Craig's List 2014 Prospects

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by BlackWallStreet

Do you guys think it's possible we finsih low enough to scoop ekblad, reinhart or the nylander cat? Cause our club is doing well thus far....

Young guys typically look good in October and then fade as the vets take over. It's a long season and 200+ man-games lost to injury is normal.

Imagine this team if Giordano or Brodie miss any time.

I am loving what we've seen so far, but I would still bet money we pick top 3.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Poe969

Ekblad is just too good to pass up. The people who say not to pick defensmen early because defensemen can be had in free agency, I have a question? How many teams did Lindstrom hit UFA?

I'm not saying Ekblad is the next perenial Norris trophy winner but the guys who are that good, don't go to UFA that often. Chara has been a UFA once... If we can get someone that good and keep them in the organization we should. I think skilled forwards are more available then real #1 defensmen who are game changers and that's what Ekblad looks like.

Waaaay too good to pass up.

This is a great point - grammar and spelling notwithstanding.

When was Lidstrom drafted? 3rd round. Chara? 3rd round.

I agree with you in that I wouldn't necessarily count on being able to sign #1 defenders in any given off-season (even though they do occasionally make it through - add Pronger, Niedermeyer, etc., to that list). However, few 'lottery-territory' defencemen ever live up to the hype of their draft, usually getting surpassed by lower round picks.

Defencemen are a crap-shoot it seems, better odds than goalies, but much less than forwards. I used to be in the 'time to draft a defencemen' boat as well, but as long as the Flames just continually draft BPA, you can always trade for defencemen, and hope you pick up a few diamonds in the rough in the 2nd rounds and lower.

Brodie is a 4th round pick, and he is developing quite nicely. In my opinion, he is a 'bonifide' top 4 on most teams, and could still develop into a pretty decent top pairing defencemen.

The first half of the first round are littered with defensive disappointments. Sure, if the Flames finish 5th or 6th overall, and if Ekblad is ranked first or second, and happens to fall to the Flames, I wouldn't be angry at all (opposite, actually), as long as the Flames really have him ahead of everyone else remaining on their list.

Successful teams have to draft for who they feel will be the best possible player down the road. It seems a lot murkier to distinguish who that is amongst defencemen. The great example is that Weber was selected in the second round by Nashville. However they had 3 second round picks, and picked another defencemen by the name of Kevin Klein ahead of Weber. There are so many such examples by so many different teams - even teams that have strong drafting reputations.

[Poe969]

sorry, trying to do too many things at once. I don't think there has been a defensive prospect like Ekblad....and I mean ever. At this point, I think that he's the best player available AND he happens to fill the spot that we need. If this team had a glut of defensive prospects that looked great, and we had the first overall pick then I don't pick him but where we stand right now I think you have to take him.

All in all, I hope the Flames win the cup and don't have to worry about what prospect should go #1 overall, but I feel that they will be a bottom feeder team who gets a good pick. That being said, the way the Flames drafted this past year is a great sign that whatever happens will turn out good for the Flames.

I'm excited for the next draft because we might pick very high but I don't want to look past this year (even if I think they'll do bad) because it's really fun to watch the Flames this year (especially with low expectations).

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

This is a great point - grammar and spelling notwithstanding.

When was Lidstrom drafted? 3rd round. Chara? 3rd round.

I agree with you in that I wouldn't necessarily count on being able to sign #1 defenders in any given off-season (even though they do occasionally make it through - add Pronger, Niedermeyer, etc., to that list). However, few 'lottery-territory' defencemen ever live up to the hype of their draft, usually getting surpassed by lower round picks.

Defencemen are a crap-shoot it seems, better odds than goalies, but much less than forwards. I used to be in the 'time to draft a defencemen' boat as well, but as long as the Flames just continually draft BPA, you can always trade for defencemen, and hope you pick up a few diamonds in the rough in the 2nd rounds and lower.

Brodie is a 4th round pick, and he is developing quite nicely. In my opinion, he is a 'bonifide' top 4 on most teams, and could still develop into a pretty decent top pairing defencemen.

The first half of the first round are littered with defensive disappointments. Sure, if the Flames finish 5th or 6th overall, and if Ekblad is ranked first or second, and happens to fall to the Flames, I wouldn't be angry at all (opposite, actually), as long as the Flames really have him ahead of everyone else remaining on their list.

Successful teams have to draft for who they feel will be the best possible player down the road. It seems a lot murkier to distinguish who that is amongst defencemen. The great example is that Weber was selected in the second round by Nashville. However they had 3 second round picks, and picked another defencemen by the name of Kevin Klein ahead of Weber. There are so many such examples by so many different teams - even teams that have strong drafting reputations.

To add to this point.

On the Flames:

Giordano - undrafted.
Wideman - 241st overall
Brodie - 114th overall

On recent cup winners:
Keith - 54th
Seabrook - 14th
Oduya - 221st
Hjalmarsson - 108th
Chara - 56th
Seidenberg - 172nd
Ferrence - 208th
Letang - 62nd
Goligoski - 61st
Gonchar - 14th
Lidstrom - 53rd
Rafalski - undrafted
Kronwall - 29th

The only team that has a lot of high end d-picks are LA with Doughty and Johnson, both going top 3. Even then, Johnson was considered to be trending towards bust territory at one point. The overall point is that succesful teams rarely rely on top draft picks to draft future top 4 d-men.

[PeteMoss]

Right now I'm leaning Ekblad. It takes a special guy to play in the OHL as a defenseman at 15 years old and then lead his team to the 7th game of the OHL final as a 16 year old.

