Calgary Flames Draft 15th Overall in the 2015 Draft

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

I think that "had to go to Europe to sign a 27 year old who we hope can fill a spot" is a tad overstated. And I don't think Nakladal and who we should take In the draft are at all correlated. We added a sought-after commodity for free. Due to injury our lack of NHL-ready defencemen was exposed, but that's not who we're drafting.

Our defence needed upgrading before we ran into injury problems and although we have some okay prospects there isn't one that promises to be a franchise defenceman. Our signing of Nakladal and that there were other suitors shows that there is a shortage of defencemen, so the possibilities of acquiring a top one is a long shot other than developing our own.

[Chingas]

I am curious about all of the hype for Chabot. I have not been able to watch him play. I only have the limited previews of clips online to judge him by so take everything with a grain of salt and i realise the terribly small sample size. From the clips i have seen i haven't seen one decent defensive play and he does not appear to be very mobile when getting back on defence, ie. skating backwards or quick shifting from forwards to backwards. Are there any clips that show some of his defensive prowess? Further more he appears to take a long time getting his shot away. For what are supposed to be "promotional" videos for this kid i find them very underwhelming. Can anyone with more insight explain to me what I am not seeing?

Personally i think we need some more defensemen that are difficult to play against. I think that offensive defensemen with the exception of a few very elite guys are often over valued in today's game. To be honest i think we are seeing that offensively gifted defensemen are a lot easier to come by these days than super solid defensive defensemen.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Chingas

Personally i think we need some more defensemen that are difficult to play against. I think that offensive defensemen with the exception of a few very elite guys are often over valued in today's game. To be honest i think we are seeing that offensively gifted defensemen are a lot easier to come by these days than super solid defensive defensemen.

Agreed. Plus we already have enough offense from the blue line. I hope we somehow end up with Carlo: http://thehockeywriters.com/brandon-...spect-profile/

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I disagree, you can't always trade for areas of weakness. We found that out with centres. If we want a franchise centre we have to draft and develop one. In these days the same goes for a franchise defencemen, so that would be my focus.

We had troubles finding a center because we had nothing of value to trade. When Tyler Seguin was available for trade I'm sure they could have targeted a big name defender if they wanted. Obviously teams are unlikely to trade a guy like Weber but someone like Ekman Larsson is likely available if you have the right assets. I'd much rather draft a second Sean Monahan and try to deal him than draft a positional player that turns out to be 1/2 as good but fills a need. Deals are there if you have assets teams want.

Drafting need over BPA gets you Draisaitl instead of Bennett.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Hackey

We had troubles finding a center because we had nothing of value to trade. When Tyler Seguin was available for trade I'm sure they could have targeted a big name defender if they wanted. Obviously teams are unlikely to trade a guy like Weber but someone like Ekman Larsson is likely available if you have the right assets. I'd much rather draft a second Sean Monahan and try to deal him than draft a positional player that turns out to be 1/2 as good but fills a need. Deals are there if you have assets teams want.

Drafting need over BPA gets you Draisaitl instead of Bennett.

I agree. BPA is always the way to go. 96% of the players drafted probably don't play for the team the first year so there is no point to draft for that need immediately. Pick the best player and you can either wait to develop that need or trade from a position of strength to fill that need.

[azzarish]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

ReadingTHN's draft issue now. Some interesting defensemenin the bottom of the first round. Just from reading the summaries, it seems quite possible that anyone of Chabot, Roy or Larsson could turn out better than the guys at the top of the draft... So, I would not mind if we dropped down ~5 spots and picked up another good pick, or if we picked up another draft choice in the 22-28 range... Keeping in mind that I have not seen anyone play, I just have this feeling that Larsson in particular could be the gem. All 3 of those guys sound like Brodie to me... I think I would also be happy with taking Svechnikov at 15, unless by some miracle the Finnish kid drops.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of moving down in drafts unless we have an inkling the guy we want is going to drop a few places to us. In a draft like this if you look at rankings, there are 3 defensemen in more or less every top 10 list – Hanifin, Provorov and Werenski. There is a reason why all 3 are ranked so highly. This year seems to be a deeper draft for defensemen. Last year there were a total of 5 defensemen taken in the first round which is a very low number. In 2013 there were 9, and in 2012 there were 13. However, in 2012 there were 8 defensemen picked in the top 10, which is obviously a very high number. If you look at some of those players from that draft mostly all of them are playing right now. Rielly, Lindholm, Dumba and Trouba are all big pieces of the blue line on their respective teams. Ryan Murray would have been too, if he wasn’t riddled with injuries. So, in a deep draft for defenseman if top 10 lists include 3 or 4 of them there is a much higher chance statistically of them panning out, and being a top 3-4 defenseman. And it is for this reason that I wouldn’t mind moving up in the draft and parting with a few other picks to nab one of those 3 defenseman. Now, obviously I wouldn’t forsake every one of our 3 second round picks and third round picks because that is just stupid, but I would at least test the waters and get a feeling for what’s out there. Even if we could move up 5 places we may have a shot at Werenski, or Provorov if he falls that low.

