[News] With the 219th OA pick, the Flames select C Cade Littler

[cral12]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1545476391272996865

[Reggie Dunlop]

Flames have usually been running with goaltenders with the 7th picks. Changing it up a bit.

[cral12]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1545476033381634049

https://twitter.com/user/status/1505605546426126336

@MSUMavRecruits
·
2h
Two picks later and it’s Cade Littler off the board headed to Calgary. Flames are getting a NHL body with a nose for the net- great offensive instincts and awareness and coachable. Congrats Cade!

https://twitter.com/user/status/1545486263138017280

[Crazy Bacon Legs]

I checked with my sources and the odds of this guy being a beast are just under 104%.

Might be a rounding error, but I don't really know how to math. Or grammar.

You'll like this. Mark my words.

[dissentowner]

I am nicknaming him kitty litter.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Seems like perhaps a bit of a shift in drafting profile for the Flames this year...

Is it really though?

The Flames have taken guys like these in pervious years.

Topi Ronni is similar to the defensive minded Cs that might have some offensive upside in Nikolaev (2019) and Lindstrom (2016)

Parker Bell is similar to the big power forward Ciona (2021)

Not too sure what kind of player Littler is but they have taken big body Cs before in Huckins (2021), Joly (2017), Mattson (2016).



I get that these are not sexy picks for most fans because of their "limited" upside in most fans eyes and limited success with these type of picks. But given draft history and the limited picks, I don't think you can say there has been a shift in draft profile.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Is it really though?

The Flames have taken guys like these in pervious years.

Topi Ronni is similar to the defensive minded Cs that might have some offensive upside in Nikolaev (2019) and Lindstrom (2016)

Parker Bell is similar to the big power forward Ciona (2021)

Not too sure what kind of player Littler is but they have taken big body Cs before in Huckins (2021), Joly (2017), Mattson (2016).



I get that these are not sexy picks for most fans because of their "limited" upside in most fans eyes and limited success with these type of picks. But given draft history and the limited picks, I don't think you can say there has been a shift in draft profile.

Not that you exactly hit on later picks in general but in the 2016 draft the following forwards have played more than 100 games played and were drafted 4th round or later

Noah Gregor - 6’0
Ross Colton - 6’0
Brandon Hagel - 5’11
Jesper Bratt -5’10

In 2015 the only forwards that made a mark in the NHL that were picked 4th round or later were

Andrew Mangiapane - 5’10
Troy Terry - 6’0
Kirill Kaprizov - 5’10
Connor Garland - 5’10

The best player in either of those drafts above 6’0 that was drafted 4th round or later was the impressive Mathieu Joseph.

It seems for late round picks in particular

BIG = ####ty and unlikely to ever contribute in the NHL.

Yet teams continue to waste picks on big forwards in later rounds. I would rather have the Flames go for small and potentially in the NHL than go after some plug who may top out as a AHL/NHL tweener if they maximize their potential.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by cral12

https://twitter.com/user/status/1545476391272996865

I did not need to know this.

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Not that you exactly hit on later picks in general but in the 2016 draft the following forwards have played more than 100 games played and were drafted 4th round or later

Noah Gregor - 6’0
Ross Colton - 6’0
Brandon Hagel - 5’11
Jesper Bratt -5’10

In 2015 the only forwards that made a mark in the NHL that were picked 4th round or later were

Andrew Mangiapane - 5’10
Troy Terry - 6’0
Kirill Kaprizov - 5’10
Connor Garland - 5’10

The best player in either of those drafts above 6’0 that was drafted 4th round or later was the impressive Mathieu Joseph.

It seems for late round picks in particular

BIG = ####ty and unlikely to ever contribute in the NHL.

Yet teams continue to waste picks on big forwards in later rounds. I would rather have the Flames go for small and potentially in the NHL than go after some plug who may top out as a AHL/NHL tweener if they maximize their potential.

I mean, you can go back one year to 2014 and you get Blais and Engvall after the 4th. But there is definitely more top of the roster talent if you pick small.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

It seems for late round picks in particular

BIG = ####ty and unlikely to ever contribute in the NHL.

Yet teams continue to waste picks on big forwards in later rounds. I would rather have the Flames go for small and potentially in the NHL than go after some plug who may top out as a AHL/NHL tweener if they maximize their potential.

Those picks fell as far as they did because teams were wasting picks on big forwards in the earlier rounds. If you found an NHLer in the later rounds, it was because he had all the other attributes of a big-league player but scouts didn't like his size.

The market has shifted since then, and teams are drafting for speed the way they used to draft for size. Nowadays, you'll probably find that when a team finds an NHLer in the later rounds, it's because he had all the other attributes of a big-league player but scouts didn't like his skating.

With late-round picks, you have to shop for whatever attributes the market is undervaluing at the moment.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by SebC

I did not need to know this.

Me either, but it speaks to how poor the Flames have been in the post season in the last 20 years.

[cral12]

The Win Column went in a bit deeper on Littler:

https://thewincolumn.ca/2022/07/12/g...-cade-littler/