I should note I had nothing to do with that mock draft, outside of formatting, editing and posting. Done by members our scouting staff alternating picks.
If Keller was 6'2" instead of 5'10" it would be the "big 4" and not the "big 3" at the top this year. His size is the only thing that keeps him down a bit.
He's one of the youngest guys in the draft class and may have more growing to do than others. I think he possibly projects to about 6'0 and 180. Not great size but a month away from his 18th birthday (currently 5'10, 163) and he's already bigger than Gaudreau.
The games I saw him play and the highlights I watched Gaudreau is who I was reminded of including the great backchecking puck steals and the willingness to throw an occasional hit.
Can you imagine 2 Gaudreaus? You just can't have enough high-end skill.
Go all in on wingers in picks 35, 54, 56 and 65 and don't give up too soon on Poirier and Klimchuk as near-future top 6ers.
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Yes, I read it correctly the first time. Why would our management, who have consistently advocated finding players with size & skill, pass on one of the biggest skilled players in the draft? And not even have him in the top 6?
Edit: *I'm genuinely curious. Did I miss some vital piece of evidence which points to our scouts not being that high on Dubois? Seems crackers to me.
Nothing more than my sense from listening to Button. He made brief remarks about Dubois, Nylander, and Juolevi, but went on enthusiastically and at length about Brown and Sergachev. Maybe they like the centre better than the winger, and they're really high on Sergachev. The ranking is just a hunch on my part.
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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OK. I know I'm offering no real new information or opinion here, but I just want to get it off my chest.
What we know: The Flames "Big 3" D-Men are under contract for minimum 4 more years. Assuming Gio keeps his level of play up for four more years we're all going to be very very happy with this group.
Corollary: In the short and medium term we have only these spots to fill on our back-end: one 3-4 pairing D-Man, two 5-6 pairing D-Men
(For argument's sake I'm going to say you can always get a Diaz / Schlemko for under $1M for the #7 spot, so really we need 3 D-men over the next four years.)
Here's our list of prospects in a very loose tiered ranking:
Ready (or almost ready) Now:
Nakladal - 28 yrs old
Jokipakka - 24 yrs old
Wotherspoon - 23 yrs old
Culkin - 22 yrs
Kulak - 22 yrs
Conclusion: When I look above, I see multiple options for our #4 D-Man and multiple (cheap) options for our 5-6 pairing. ** I do not want to invest our first round pick in a defenseman! **
Please pick a forward Flames. I love the depth we've already built a "D" and have no problems adding two more during this draft, just not at #6 (or higher or lower)
/vent
I pretty much agree with this. Make no mistake whoever drafts the first defenseman in this draft is going to get a fantastic player, possibly even a top 2 D-man for years to come. For a long time I thought the Flames might draft Juolevi, but with the defensive prospects in the system and considering we gave up our first rounder last year for a defenseman, and our first 2 picks in the draft were defensemen I find it really difficult to believe we will draft a defenseman at #6. So, I'm predicting we will draft a forward.
Also, it took me a long time to come around to Nylander. But I've finally been convinced because you can't really have enough high-end skill on your team, and we have highly skilled players on our team, some bruisers and bashers but ultimately not enough skill in my view. If we draft him, I'll be fine with that.
However, I don't think he's the forward we're going to draft. I just have a gut feeling that someone is going to go off the board and Dubois might fall to us. And I'd be ecstatic with that.
fair. but is tkachuk before or after those guys in your mind?
Calgary really does need a power forward. As much as another Gaudreau would be, they already have one so it would be more of a nice to have than a need.
fair. but is tkachuk before or after those guys in your mind?
Tkachuck was before for me, but that gap has significantly narrowed. I would even would go as far as going with one of the 3 defenceman (Chychrun, Juolevi, Sergachyov) ahead of Dubois.
Tkachuck was before for me, but that gap has significantly narrowed. I would even would go as far as going with one of the 3 defenceman (Chychrun, Juolevi, Sergachyov) ahead of Dubois.
Why has Dubois dropped so much for you? I'd way rather have him than Tkachuk to be honest
My biggest worry is reading from one scout that he struggles more in higher paced games.
Haven't heard that. Strange that we see posters focusing on the one negative thing they may have heard and let that sway them over all the good they've heard.
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