Saying this, if we stick with our pick at #15 I would still go with a defenceman because I think there is a greater need for that in the team long term. Although, Hanifin, Provorov and Werenski seem like high end defenseman, I would still take a defenseman at 15 and go for Chabot, because my preference is to draft a defenseman in the first round. Dropping 5 spots probably wouldn’t give us a shot at Chabot because I don’t believe he will fall that low. So, overall I agree that Chabot or Roy could turn out to be great NHL defenseman, but the 3 above them are ranked higher for a reason. However, I’d be happy with Chabot simply because it’s a deep draft for defensemen, and there is always a chance he could be the next Brodie. Chabot’s average ranking through various lists hovers around 15, which is still pretty good for a defenseman. Incidentally, he was projected to go much lower than 15.

Although, we primarily rolled 4 defencemen in the Ducks series, with Schlemko getting more time as the series progressed, it was evident how well Anaheim’s defence moved the puck, with Lindholm, Vatenen, Fowler and Depres all excellent puck movers. In the system we play mobile puck moving defenseman are at a premium, and everything I’ve read about Chabot says that he skates and moves the puck really well. In fact, those are the 2 aspects that really stand out with him, but he also has the size. It’s clearly evident in the interviews that Treliving and Hartely give that they want their defenseman to be good 2-way puck moving players and I think with Giordano and Russell getting older it will serve us well having those types of players in the system.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by OBCT

Even for pro scouts, the qualitative difference between two players (eg. who is "better"? or, more precisely, who will become "better") is sometimes so minuscule that organizational need wins out. This is especially true when the same team's scouts disagree.

This. I really doubt any team of scouts can say with absolute assurance that this guy is the 41st best NHL prospect, this is the 42nd best, and this guy is the 43rd best. And they are all unquestionably worse prospects than 30-40, and all unquestionably better prospects than 44-50.

Saying 'we'll patch the hole with a trade or signing' is far easier said than done. Teams go years trying to fill holes at certain positions. Cap space isn't an issue for the Flames right now, but I guarantee it will be in five seasons. And signing a guy for 4.5 mil to play on the 3rd pairing will mean another position - maybe a 2nd line winger - goes unfilled.

[Hackey]

Patching holes is easier said than done but this is usually for your elite level talent. Top line center, first pairing dman, elite goaltender. Where our picks are located we are likely not talking about one of these. We could get lucky but these are likely complementary pieces. Finding a top 6 forward or a 2nd pairing dman isn't that tough if you have assets to move. Since there is a greater level of uncertainty the further you move down in the draft I think taking the best players should be our focus. The more valuable assets we have the easier we can fill out our roster by either moving positions or trade. Just my opinion.

[The 6 Flames]

First time poster, long time reader and Flames diehard. W
Looking at the draft board where we're slotted I would take a real hard look at Colin White. Real gritty, hard nosed kid who can score, create and plays a real solid two-way game. Can play either C or the wing and is from all accounts a real hard worker and a leader. Would fit in our system perfectly.

[squirtle]

how big can merkly get? I know he has a thicker build and is already 190lbs at 5'10-5'11. Doesn't seem like a small player at all. Could he become tarasenko or TJ oshie sized?

[squirtle]

I just did some googling..is TJ oshie really only 190lbs? I thought he was like 220. So merkly is already TJ oshie sized?

If a big winger doesn't fall to us I hope we draft this guy

[Vinny01]

I agree never draft for need unless 2 players on the list are so close together you have that luxury. I recall hearing the reason Sutter drafted Pelech in 05 was to replace Warrener in 2-3 years and he busted.

Feaster made the same statements about his time in Tampa where they took a big Dman over other players because that is what they lacked.

