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

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

You can play in the NHL at 5'10"... that isn't - or shouldn't be - up for debate.

The problem is that you can only have so many of those guys, and the question is: how many?

One? Irrelevant. Two? Still not a concern. Three? That's getting problematic. If 4 or 5 of your top 9 are small, you're in big trouble. You're dead in the water.

Gotta disagree, play style is more important than size and more difficult to quantify. There isn't much difference between a 5-10 185 pound guy and a 6'2 190 pound player on the boards. Now if one of those guys is way faster than the other, who's going to win more puck battles? Probably the guy who gets there first.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

You can play in the NHL at 5'10"... that isn't - or shouldn't be - up for debate.

The problem is that you can only have so many of those guys, and the question is: how many?

One? Irrelevant. Two? Still not a concern. Three? That's getting problematic. If 4 or 5 of your top 9 are small, you're in big trouble. You're dead in the water.

Maybe but with both these guys they actually grew a bit taller this year and it's possible they could grow a little more.

It's possible by the time Reschny and Potter are 20 years old they are listed at 6'0" and 5'11" respectively.

IIRC the average height of an NHL forward is 6'0" (defense tends to be a bit bigger), so it's quite possible both of these guys are average height by the time they finish growing.

It's not like they took two guys that are 5'7". For Potter especially to have success as a 17 year old in the NCAA kind of shows that him being 5'9 3/4" didn't hurt him that much.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Gotta disagree, play style is more important than size and more difficult to quantify. There isn't much difference between a 5-10 185 pound guy and a 6'2 190 pound player on the boards. Now if one of those guys is way faster than the other, who's going to win more puck battles? Probably the guy who gets there first.

You're referring to an individual here, I was referring to a team. Size isn't a big issue for individuals, but (my point was) it becomes a problem in the aggregate.

[Electricprez]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

You're referring to an individual here, I was referring to a team. Size isn't a big issue for individuals, but (my point was) it becomes a problem in the aggregate.

It’s like you’ve never watched Mighty Ducks. All those kids were short - mere children even - but they won the whole thing.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Maybe but with both these guys they actually grew a bit taller this year and it's possible they could grow a little more.

It's possible by the time Reschny and Potter are 20 years old they are listed at 6'0" and 5'11" respectively.

IIRC the average height of an NHL forward is 6'0" (defense tends to be a bit bigger), so it's quite possible both of these guys are average height by the time they finish growing.

It's not like they took two guys that are 5'7". For Potter especially to have success as a 17 year old in the NCAA kind of shows that him being 5'9 3/4" didn't hurt him that much.

My post was not a criticism of either player. I think both picks were terrific. And I agree, either or both could still grow.

I like the pick. Full stop.

But you can't have too many small players. Simple fact.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

My post was not a criticism of either player. I think both picks were terrific. And I agree, either or both could still grow.

I like the pick. Full stop.

But you can't have too many small players. Simple fact.

Depends on the team. The Lightning had a bunch of small forwards, those were their best players. Then they got a bunch of big guys to do the non-skilled stuff. Having seen Kucherov live I would be shocked if he is 6’0 as he is listed, probably more like 5’10 and 3/4.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Small

Waste of a pick like Gaudreau?

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

You're referring to an individual here, I was referring to a team. Size isn't a big issue for individuals, but (my point was) it becomes a problem in the aggregate.

Is it? Florida had a pretty average (height) to below average (weight) sized team. They won back to back cups despite this.

I think people are overvaluing and overemphasizing size again because Vegas was a big team and Florida just played like it’s a big team. But both types of teams can win.

[Flamesfan05]

Small is fine as long as they are your best players

Otherwise they became Jakob Pelletier

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

My post was not a criticism of either player. I think both picks were terrific. And I agree, either or both could still grow.

I like the pick. Full stop.

But you can't have too many small players. Simple fact.

TBH I think it matters less at forward and weight and play style means more than height.

Somebody did some analysis on this once and forward size seems to not correlate to team success, but having big d-men, and especially tall dmen with long reach seems to be correlated to playoff success.

In terms of the Flames young forward group as a whole, I don't think it's an issue anyways.

If I look at the Flames top forward prospects / younger roster players (U-25):

Reschny: 5'11"
Potter: 5'10"
Gridin: 6'1"
Basha: 6'0"
Battaglia: 6'1"
Misa: 5'10"
Hoskin: 6'1
Honzek: 6'4"
Suniev: 6'2"
Lipinski: 6'4"
Coronato: 5'10"
Stromgren: 6'3"
Zary: 6'0"
Pospisil: 6'2"
Klapka: 6'8"

Overall don't think it will be an issue. Nobody is this group is tiny, and even the 5'10" guys likely will all weight around 185 lbs by the time they are NHLers.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

Is it? Florida had a pretty average (height) to below average (weight) sized team. They won back to back cups despite this.

