Craig Button: Top 50 NHL affiliated prospects

[albertGQ]

https://www.tsn.ca/russian-players-d...ects-1.1424251

Surprised Jakob Pelletier didn't crack the top 50.
No Tyler Parrsons in Flames top 5 either. I was pretty high on him too.

Oilers also have zero in the top 50 despite Broberg and Bouchard being recent early first round selections.

[Johnny Makarov]

Craig Button can shut his pie hole. Worst 'analyst' on TSN.

[mrdonkey]

He’s not wrong.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

He’s not wrong.

Ask him what he thinks of Lucic?

But let's face it, no Flames fan can ever take him seriously after the Marc Savard trade.

[Mass_nerder]

It's Valimaki no longer considered a prospect?
I get that he's not going to be in the top 50, but I'm surprised that he's not in our top 5.

[868904]

Remember that year when Button drafted all those Russian prospects for the Flames? That sure worked out great.

He’s got a fascination with Russian prospects.

Oh and who could forget Zainullin.

[dissentowner]

There is a reason why this guy has to shill for TSN instead of working for an NHL team.

[TheIronMaiden]

There seems to be a consensus around analysts that the Flames cupboards are bare. It's not hard to agree.

1. Juuso Valimaki - 92.6% (Round 1)
2. Dillon Dube - 54.5% (Round 2)
3. Oliver Kylington - 78.3% (Round 3)
4. Jakob Pelletier - 58.0% (Round 4)
5. Matias Emilio Pettersen - 50.0% (Round 5)
6. Tyler Parsons - 50.0% (Round 6)
7. Matthew Phillips - 55.6% (Round 7)
8. Illya Nikolaev - 33.6% (Round 8)
9. Martin Pospisil - 35.8% (Round 9)
10. Dmitry Zavgorodniy - 29.9% (Round 10)

In Stockton right now it doesn't look like they have someone who is a guaranteed NHLer, Their Euro-prospects are not that exciting, they have a couple of could be bottom sixers in the NCAA and CHL.

IMO Pelletier and Valimaki are the only two players trending to be impact NHLers. But, that's the price you pay when you trade away as many draft picks as the Flames have.

The upside to this though, is that guys like Dube and Kyllington, have graduated from this class so it leaves things a little more bare then it might be otherwise.

[TheScorpion]

There are some very strange picks on that list. Shestyorkin being first is just odd. And no Barrett Hayton? Really?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

It's Valimaki no longer considered a prospect?
I get that he's not going to be in the top 50, but I'm surprised that he's not in our top 5.

Yeah, that's weird. I would also have Zavgorodniy ranked ahead of Gawdin and possibly Nikolayev.

[puckedoff]

I don't mind his rankings I don't see what the hate is for. He has more goalies up high than I would put but scouting is opinion based. I like that he doesn't post the status quo rankings because what good is that?

[Erick Estrada]

I can't argue with him not having any Flame on the list as this is what happens when you trade a lot of 1st and 2nd round picks. Still though when we look back at this list in 4+ seasons most of the players will not have become impact players in the NHL. The fact there are so many Russians to me indicates a lot of bust potential IMO.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Ask him what he thinks of Lucic?

But let's face it, no Flames fan can ever take him seriously after the Marc Savard trade.

Brutal take.
Who cares about the Savard trade when it comes to him being an analyst. If you don't like him - don't read him.
But what I like about him is he has a list - it's his list. It often differs from other sources.
Or you can just read prospect lists based on where the person was drafted and read the same lists over and over again
personally I like gathering insights from different sources with different perspectives.
But if you are going to criticize, at least say something meaningful.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

There is a reason why this guy has to shill for TSN instead of working for an NHL team.

Being a scouting expert for TSN is likely a better job than being an NHL scout.

Probably comparable pay, and you don't have to eat hot dogs in an arena in Moncton on Tuesday night.

Anyway here's his 2015 list.

https://www.tsn.ca/tsn-hockey-s-top-...pects-1.183391

I'm not sure that year he shows any special insight.

[looooob]

yeah I don't know enough about all of these guys and their trajectories to comment. list does seem weighted towards Russians, goalies and current WJHC players, perhaps disproportionately so...


looking purely at numbers/production Flames have at least two that seem to fit in (well I guess 3 with Pelletier) (Wolf, Phillips) but all 3 are small and or injured and clearly especially size cannot be remedied

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Brutal take.
Who cares about the Savard trade when it comes to him being an analyst. If you don't like him - don't read him.
But what I like about him is he has a list - it's his list. It often differs from other sources.
Or you can just read prospect lists based on where the person was drafted and read the same lists over and over again
personally I like gathering insights from different sources with different perspectives.
But if you are going to criticize, at least say something meaningful.

Too bad he is a bad judge of hockey sense. which makes his lists less meaningful. and you kind of answered your own question. If the plethora of experts have roughly the same list and then Button has his totally different what does that tell you?

[Lanny_McDonald]

What's to disagree with? I would say that Calgary doesn't have a top 50 prospect as well. Add in injuries and under-performance and I think would struggle to crack the top 100. Mentioning Parsons definitely doesn't help the argument. I'm not sure he's even top three at his position in our system. Calgary is bereft of blue chip prospects, no shame in that based on our draft position of late.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

If the plethora of experts have roughly the same list and then Button has his totally different what does that tell you?

That group think is a big problem in the media?

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

Being a scouting expert for TSN is likely a better job than being an NHL scout.

Probably comparable pay, and you don't have to eat hot dogs in an arena in Moncton on Tuesday night.

Anyway here's his 2015 list.

https://www.tsn.ca/tsn-hockey-s-top-...pects-1.183391

I'm not sure that year he shows any special insight.

I don't read him but i just read that. Hindsight but there are probably 12 guys that should have been picked before his "top 3".

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by New Era

That group think is a big problem in the media?

So it is better to go off and the board and be completely wrong? haha Did Button have Jankowski in his top 10 that year?