When talking about first round picks you take the guy who will be the best NHLer. Easier to trade a good prospect than a bust

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by The 6 Flames

First time poster, long time reader and Flames diehard. W
Looking at the draft board where we're slotted I would take a real hard look at Colin White. Real gritty, hard nosed kid who can score, create and plays a real solid two-way game. Can play either C or the wing and is from all accounts a real hard worker and a leader. Would fit in our system perfectly.

Welcome! I think White is another guy that could go anywhere in the middle half of the first round. It wouldn't totally shock me if they went that route.

As for BPA, I do think that is the best route, but clearly it isn't so surgical to suggest that the scouts list is etched in stone when ranking picks 15/16 or 45/46 or whatever. I think more likely is that they create tiers of players, and if someone is clearly in a higher tier, that kid is taken, but if there are several, a discussion would be necessary to kick around issues such as potentially trading down, organizational need and scarcity of position (last of a tier of Dman, for example, or even from last year when they decided they wanted a top end goalie and spent the first of the second rounders on MacDonald).

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Welcome! I think White is another guy that could go anywhere in the middle half of the first round. It wouldn't totally shock me if they went that route.

As for BPA, I do think that is the best route, but clearly it isn't so surgical to suggest that the scouts list is etched in stone when ranking picks 15/16 or 45/46 or whatever. I think more likely is that they create tiers of players, and if someone is clearly in a higher tier, that kid is taken, but if there are several, a discussion would be necessary to kick around issues such as potentially trading down, organizational need and scarcity of position (last of a tier of Dman, for example, or even from last year when they decided they wanted a top end goalie and spent the first of the second rounders on MacDonald).

This is exactly what they do. I remember at a season ticket event Trevling mentioned as much. If there are a number of players within that tier available they would be more willing to trade down. It will also help to determine how far a team is willing to drop.

[conroy22]

I'm going with Merkley for the sole reason of being selfish because I've known him since before he was born, and I would love nothing more than to get to watch him come up through the Flames organization.

[flameswinthecup]

Longtime reader but first time poster on CP. What do you think the chances are the Flames being able to trade up for Rantanen? I know on Buttons list he is listed around 13. I think he would be a nice fit, big talented right winger.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by flameswinthecup

Longtime reader but first time poster on CP. What do you think the chances are the Flames being able to trade up for Rantanen? I know on Buttons list he is listed around 13. I think he would be a nice fit, big talented right winger.

It's possible to move up a small handful of spots if a team isn't in love with the top picks like the Flames were a few years back when they traded down to pick Jankowski. Would likely cost one of the 2nd round picks. I guess it will all depend on how bad the Flames would want that player if they are interested at all as teams draft lists aren't always the same as the consensus and they may be in love with a player that will be available at 15.

[flameswinthecup]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It's possible to move up a small handful of spots if a team isn't in love with the top picks like the Flames were a few years back when they traded down to pick Jankowski. Would likely cost one of the 2nd round picks. I guess it will all depend on how bad the Flames would want that player if they are interested at all as teams draft lists aren't always the same as the consensus and they may be in love with a player that will be available at 15.

I would be more then happy to give up a second to move up for Rantanen. I think he's going to be a stud.

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by flameswinthecup

Longtime reader but first time poster on CP. What do you think the chances are the Flames being able to trade up for Rantanen? I know on Buttons list he is listed around 13. I think he would be a nice fit, big talented right winger.

i don't think they trade up in the first round but that being said someone drops each year, and it doesn't even necessarily reflect poorly on that player. Rantanen could be that guy this year and i could see the flames taking him at 15 if he does drop.

the situation i could see, is the flames trading up to get a 2nd pick inside that 35th and under tier of players that many people have referred to.

the coyotes pick at 3rd then also have chicago's 1st rounder from the vermette trade (anywhere from 27th to 30th), then select again at 32nd.

If the flames have a guy they really like that's still on the board i could see them packaging up picks 52 and 53 to grab one of those coyote picks.

[flameswinthecup]

Originally Posted by handgroen

i don't think they trade up in the first round but that being said someone drops each year, and it doesn't even necessarily reflect poorly on that player. Rantanen could be that guy this year and i could see the flames taking him at 15 if he does drop.

the situation i could see, is the flames trading up to get a 2nd pick inside that 35th and under tier of players that many people have referred to.

the coyotes pick at 3rd then also have chicago's 1st rounder from the vermette trade (anywhere from 27th to 30th), then select again at 32nd.

If the flames have a guy they really like that's still on the board i could see them packaging up picks 52 and 53 to grab one of those coyote picks.

That would be great if it worked out that way. I'm really excited for this Flames draft. I think it could be a big one.