[News] Upd: Drouin decides to sit out until trade is completed. Lightning suspend him.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Hesla

That's insanity. I would do that deal every day of the weak. Skilled F we need more than pick moving dmen.

It largely depends on what you think of Drouin. I don't hold him as a top line star forward. I see him as a quality 2nd liner who might become a 60-65 point guy down the road once he develops.

That's useful, and I would be willing to deal off any asset that has less potential than that for him. Andersson, Kylington and Jankowski would not be included in a deal (Janko only because 6-4 centers are more valuable than wingers, especially when we have issues with being small)

Hickey, Poirier, Klimchuk, Russell, Granlund, Backlund, Hudler and anyone else that's behind them in the depth chart + all picks would be on the table.

We have a ton of assets that are viable in a trade. Dealing any of the higher ones for a guy that's struggling and is demanding a trade is not good asset management.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Seems like he was 19.

I just looked up his birth date. Yeah, he turned 19 in December 2014, his age was more similar to Andersson than Kylington.

Kylington doesn't turn 19 until May 2016

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by saillias

It's not too far fetched. A forward cracking the NHL at his age has the IQ and physical skills (skating, shooting) to figure out how to score eventually as well. Similar doubts were once made about Andrew Ladd among others

I assume you talking about Horvat? I would argue that for all the tremendous improvement he has shown in the past two years, he simply does not have the right combination of skill, speed, and size to make a very effective top-six forward. Bo Horvat has always looked like a terrific two-way centre with some limited scoring upside, and his entire trajectory to this point would seem to confirm that much.

[Hackey]

Voynovs birthday is January though so not sure how that works. He probably turned 19 half way through the season as well. Kylington on the other hand will be 18 the whole way through doesn't turn 19 till May 19.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by blankall

I would have thought the same thing about Hamilton, but it happened....

Touché.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

It largely depends on what you think of Drouin. I don't hold him as a top line star forward. I see him as a quality 2nd liner who might become a 60-65 point guy down the road once he develops.

He isn't a top line star forward now but that certainly is his potential. This is a guy who was light years ahead of MacKinnon in the WJC when they were both 17 and showed jaw dropping skill. He hasn't lost that potential just because he's struggled so far in his career. Players develop at different rates. He has Panarin, Kane, Gaudreau type skill from what I saw of him in junior. No guarantee he ends up like them but to peg his upside as a 2nd liner is to underrate his skill level.

If he can be had for a reasonable price then you do it IMO even with our LW depth.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Voynovs birthday is January though so not sure how that works. He probably turned 19 half way through the season as well. Kylington on the other hand will be 18 the whole way through doesn't turn 19 till May 19.

If that's the case, then Kyllington seems poised to post the most points ever as an AHL D-man before his 19th birthday.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

He isn't a top line star forward now but that certainly is his potential. This is a guy who was light years ahead of MacKinnon in the WJC when they were both 17 and showed jaw dropping skill. He hasn't lost that potential just because he's struggled so far in his career. Players develop at different rates. He has Panarin, Kane, Gaudreau type skill from what I saw of him in junior. No guarantee he ends up like them but to peg his upside as a 2nd liner is to underrate his skill level.

If he can be had for a reasonable price then you do it IMO even with our LW depth.

This. He has the puck on a string ability that few players have. All that he needs is ice-time and some confidence and IMO is a top line player within the next year.

I don't know that he is the biggest organizational need, but the prospects of having 2 puck possession guys like him and Johnny is very enticing

[Enoch Root]

Oh, and for those of you that don't follow the Heat at all, Kyllington is not only putting up decent points, but he is now taking regular shifts with Nakladal and they look like the team's best pairing (my personal opinion).

His defensive game has made huge strides - to the point where it doesn't seem to be an issue at all anymore.

And again, that's an 18 year old in a men's league.

And he already has NHL-level skating ability.

For me, with Bennett and Ferland graduating, I would now have Kyllington and Gillies as our top 2 prospects.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

He isn't a top line star forward now but that certainly is his potential. This is a guy who was light years ahead of MacKinnon in the WJC when they were both 17 and showed jaw dropping skill. He hasn't lost that potential just because he's struggled so far in his career. Players develop at different rates. He has Panarin, Kane, Gaudreau type skill from what I saw of him in junior. No guarantee he ends up like them but to peg his upside as a 2nd liner is to underrate his skill level.

