[News] With the 32nd OA pick, the Flames select C Cullen Potter

[Geordano]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Third and Fourth liners grow on trees.

Not for the Oilers

[Yobbo]

Good vibes all around!

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by FireInTheHole

Weird side note... did anyone else notice that he was the only one who didn't "meet with team leadership" on the video screen after his selection?

No there were others throughout the draft where they didn't do the Zoom call. It was infrequent after the top ten.

[Super-Rye]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Craig Button doing his brother a solid by ranking him 50th.

Craig Button wouldn't know a skilled undersized forward if he had one sitting on his roster that was a future HOF.

[browna]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

potter has a stitched on name bar

Probably a surplus of Cory Potter jerseys circa 2014 laying around the Dome.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Another successful 1st round. Great job Calgary

Umm, there's no success on draft day, lol. I'm as optimistic as anyone and love Conroy's approach to skill over safe picks but we know nothing on day one of the draft.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I like this pick.


Watch his videos, and he is a play driver. If he doesn't have the puck, he goes right to the areas that he needs to get to. Next is how he is able to make plays at full-speed - this is so deadly in today's NHL. It is what sets apart someone like McDavid from someone like Lombardi or Larkin.



He has everything you want in a player except size by the looks of it. I will always argue until I am blue in the face two things:


1) You can't draft a guy in the 1st round if he has 2 major flaws. Potter has one - size. Everything else he is at least above average in, if not elite.
2) Size is king, but (lack of size with high compete) >>>>>> (size with low compete).



Being 'hard to play against' isn't just being big. Klapka is very hard to play against, but it is also because he has a high compete level. Jankowski - great skill, great skater, great hockey sense, good playmaker, and is 6'4" - lower compete level has made him a fringe player. Bennett has 2 cups now and a brand new 8x8 deal in large measure because of his incredibly high compete level.


Guys like Gaudreau, Mangiapane, Mullen, Loob, Gilmour, Fleury - I argue that they were all hard to play against because they competed hard. Some were physical, others weren't, but they all made the Flames harder to play against, and some of them won a cup here too being undersized, especially at a time where undersized was not as welcoming with all the holding and hooking and slower speed of the NHL.


Flames just injected a lot of talent and compete into their organization with these two picks. I like it more and more. Speed, skill, IQ, compete - this could be a really, really good player down the road.

[TheScorpion]

Talking with a scout in the league tonight who compared Potter to Tyler Ennis. Likely a winger at the next level but in a draft like this I'll take that at 32.

[InternationalVillager]

Originally Posted by Super-Rye

Craig Button wouldn't know a skilled undersized forward if he had one sitting on his roster that was a future HOF.

LOLOL

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Psytic

I don’t know anything about him but this was interesting.

https://neutralzone.com/nhl-scouting...-cullen-potter

Underwhelming Offensive Efficiency
Despite generating chances, Potter struggles to finish. His 8% conversion rate on Grade “A” chances is well below average, and he too often misses the net (1.59 misses/game) or has shots blocked (1.29/game), especially on odd-man rushes. His current offensive value is driven more by volume than efficiency. For a player receiving top-six minutes and power play time, his 22 points (13G, 9A) is modest.

Puck Management and Decision-Making Need Work
Potter’s 6 giveaways per game is among the highest in his peer group and is a red flag considering he completes only 84% of his passes. Many of his turnovers are a result of trying to do too much, skating into pressure, or forcing lateral plays into coverage. His 1.03 passes per game that lead to Grade “A” teammate chances is solid but suggests he’s not yet elevating linemates the way top NHL center prospects often do.

Lack of Strength is Still an Issue
Potter’s 43% face-off win rate, low penalty-drawing rate (0.26/game), and the 1.10 hard hits he absorbs per game tells us he’s still developing overall body strength, and being on the receiving end of that many hard hits per-game tells us he has not learned to change pace and is unfortunately very predictable. He plays fearlessly, but until he gets stronger, he will continue to lose physical battles, especially at the NHL level.

He was a boy, playing against young men, 3 and 4 years older than him.

