Craig's List 2014 Prospects

[Muta]

If we're picking 7th or 8th now, and Ritchie is gone, screw it - I want Kapanen or Virtanen.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Is there a Ritchie comparable? If he reaches his highest ceiling, I would like a Corey Perry on our team.

I haven't watched him much (only Top Prospects game) but I heard he could be comparable to Wayne Simmonds? Not sure how accurate that would be.

[YogiBerra]

I dont think we will catch Carolina Washington got eliminated yesterday and they are gonna mail it in so hard tonight. Winnipeg on the other hand will probably come down to our game vs them they are not beating Boston unless a bunch of players are sat.

[icarus]

We pick where we pick. There will be NHLers below #4, it's just up to our scouts to figure out who they are.

I am most excited now about the slim prospect of finishing higher in the standings than the Canucks! We would need to win the two games remaining and they would need to lose their three. It's not outside the realm of possibility as we play WPG, they play COL and EDM and then the Flames and Canucks meet in the final game of the season (hopefully with Johnny Hockey in the lineup).

When all is said and done Calgary has a chance of finishing the season as the top team in Western Canada.

[Bourque's Twin]

The Flames deserve to win the draft lottery but with the team's effort, they'll win-out.

Carolina will go 0-3
Winnipeg will go 0-2
Vancouver will go 0-3
Edmonton will go 1-1
Florida will go 2-0

30. Buffalo
29. Edmonton
28. Florida
27. NYI
26. Carolina
25. Winnipeg
24. Vancouver
23. Calgary

Nashville wins the lottery with 2.1% odds.
Nashville - Reinhart.
Buffalo - Bennett
Edmonton - Ekblad
Florida - Draisaitl
Islanders - Dal Colle
Carolina - Perlini
Winnipeg - Ehlers
Vancouver - Virtanen
Calgary - Ritchie

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin

The Flames deserve to win the draft lottery but with the team's effort, they'll win-out.

Carolina will go 0-3
Winnipeg will go 0-2
Vancouver will go 0-3
Edmonton will go 1-1
Florida will go 2-0

30. Buffalo
29. Edmonton
28. Florida
27. NYI
26. Carolina
25. Winnipeg
24. Vancouver
23. Calgary

Nashville wins the lottery with 2.1% odds.
Nashville - Reinhart.
Buffalo - Bennett
Edmonton - Ekblad
Florida - Draisaitl
Islanders - Dal Colle
Carolina - Perlini
Winnipeg - Ehlers
Vancouver - Virtanen
Calgary - Ritchie

Lol

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by codynw

I haven't watched him much (only Top Prospects game) but I heard he could be comparable to Wayne Simmonds? Not sure how accurate that would be.

Much higher offensive upside than Simmonds (who wasn't even a PPG game in his draft year), much bigger as well.

If he hit his ceiling... I'd go with Keith Tkachuk (who was also called fat at times during career). I don't know how high the chances of him hitting that level is though.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Is there a Ritchie comparable? If he reaches his highest ceiling, I would like a Corey Perry on our team.

Nathan Horton is something I read awhile ago.

[MissTeeks]

Sounds like we might get the backup backup for the Jets game:

PATRICK WILLIAMS‏@pwilliamsNHL17 mins

Hutchinson starts tonight for the Jets against the team that drafted him in 2008. Wouldn't be surprised if he starts at Calgary as well.

[automaton 3]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Is there a Ritchie comparable? If he reaches his highest ceiling, I would like a Corey Perry on our team.

NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr said Ritchie compares at this point to a former member of the Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins forward James Neal.

http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=712824

[nik-]

We'd probably be more likely to beat Pavelec anyway.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

Sounds like we might get the backup backup for the Jets game:

PATRICK WILLIAMS‏@pwilliamsNHL17 mins

Hutchinson starts tonight for the Jets against the team that drafted him in 2008. Wouldn't be surprised if he starts at Calgary as well.

Hopefully he plays an inspired game tonight

[OutOfTheCube]

Season sucked but guaranteed top 2 pick is pretty sweet.

I don't expect the Isles will give us #4 as well but you never know... Snow is pretty dumb.

[the_only_turek_fan]

If we are picking 6-8th, I rather take Jake Virtanen.

I echo the comments above. As much fun as this has been.....after the losses in Ontario it was quite probable to get one of the "Big 4", now we are going to have to settle for Ritchie or Virtanen.

I kind of want Dal Colle now.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin

The Flames deserve to win the draft lottery but with the team's effort, they'll win-out.

Carolina will go 0-3
Winnipeg will go 0-2
Vancouver will go 0-3
Edmonton will go 1-1
Florida will go 2-0

30. Buffalo
29. Edmonton
28. Florida
27. NYI
26. Carolina
25. Winnipeg
24. Vancouver
23. Calgary

Nashville wins the lottery with 2.1% odds.
Nashville - Reinhart.
Buffalo - Bennett
Edmonton - Ekblad
Florida - Draisaitl
Islanders - Dal Colle
Carolina - Perlini
Winnipeg - Ehlers
Vancouver - Virtanen
Calgary - Ritchie

It's not possible for us to catch Vancouver after the shootout win last night. We're 4 points back with 2 to play.

