2015 NHL Draft

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Cflames_12

How deep is this draft? Are we talking 2004 deep with basically everyone making the NHL at some point in time. Or top 5 elite prospects and a fall off from there.

You probably mean 2003.

2004 wasn't that great. Barker, Olecz, Picard, Valabik, Montoya, Smid all followed Ovy and Malkin in the top 10

Ladd and Wheeler are good. But Ladd is not elite and Wheeler isn't even a superstar IMO.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Best draft since 2003 good. McDavid and Eichel are possibly the best duo since Ovy Malkin in 04 (if not, they are close)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

Stamkos and Doughty > Ovechkin and Malkin

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by codynw

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

Stamkos and Doughty > Ovechkin and Malkin

I'd consider McDavid/Eichel in the same conversation as each of those duos and ahead of Hall/Seguin and Tavares/Hedman for great duos since 03.

[djsFlames]

I say we take McDavid if first pick, considering Bennett and Klimchuk both know and have played with him.

However I think we have more playmakers than scorers on this team already and McDavid is looking more and more like Joe Thornton stats wise, and as incredibly appealing as that is, we could really use an elite scorer on this team just a little bit more. That's if McDavid and Eichel end up neck and neck at the end of the season.

[Poe969]

Guys, I think you're forgetting '12 with Yakapov and Murray.... Just sayin

[Cflames_12.5]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

You probably mean 2003.

2004 wasn't that great. Barker, Olecz, Picard, Valabik, Montoya, Smid all followed Ovy and Malkin in the top 10

Ladd and Wheeler are good. But Ladd is not elite and Wheeler isn't even a superstar IMO.

Yeah my bad. Thanks.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Best draft since 2003 good. McDavid and Eichel are possibly the best duo since Ovy Malkin in 04 (if not, they are close)

Hanifin and Kylington I consider to be better prospects than Ekblad.

It's a good draft. Put it this way, I could see our second round pick becoming as good of a prospect as a 15th-20th overall pick was in the past couple seasons. Very deep.

Where did you hear this? I keep hearing the 2015 draft is top heavy but not as deep as 2013

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Where did you hear this? I keep hearing the 2015 draft is top heavy but not as deep as 2013

I hear the 2015 draft is deeper than 2013.

[djsFlames]

Having looked through the top 10-15 ranked prospects, I'm pretty sure the top 10 this year is going to be stronger than 2013. Some pretty elite kids beyond even McDavid Eichel and Hanifin (though not on their level).

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Where did you hear this? I keep hearing the 2015 draft is top heavy but not as deep as 2013

It is top heavy, but that's because there's 4 guys that have the potential to be stars at the top, with a more typical group of prospects following that.

From what I've watched of these guys (not a ton thus far) there seems to be about 15 good players already, which last year there was only about 8 or 9 at the same point, so if you get the usual risers (like Vrana, Ehlers, and Sanheim etc who weren't on the radar as being top 20 picks) then the quality of guys at 31-34 should be similarly better. I wouldn't be shocked if there was a Poirier calibre forward there, or a Mueller/Theodore/Sanheim calibre D-man there (maybe slightly worse on the D front as there haven't been many D taken in the 20ish OV range the past two years)

[TheDebaser]

Gio's going to need to fall down some stairs if we're going to have a chance at the top two picks this year.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

Gio's going to need to fall down some stairs if we're going to have a chance at the top two picks this year.

If you compare overall depth between teams around the league, only the Sabres are worse than the Flames on paper and even then not by a lot.

[sureLoss]

central scouting's players to watch list:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=731360&cmpid=nhl-twt

Central Scouting doesn't release rankings this early. They just give out the following ratings:

• A Rating -- Indicates a 1st round candidate

• B Rating -- Indicates a 2nd/3rd round candidate

• C Rating -- Indicates a 4th/5th/6th round candidate

• LV (Limited Viewing) -- Injured players who have not had sufficient viewings to be categorized.

A rating prospects broken down by Position:

[ForeverFlameFan]

That's a lot of A's. Which means we could possibly get a steal with our early 2nd (assuming we finish bottom 5).

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

That's a lot of A's. Which means we could possibly get a steal with our early 2nd (assuming we finish bottom 5).

There's usually some spillage due to teams jumping on "lesser rated" guys like Poirier and Janko were.

Even last year, there were guys like Lemieux and Barbrashev both of whom should've been 1sts that were left till 31/33 and this draft likely has a bit more depth than last year's.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

There's usually some spillage due to teams jumping on "lesser rated" guys like Poirier and Janko were.

Even last year, there were guys like Lemieux and Barbrashev both of whom should've been 1sts that were left till 31/33 and this draft likely has a bit more depth than last year's.

Exactly . With how we've scouted lately, I think we'll get a solid pick with our 2nd rounder.

[OutOfTheCube]

Crazy year to have three first round picks. Two of them potentially top five.

[Hackey]

Two top 5 picks would set up the Sabres very nicely. I don't think New York will be that low though.

[Poe969]

I may be in the minority but I don't think the sabres are as bad as some think around here. I think they'll be bad and no where close to the playoffs but I think they do better than the Flames.

[spuzzum]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Two top 5 picks would set up the Sabres very nicely. I don't think New York will be that low though.

Has there been a franchise in any North American sports league that has had two top three picks? I remember the Canucks traded for one to get the sisters.

Talk about a game changing event if the Sabres managed to get two in the top 3. Set for the next 15 years never mind their supporting cast.