Johnny Hockey: Countdown to 30G, 50A, 80P, needs 2 assists in 1 GR

[Southside]

Originally Posted by FireItUp

http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=876903

I have no doubt that Johnny will end up being the top point producer in his draft class, it's only a matter time. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2011e.html

With all the first overall picks the Oilers had, they've only managed to scoop up one player that produces more points per game then Johnny.

Gaudreau (4th Round 104th overall)
157 games, 140 points - 0.89 points per game

Connor McDavid (1st round 1st overall)
43 games, 45 points - 1.04 points per game

Nail Yakupov(1st round 1st overall)
250 games, 108 points - 0.43 points per game

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1st round 1st overall)
311 games, 221 points - 0.71 points per game

Taylor Hall (1st round 1st overall)
379 games, 324 points - 0.85 points per game

We are truly lucky to have scouts who could see past his size and recognized his raw skill, but with a franchise that drafted Theo Fleury and signed Martin St.Louis(when he went undrafted) I'm not surprised that they took a chance on Johnny.

To me the best part about Johnny is he's "not" a first overall pick, not a top ten pick or not even a top 100 pick. It's an amazing underdog story we are all seeing unfold with every goal or amazing play he makes.
I told an Oiler fan last season before they drafted McDavid, that you can have all the first overall picks handed to you, but let me know when you pick a first overall franchise type player in the 4th round cause thats what the Flames did with Johnny.

Not to mention TJ Brodie in the 4th and Giordano being signed as an undrafted free agent.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Does anyone know who was responsible for first noticing Gaudreau? Was it Weisbrod? One of the scouts? Feaster? I've always been curious to who really noticed him and pushed the envelope to take a chance and draft him.

Todd Button and Feaster:

“That was a very, very difficult draft for us in many ways,” said Feaster, a former Tampa Bay Lightning GM who now holds the title executive director of community hockey development with the club.

The most excruciating call, it would seem, came in the fourth round when the team started giving some real thought to drafting Gaudreau with the 104th overall pick. The pressure was really on because the Flames did not hold a fifth-round pick, making it a now-or-never situation.

“The guy who was very much in (Gaudreau’s) corner and felt we just had to take him was (director of amateur scouting) Tod Button,” Feaster said. “Tod felt very, very strongly about it. He kept saying, ‘I know he’s not very big, but I’m telling you this kid can play and he’s the most exciting player we’ve seen.’

“I said, ‘If you feel that strongly about him as a player, let’s do it right now.’”

- source http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/t...hnny-gaudreau/

[Envitro]

For this alone we will forgive Todd Button for being related to Craig...

[Bunk]

Thank you, Tod Button! I love the story behind his pick.

[DionTheDman]

Here is another story about how secretive Calgary was when scouting Johnny if you haven't read it yet.

They liked him. They liked him a lot.
So they wanted to avoid tipping their hand. No easy thing in a world as small as hockey’s.

To keep their degree of admiration hidden, they didn’t approach the player — not even once — leading up to the 2011 National Hockey League draft. And they took secrecy one step further by not talking to the boy’s junior coach, either.

Why? Because they knew that Peter Chiarelli, general manager of the Boston Bruins, had an ownership stake in the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints and, should they pick the brain of skipper Jim Montgomery, word of their interest could trickle back to Beantown.

But the Calgary Flames, with stealth, did their homework on Johnny Gaudreau.

[ZedMan]

But Button convinced him to leave Gaudreau and Russian winger Nikita Kucherov as wild cards

Damn, Tod. Good picks.

[sun]

Tod Button is an interesting cat. Hired in 97(?), promoted to head scout in 2001 (nepotism!)

Flames prospect pool had been... not very good for a good chunk of his tenure, especially pre-2010. Particularly in the first round (Pelech, Neimisz, Irving, etc). But he did find some gems here and there with later picks.

I assume the guy has kept his job for so long because of quotes like the one above. He wanted Kucherov, and they didn't get him, but look at him now. Maybe it was documented that he wanted Schneider (not Chucko), Neal (not Pelech), Neuvirth (not Irving), etc, but his GMs overruled him. How else does he keep his job for so long through multiple GMs when our prospect pool was completely abysmal?

Maybe GMs meddle in the early picks and he had more leeway in later rounds, since he has done quite well there (Brodie, Bouma, Ortio, Pardy, etc). Seems like he was really given the reins during Feaster's reign and the Flames' drafting since then has been much better, even putting aside "easy" picks like Monahan and Bennett.

