[News] With the 54th overall pick the Flames select RW Hunter Smith

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by heep223

amazing that the wings have made the playoffs consecutively for what seems like an eternity yet not even landing in the top 5 there.

[Azhouse]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

amazing that the wings have made the playoffs consecutively for what seems like an eternity yet not even landing in the top 5 there.

They were pretty poor in the 80's.

[sureLoss]

Some insight on what to expect from Smith next season from a guy that watches a lot of OHL hockey:

http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2014...ry-flames.html

Hunter Smith - Oshawa Generals
Another great pick up by Calgary. Smith has grown so much as a player in the last year. From a fringe OHL player fighting for a roster spot, to a top 6 winger and 2nd round draft pick. He's a very intriguing player because of his size and skill package. He'll never be mistaken for Wayne Gretzky with the puck, but he has enough skill to work close to the net and in the slot. He's already become a very confident player in front of the net, looking for tips and screens. The Gennies use him like the Bruins use Zdeno Chara on the powerplay. As the year went on, he gained a lot of confidence in his ability to skate with the puck and even started to take chances on drives to the net, creating his own scoring chances by the end of the year. I look for him to continue his steep development curve this coming season. He'll likely end up on a line with Michael Dal Colle, opening up space on the ice for Dal Colle to create. I'd expect a 25 goal, perhaps even 60 point season for him.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Komskies

This article has the standings by points percentage which is much closer to the 50/50 split. It's a year and a half old but you get the idea.

http://sportslistoftheday.com/2013/0...ts-percentage/

Flames 7th, Canucks 24th.

Nice list. Best things about both lists, other than Van sucking, is the Flames are higher than the Oilers on both lists, so truly Van and Edm both suck.

[mikeecho]

Originally Posted by iLoveLamp

Just went through it quickly, Calgary is 9th all time, Vancouver is 25th.

Vancouver is very no good

Jets at #8

[Commandant]

I interviewed Hunter Smith following his three point night last night. We also talked about his time in Calgary's training camp.

http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/09/...ront-presence/

[FBI]

Didn't know junior hockey started back up! Time to visit the back burner forum!

[Enoch Root]

The Generals site says he has 2 pts so maybe 1 was taken away?

[Commandant]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The Generals site says he has 2 pts so maybe 1 was taken away?

Not sure.... he was given three in the building and my post game stats sheet had him at three, but that may be possible.

Either way the important thing is that he was causing havoc in front of the net on numerous occasions, including three plays that resulted in goals.

I was originally going to interview Canucks prospect Cole Cassels, but he had a really rough game and Smith had a great one, so I changed up when I went to the Steelheads media guy.

[nemanja2306]

Just checked out his stats, he has 5 more goals and 6 points more so far IN 12 LESS GAMES. Last year he had 40pts in 64 GP, this year 46 pts in 52 GP.

Is that decent progression? For those following the Generals, how is his play? I know stats don't tell the whole story.

IMO, one of our most intriguing prospects.

EDIT: I did a quick calculation, in a full season at his current pace, he would hit 27 goals and 60 points. But he missed some games though.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

Is that decent progression?

It's pretty meh. We'll really have to see how he does at the AHL level.

[Poe969]

Smith is an intriguing prospect. He plays the power forward style and looks like a great third/second line guy who could become one hell of a first line power forward player if his game evolves. His progression isn't that great but I don't see it dropping as he moves up either, it could just be that he plays that well against any competition.

[Murph]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Some insight on what to expect from Smith next season from a guy that watches a lot of OHL hockey:

http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2014...ry-flames.html

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

Just checked out his stats, he has 5 more goals and 6 points more so far IN 12 LESS GAMES. Last year he had 40pts in 64 GP, this year 46 pts in 52 GP.

Is that decent progression? For those following the Generals, how is his play? I know stats don't tell the whole story.

IMO, one of our most intriguing prospects.

EDIT: I did a quick calculation, in a full season at his current pace, he would hit 27 goals and 60 points. But he missed some games though.

Brock Otten (guy who wrote the article that Sureloss linked to) is some kinda prognosticator.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

I'd be very happy if Smith turned into a 3rd line RW similar to Bouma but with a bit more offense and size. Size, energy and a bit of scoring on a line of Bouma-Backlund-Smith would be terrific. He could probably also be tried on one of the PP units to stand in front of the net even but he's a couple of years away.

[ForeverFlameFan]

I think his ceiling is a 3rd line RW, but when we are a contending team, I think he'll be a great 4th line RW.

[nemanja2306]

Originally Posted by Poe969

Smith is an intriguing prospect. He plays the power forward style and looks like a great third/second line guy who could become one hell of a first line power forward player if his game evolves. His progression isn't that great but I don't see it dropping as he moves up either, it could just be that he plays that well against any competition.

He really broke out last year, perhaps he is a late bloomer? If he became a decent 2nd line RW, that would be great.

[sureLoss]

It is hard to tell what his improvement this season means. It is always a good sign when a prospect improves but the Generals have been one of the best teams in the CHL this season and have a lot of offensive weapons.

The best aspect to his game and what makes him so attractive to the Flames is that he is a net front presence. One scout joked that if you added up the distance from the net on all Smith's goals you wouldn't get more than 10 feet.

I think reasonable expectation is bottom 6 forward that plays a bit of PP time to screen the goalie. Anything more than that at this point is perhaps being overly optomistic.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Yeah a PPG pace is not exactly a bad sign for Smith, but it doesn't tell us much.

You've seen him, physically he's a grown man (and a big one at that), and he's playing against teenagers.

So his numbers dont translate well into telling us about NHL potential. And if anything, they are still on the low side for an oversized over-ager playing junior hockey.

His AHL numbers will tell us a lot more.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

It is hard to tell what his improvement this season means. It is always a good sign when a prospect improves but the Generals have been one of the best teams in the CHL this season and have a lot of offensive weapons.

The best aspect to his game and what makes him so attractive to the Flames is that he is a net front presence. One scout joked that if you added up the distance from the net on all Smith's goals you wouldn't get more than 10 feet.

I think reasonable expectation is bottom 6 forward that plays a bit of PP time to screen the goalie. Anything more than that at this point is perhaps being overly optomistic.

Reminds me some of Chris Simon. Can be a big ugly nasty winger on a third line that can score 10-15 goals, more if he's riding shotgun on a higher line or getting PP time.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

Yeah a PPG pace is not exactly a bad sign for Smith, but it doesn't tell us much.

You've seen him, physically he's a grown man (and a big one at that), and he's playing against teenagers.

So his numbers dont translate well into telling us about NHL potential. And if anything, they are still on the low side for an oversized over-ager playing junior hockey.

His AHL numbers will tell us a lot more.

He's not an over-ager yet according to CHL rules. He could play his overage year next season and if he did, I wouldn't see it being a big problem in his progress as he has a late birthday and his size brings into needing to get his co-ordination in sync.