and given the blues and kings draft records these kids should be players), however if McDonald continues to develop and stabilizes the G position, it's probably a wash.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

I'm happy with McDonald and Smith.

[Vinny01]

Treliving was pretty clear he wanted a goalie early in the draft. I doubt they even considered moving up for another forward or Dman

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Treliving was pretty clear he wanted a goalie early in the draft. I doubt they even considered moving up for another forward or Dman

They also said that they had one player remaining ranked above the goalies before the 2nd round started, but he was taken before their pick.

Obviously they didn't feel the need to trade up and get him.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

They also said that they had one player remaining ranked above the goalies before the 2nd round started, but he was taken before their pick.

Obviously they didn't feel the need to trade up and get him.

Which is why I think it was Barbashev as he was taken just before the Flames pick. He was falling right to them, just one short.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Which is why I think it was Barbashev as he was taken just before the Flames pick. He was falling right to them, just one short.

I think it was Brendan Lemiuex. In fact I think we knew the Flames liked him but can't recall the source