Tiebreaker 1: Regulation/Overtime wins. We're 2 behind with 2 to play so at worst would tie and go to tiebreaker 2.
Tiebreaker 2: Points earned in the season series. Vancouver's got 8 and we've got 2 so can't catch them.

[The Fonz]

I can't see us even getting a top 5 next season. If you were to cut out the Flames blip this year from Dec 20 - Jan 20, the team has been 32-27-6 in the other 65 games. That's a .538 pts%, pro-rates to 88 points over a full 82 games.

I think we draft 7th-10th next season. There will be lots of tankers for McDavid/Eichel/Hanifin

[Roof-Daddy]

That'd be great if we drafted Ritchie, and he leaned out with a proper diet/exercise regimen over the summer and ended up being our very own Lucic type power forward.

That's something we are lacking in our prospect pool, with really only Ferland having somewhat of a chance to develop into a power forward....and he just missed a big chunk of critical development time.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

I can't see us even getting a top 5 next season. If you were to cut out the Flames blip this year from Dec 20 - Jan 20, the team has been 32-27-6 in the other 65 games. That's a .538 pts%, pro-rates to 88 points over a full 82 games.

I think we draft 7th-10th next season. There will be lots of tankers for McDavid/Eichel/Hanifin

I agree, I really hope the NHL implements the rule for teams who have been in the top 5 for drafts for years don't get a shot at the generational players next year. That would be Edm, Fla, Buf and NYI.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

That'd be great if we drafted Ritchie, and he leaned out with a proper diet/exercise regimen over the summer and ended up being our very own Lucic type power forward.

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

That's something we are lacking in our prospect pool, with really only Ferland having somewhat of a chance to develop into a power forward....and he just missed a big chunk of critical development time.

I think if Ritchie worked with Rich Hesketh he would be fine. Working with the Petes conditioning coach and Hesketh would be a big difference. Ritchie is still young enough to make up for time that he has maybe put on weight. How many players past or present in the Flames organization can we say are not in great shape. Ryan Howse is about the only one I can think of in recent memory. Bring Ritchie in here and Hesketh will whip him into shape!

[ForeverFlameFan]

Just did a quick Google search on 2014 NHL draft prospect comparables:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...the-2014-draft

(paraphrasing and me sometimes adding some input)

10. Brendan Perlini (6'3, 205 lbs) - Jeff Carter (according to one scout), big, strong winger that can score goals.

9. Nikolaj Ehlers (5'11, 165lbs) - Patrick Kane, fine passer and pure goal scorer.

8. David Pastrnak (6'0, 168 lbs) - Odd choice for top 10. Ales Hemsky (shooting ability), Neil Yakupov (for ability to deke). Now, I hate the comparables, but he is a RWer that we could possibly use, however, he does need some more pounds on him.

7. Ivan Barbashev (6'0, 181 lbs) - Another odd top 10 choice. Compared to Maxim Afinogenov vision wise. His style of play makes him more likely to have injuries in his career.

6. Jake Virtanen (6'1, 210 lbs) - NHL impact wise, he is comparable to Corey Perry, a multidimensional offensive player.

5. Michael Dal Colle (6'2, 171 lbs) - Compared to Ryan Getzlaf (according to Dan Marr), every NHL team would want him, has a great chance of becoming a power forward. The fact that he is only 17 and racking up goals like that makes me want him even more if we are at #5.

4. Leon Draisaitl (6'1, 209 lbs) - Compared to Anze Kopitar because of Leon's size and skill combination. Question on him is whether or not he will produce enough offense. I see why Burke doesn't want him, he's a bit risky.

3. Sam Bennett (6'0, 181 lbs) - Doug Gilmour, pretty much Sam's idol (wears #93) is a comparable. Has a physical edge to his game. Because of Monahan talking about him, and Sam idolizing Gilmour, I would love him on the Flames at least some time in his career if not drafted by the Flames.

2. Sam Reinhart (6'1, 185 lbs) - Exceptional vision and skill, compared to Ryan Nugent-Hopkinst? I don't like the comparable, but he is the best center in the draft. Having him and Monahan would seriously be a deadly top 2 center pairing, and if you add Backlund in the mix, we could possibly have a solid top 9 with a gritty bottom 3. Assuming we wouldn't win the lottery with the odds, who exactly would we trade for him?

1. Aaron Ekblad (6'3, 216 lbs) - Potential of eating a lot of minutes, that compares himself to Ryan Suter, Drew Doughty, and even Shea Weber. Can become a franchise defenseman. Once again, the question comes up of who we'd trade for him. If the hockey gods somehow gave us the pick for this year, there is no doubt we pick Ekblad.