I think people are overvaluing and overemphasizing size again because Vegas was a big team and Florida just played like it’s a big team. But both types of teams can win.

Their top players Barkov, Reinhardt, Ekblad, Tkachuk are all big. 6.2+
Even Bennett and Lindell are not small
The only short guy is Marchant

Using Florida is the wrong argument

That said the picks are fine. The Flames need talent. They missed the playoffs because they couldn’t score in many of the games

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Small is fine as long as they are your best players

Otherwise they became Jakob Pelletier

Small is a problem when you aren't fast enough, elusive enough, or clever enough for the NHL.

Paul Byron was nobody's best player, but he carved out a role for himself and had a decent career.

Matthew Phillips would be an NHL fixture if he could skate like Johnny - he can't, so he's gonna be an AHL/Euro league All Star for the rest of his playing life.

Potter isn't small.

5 ft 11 172 at the draft means he'll probably be a 6 ft ish centre between 190-200 lbs.

That's hockey player size. Always has been.

[MissTeeks]

Another interview from last night.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1938844248675410273

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

Another interview from last night.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1938844248675410273

He wants to bulk up and throw his body around. Honestly can’t wait to see what he can do, he doesn’t shy away from contact, regardless of what his final weight turns out to be. Don’t want him messing up his skating with too much bulking.

[Bingo]

I'm always so intrigued with where new picks fit in the prospect ranking.

Last year's top ten ...

1. Parekh, Zayne 81% NA
2. Wolf, Dustin 84% -1
3. Coronato, Matt 74% -1
4. Brzustewicz, Hunter 51% NA
5. Honzek, Sam 45% -2
6. Pelletier, Jakob 33% -3
7. Gridin, Matvei 45% NA
8. Basha, Andrew 30% NA
9. Morin, Étienne 43% -1
10. Strömgren, William 43% 0

Guesisng Reschny at 5-6? Potter at 10?

[dammage79]

They're gonna have to catch him first to hit him. He sounds like he's not gonna put up with any BS from the opposition as well. Maybe he ends up centering Coronato and all sort of pain comes to opposing teams.

[RyZ]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'm always so intrigued with where new picks fit in the prospect ranking.

Last year's top ten ...

1. Parekh, Zayne 81% NA
2. Wolf, Dustin 84% -1
3. Coronato, Matt 74% -1
4. Brzustewicz, Hunter 51% NA
5. Honzek, Sam 45% -2
6. Pelletier, Jakob 33% -3
7. Gridin, Matvei 45% NA
8. Basha, Andrew 30% NA
9. Morin, Étienne 43% -1
10. Strömgren, William 43% 0

Guesisng Reschny at 5-6? Potter at 10?

I have Reschny at 2 and Potter at 5-7 ish. Its gonna be an interesting month of polling this summer.

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

He wants to bulk up and throw his body around. Honestly can’t wait to see what he can do, he doesn’t shy away from contact, regardless of what his final weight turns out to be. Don’t want him messing up his skating with too much bulking.

I like his last statement "The main thing is getting bigger, faster, and stronger".

Good interview all around.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'm always so intrigued with where new picks fit in the prospect ranking.

Last year's top ten ...

1. Parekh, Zayne 81% NA
2. Wolf, Dustin 84% -1
3. Coronato, Matt 74% -1
4. Brzustewicz, Hunter 51% NA
5. Honzek, Sam 45% -2
6. Pelletier, Jakob 33% -3
7. Gridin, Matvei 45% NA
8. Basha, Andrew 30% NA
9. Morin, Étienne 43% -1
10. Strömgren, William 43% 0

Guessing Reschny at 5-6? Potter at 10?

Reschny will be between 2 to 4 for me and Potter around 8. (Battaglia and maybe Mews ahead of him, but him above Morin, Stromgren and the rest of the ‘24 mid to late round crop).

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'm always so intrigued with where new picks fit in the prospect ranking.

Last year's top ten ...

1. Parekh, Zayne 81% NA
2. Wolf, Dustin 84% -1
3. Coronato, Matt 74% -1
4. Brzustewicz, Hunter 51% NA
5. Honzek, Sam 45% -2
6. Pelletier, Jakob 33% -3
7. Gridin, Matvei 45% NA
8. Basha, Andrew 30% NA
9. Morin, Étienne 43% -1
10. Strömgren, William 43% 0

Guesisng Reschny at 5-6? Potter at 10?

I've got both of them in the top 5. Reschny put up 92 points in the regular season and was also a playoff monster. Also is committing to the NCAA. That puts him up there in the top 5 for me. Same goes for Potter, he put himself into top competition at the age of 17/18 and put up 22 points in 35 games playing against guys that are 4/5 years older than him. I will definitely be voting for these guys probably after Parekh and Brzu, and maybe after or before Basha/Gridin.