Someone his size is always going to be a longer term project - he will need to get significantly stronger before he can turn pro. The important thing right now is that he has great tools, including blazing speed. The next key will be his progression over the next two years.

[FlamesAddiction]

He sounds like a swing for a homerun, which I like. There is a risk of the pick not hitting, but at 32 there is a built in risk at that point no matter who you draft. Might as well swing for the fences with the kid that has elite speed and skill. You don't get great by taking safe picks deeper into the 1st round because the only safe picks at that point are ones with average or low potential otherwise they wouldn't be available at 32.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Talking with a scout in the league tonight who compared Potter to Tyler Ennis. Likely a winger at the next level but in a draft like this I'll take that at 32.

Fair...but...



If that's all that Potter ends up as, it's a nothingburger pick.

Have to dream of more and a better outcome, but yeah...weak draft class.

[FlamesDraftPrognosticator]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

If you get a guy like that at this spot it’s a home run.
As a draft prognosticator I suspect you know that

Just to be clear, I’m not calling it a bad pick. But I see people on here and in the media hyping him up as some high-skill, high-ceiling player, and I just don’t see it. To me, he’s a fast, third-line 40 point guy—a solid role player for sure. I’m just trying to temper expectations.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by FlamesDraftPrognosticator

Just to be clear, I’m not calling it a bad pick. But I see people on here and in the media hyping him up as some high-skill, high-ceiling player, and I just don’t see it. To me, he’s a fast, third-line guy who tops out around 40 points—a solid role player for sure. I’m just trying to temper expectations.

You're doing the Lord's work - God bless you

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by FlamesDraftPrognosticator

Trust me, I want to be there with you and excited about the pick but we went with the guy who in my opinion is the safe 3rd line 40+ point guy. I think that’s what other scouts saw and passed on him as a result.

Exactly four forwards on our entire roster broke the 40+ point mark this past season. I would gladly invite this draftee to join that club.


(The two teams in the finals this year had six (Florida) and four (Edmonton) forwards with 40+ points, so that may not be the best indicator of a “safe 3rd line guy.”)

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

He was a boy, playing against young men, 3 and 4 years older than him.

Someone his size is always going to be a longer term project - he will need to get significantly stronger before he can turn pro. The important thing right now is that he has great tools, including blazing speed. The next key will be his progression over the next two years.

I don’t know anything about him or this scouting agency but they are saying compared to peers so I’m assuming they are comparing him to guys at the same age in the same league. Or at least you would think or their scouting report is worthless. Anyways it’s interesting if accurate.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Exactly four forwards on our entire roster broke the 40+ point mark this past season. I would gladly invite this draftee to join that club.


(The two teams in the finals this year had six (Florida) and four (Edmonton) forwards with 40+ points, so that may not be the best indicator of a “safe 3rd line guy.”)

Precisely.

A guy who can regularly score 40 points in the NHL is not a third-liner.

[sureLoss]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1938820169205535165

[Tibnadian_tpd]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

If you get a guy like that at this spot it’s a home run.
As a draft prognosticator I suspect you know that

That's a pretty unnecessary final zinger of a comment to make.

I see what the prognosticator is talking about though. So many posters online are saying Potter has "high end talent", and I frankly don't see it either. He looks like he will be a very valuable/useful player to the Flames with his speed in certain scenarios like penalty killing and the shootout. He plays like he's always racing away and firing it, and fails to see other possible offensive plays developing. There's a reason he only had 22 assists over his last 70 games. Contrary to the popular opinion, he doesn't have high end puck skills or creativity, which most would think a smallish first rounder would have. He's a straight line buzzsaw, electric skating future third or fourth liner that will give you what prognosticator said, about 30-40 points a year, maybe 50 points in a career year. He's a Flame though, and a young man, I'll be cheering for him every step of the way, but if people are talking about talent level, then other posters should have the right to respond objectively speaking without being roasted.

[Tbull8]

Maybe Mason Raymond is a good comp? Solid complimentary middle 6er who can fly