An out-of-the-park grand slam like Gaudreau certainly makes him look like a genius and his 2011 draft in general was A++. Excited to see what gems he has found in the recent drafts.

[Dion]

And the Bruins, as it turned out, did have an eye on Gaudreau.

John Weisbrod, perched at the Boston table that day in St. Paul, Minn., verified that interest in a March 2012 interview: “Calgary beat us to the punch. There were people banging their hands on the table, like, ‘Oh, we should have taken him a round earlier.’ It’s a calculated risk. The Flames got Gaudreau in a really good spot.”

Thank you Button and Feaster!

[djsFlames]

What exactly is the big risk when you're into round 4 and later in a draft?

After round two I'm pretty certain <10% of players turn into NHLers.

Don't know why there aren't more "potential reward"/project picks made in the mid rounds.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

What exactly is the big risk when you're into round 4 and later in a draft?

After round two I'm pretty certain <10% of players turn into NHLers.

Don't know why there aren't more "potential reward"/project picks made in the mid rounds.

There aren't really any 'safe' picks in the late rounds. Most are kids that have some talent but have holes in other areas. It could be argued that most late round picks are of the boom/bust variety but boom=serviceable. If a team thinks there is a 10% chance a player turns into Gaudreau they pick him sooner than 104th overall. I doubt Tod Button or anyone else thought there was a chance Gaudreau would be THIS good. They were probably thinking 50 point PP specialist if he beats all the odds. Most wrote him off completely due to his size.

[Roof-Daddy]

But Button convinced him to leave Gaudreau and Russian winger Nikita Kucherov as wild cards

Originally Posted by ZedMan

Damn, Tod. Good picks.

It stings a little bit knowing they had Kucherov on their radar, but then took Wotherspoon at #57 only to have Kucherov go to the Bolts at #58. Like I really wish I didn't know that.

What a draft that would have been.


Gaudreau - Monahan - Kucherov

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

It stings a little bit knowing they had Kucherov on their radar, but then took Wotherspoon at #57 only to have Kucherov go to the Bolts at #58. Like I really wish I didn't know that.

What a draft that would have been.


Gaudreau - Monahan - Kucherov

Well, disappointing for sure to miss out, but I am comforted by the fact that at least kids with exceptional talent are being identified.

[Hockey Fan #751]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

It stings a little bit knowing they had Kucherov on their radar, but then took Wotherspoon at #57 only to have Kucherov go to the Bolts at #58. Like I really wish I didn't know that.

What a draft that would have been.


Gaudreau - Monahan - Kucherov

Sounds like Kucherov being taken was the trigger in terms of determining that they were going to take Gaudreau with their next pick, though. Maybe if they took Kucherov at 57, they would have waited on Gaudreau and he would have ended up in Boston.

[FBI]

Oh baby.. 50 assists might be doable again!

[flamesforcup]

If we had taken kucherov we wouldnt have gaudreau. It all worked out in the end

[FanIn80]

So... Of the top 25 in NHL scoring, only Kane, Benn, Crosby, Karlsson and Gaudreau are at least 1 point per game or higher.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

So... Of the top 25 in NHL scoring, only Kane, Benn, Crosby, Karlsson and Gaudreau are at least 1 point per game or higher.

Pretty elite company.

This guy is damn good

[djsFlames]

Both Thornton and Karlsson with 60+ assists. Safe to say they're probably the best playmakers in hockey. Like jesus, decline already big Joe, won't you?

Imagine if Ovie and Thornton's kids/future kids got together and bred the ultimate hockey player. I think they need to make it happen for hockey's sake. Arranged marriages are a thing in Russia right? (jk)

[Itse]

Top 5 forward in the league in points. (With a game or 3 less than others in the top 10.)

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Both Thornton and Karlsson with 60+ assists. Safe to say they're probably the best playmakers in hockey. Like jesus, decline already big Joe, won't you?

Imagine if Ovie and Thornton's kids/future kids got together and bred the ultimate hockey player. I think they need to make it happen for hockey's sake. Arranged marriages are a thing in Russia right? (jk)

I believe in Russia, the marriages arrange you...




(I'm so sorry...)

Thornton is a guy I could see having success into his mid 40s.