If he can be had for a reasonable price then you do it IMO even with our LW depth.

I am hoping the Flames get him, I would probably over pay in terms of the quantity of quality assets. If it took Backlund, Granlund, Hickey and a 2nd just for Drouin, I pull the trigger on that. I might even be willing to add a bit more. Just don't want to see the small handful of potential impact guys we have coming up moved for another potential impact guy. Lots of other alternatives though.

[JJ1532]

I wonder how many points Voynov was up to by the time he turned 19. Because that's when the cut off point should be. That's what people did when rating Ekblad last season. They kept saying that he'd achieved milestone A as an 18 year old and milestone B as an 18 year old. The moment he turned 19, that was it.

I think people forget that Kylington was projected to be a top 5 pick just over 12 months ago. Then in 2015, he started sliding. But the kid for me still has high upside. I want to keep both him and Andersson to see how they develop over the next 2 years. I mean, if these guys develop into decent NHL defencemen, our blue line could look stacked for the next decade, even if Gio declines.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I don't get this comment.

I agree that it is probable that only one or two of them make it, but there is definitely room for all three, should they get that far.

Gio
Brodie
Hamilton
One of Kylington, Hickey, Andersson

Bottom 3 are easy to find. I guess you could keep those guys as bottom pairing players but they're either being wasted or didn't live up to their potential and are depth players.

Down the road, guys like Culkin, Kulak, Wotherspoon, Ollas Matteson, whoever we pick this year will be all kicking around as options as well. Maybe even Rafikov.

My point is that we shouldn't fear trading one of those three when you have the top 3 locked in for the foreseeable future and have tons of options and time to figure out the rest. We need impact forwards more than we need a glut of prospect defensmen that realistically can't all make the team.

[DomeFoam]

Not sure what puts Hickey below both Kylington and Andersson. He may not be as flashy but from watching him throughout the WJC (which making team Canada as the go to shutdown guy is an accomplishment in itself) he played extremely solid, never made a mistake. Just made the easy, simple play every time - the things that made Lidstrom great for example. I would define Hickey as untouchable at this instant. His game is incredibly mature and I think he's the closest of the three to playing at the NHL level

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

If that's the case, then Kyllington seems poised to post the most points ever as an AHL D-man before his 19th birthday.

Not saying Kylington posting the most points ever for a 19 year old isn't a nice accomplishment, but aren't 19 year olds in the AHL pretty few and far between? Only in situations like Kylington's can a 19 year old play in the AHL in the first place. All the other ones are either returned to junior, or are playing NCAA.

[RyZ]

For me, in terms of an offer for Drouin, Im down to trade anything other than Jhonny, Monahan, Bennett, Brodie or Gio. Anything else, including this years 1st is fair game in my mind.

And I trade 2 Horvats for Drouin 7 days a week.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

If that's the case, then Kyllington seems poised to post the most points ever as an AHL D-man before his 19th birthday.

Here are the stats before turning 19:

Voynov - 12 Points in 26 Games
Honka - 10 Points in 21 Games
Kylington - 9 Points in 24 Games with about 40 games left to go!

[codynw]

Originally Posted by RyZ

For me, in terms of an offer for Drouin, Im down to trade anything other than Jhonny, Monahan, Bennett, Brodie or Gio. Anything else, including this years 1st is fair game in my mind.

And I trade 2 Horvats for Drouin 7 days a week.

Hamilton?

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by RyZ

For me, in terms of an offer for Drouin, Im down to trade anything other than Jhonny, Monahan, Bennett, Brodie or Gio. Anything else, including this years 1st is fair game in my mind.

And I trade 2 Horvats for Drouin 7 days a week.

Dougie Hamilton?

No way I trade Dougie.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by RyZ

For me, in terms of an offer for Drouin, Im down to trade anything other than Jhonny, Monahan, Bennett, Brodie or Gio. Anything else, including this years 1st is fair game in my mind.

And I trade 2 Horvats for Drouin 7 days a week.

You'd trade two 21-year old top 6 NHL centres for a smallish skilled winger who was demoted because he can't find his own zone with a Garmin.

No, you wouldn't.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

You'd trade two 21-year old top 6 NHL centres for a smallish skilled winger who was demoted because he can't find his own zone with a Garmin.

No, you wouldn't.

Horvat is probably not an NHL top-six centre.