Kingston is on fire in the OHL right now led by a bunch of draft eligible guys... I will have to make it a point to watch a few of their games.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

This is a great point - grammar and spelling notwithstanding.

When was Lidstrom drafted? 3rd round. Chara? 3rd round.

I agree with you in that I wouldn't necessarily count on being able to sign #1 defenders in any given off-season (even though they do occasionally make it through - add Pronger, Niedermeyer, etc., to that list). However, few 'lottery-territory' defencemen ever live up to the hype of their draft, usually getting surpassed by lower round picks.

Speaking of "lottery-territory" defencemen - that is exactly what Pronger and Niedermeyer were. Niedermeyer was drafted 3rd overall, Pronger went 2nd overall.

This raises an important point: For all of the examples that are out there of Dmen being harder to gauge than forwards at the top of the draft, there are a lot of drafts that show that the best Dman of the draft is picked in the top 5.

So while it is true that there are a number of exceptional Dmen like Weber, Chara and Lidstrom that have come out of the 2nd or 3rd rounds but there are also a lot more duds or bubble players in those rounds. The chances of successfully acquiring a franchise Dman outside of the first round are very slim.

Heck, one could argue that 3 franchises acquired their top Dman in the top 5 of the same draft in 2008.

There are no guarantees that Ekblad will be the next Pronger but the chances are much higher that he could become a franchise Dman than some random name in the 3rd round. His resume already speaks to becoming a special player and I would much rather the Flames take that gamble this year while we have a good depth of young centers in the system.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by blankall

The only team that has a lot of high end d-picks are LA with Doughty and Johnson, both going top 3. Even then, Johnson was considered to be trending towards bust territory at one point. The overall point is that succesful teams rarely rely on top draft picks to draft future top 4 d-men.

And Johnson was traded before they won the cup.

[Poe969]

Thank you so much! I was going to look up Pronger and the good Nieds (not speical Nieds) and use them as examples. Those are 2 defensmen who are by far hall of fame guys and guys you'd want to build a team around. I don't want to say that Ekblad is the next guy like that but I'd compare him to Pronger if anyone, he's still just a kid but if he matures a little more and gets that mean streak in him then I think he'll be one of the best defensmen in a long long time.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I have a funny feeling when all is said and done that the Flames will not be picking in the top 3. If we end up around 6 again then Virtanen would be interesting. Add more size and skill.

Nick Ritchie wouldn't be a bad consolation prize either for the same reasons, both players have played both wings. OHL and the Petes are already listing Ritchie at 6'3'' and 235 pounds. They might be off by a pound or a dozen but that's still a big player with good (or decent) speed and offensive instincts.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Heck, one could argue that 3 franchises acquired their top Dman in the top 5 of the same draft in 2008.

That was a great year for defensemen no doubt about it. There are plenty of other years though where most of the defence prospects don't pan out. Even the year before the one you specify, 2007. In that year there were 11 defensemen drafted in the first round and they average 96 games played between them. There were a bunch more taken at the beginning of the second round who were all busts. The best pick would probably be Subban who went 43rd overall.

The year before that, 2006, Eric Johnson was taken first overall. I would imagine if they could St. Louis would rather have Staal, Toews, Backstrom or Kessel. The other 8 defensemen taken in the first round were all busts along with almost every one in the second round.

In general I'd always lean towards the high end forward over the defenseman or goalie with an early pick. If Ekblad is truly looking to be the next Pronger or Niedermayer then it becomes a harder decision, especially with the first pick.

Edit: Even Niedermayer's year I'd rather pick the top end forward being Lindros (can't predict injuries) or Forsberg. Pronger would have been the best pick at 1st overall his year.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by blankall

To add to this point.

On the Flames:

Giordano - undrafted.
Wideman - 241st overall
Brodie - 114th overall

On recent cup winners:
Keith - 54th
Seabrook - 14th
Oduya - 221st
Hjalmarsson - 108th
Chara - 56th
Seidenberg - 172nd
Ferrence - 208th
Letang - 62nd
Goligoski - 61st
Gonchar - 14th
Lidstrom - 53rd
Rafalski - undrafted
Kronwall - 29th

The only team that has a lot of high end d-picks are LA with Doughty and Johnson, both going top 3. Even then, Johnson was considered to be trending towards bust territory at one point. The overall point is that succesful teams rarely rely on top draft picks to draft future top 4 d-men.

Johnson wasn't even a LA pick he was picked by the Canes who gave up on him and traded him for Gleason +

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Johnson wasn't even a LA pick he was picked by the Canes who gave up on him and traded him for Gleason +

I don't think they "gave up" on him - he just showed no interest in signing with them despite repeated attempts.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Jacks

That was a great year for defensemen no doubt about it. There are plenty of other years though where most of the defence prospects don't pan out. Even the year before the one you specify, 2007. In that year there were 11 defensemen drafted in the first round and they average 96 games played between them. There were a bunch more taken at the beginning of the second round who were all busts. The best pick would probably be Subban who went 43rd overall.

The year before that, 2006, Eric Johnson was taken first overall. I would imagine if they could St. Louis would rather have Staal, Toews, Backstrom or Kessel. The other 8 defensemen taken in the first round were all busts along with almost every one in the second round.

In general I'd always lean towards the high end forward over the defenseman or goalie with an early pick. If Ekblad is truly looking to be the next Pronger or Niedermayer then it becomes a harder decision, especially with the first pick.

Edit: Even Niedermayer's year I'd rather pick the top end forward being Lindros (can't predict injuries) or Forsberg. Pronger would have been the best pick at 1st overall his year.

That would be a tough call for me. Niedermayer vs Lindros. Niedermayer won 4 cups and Lindros never won one. Even if you ignore the injuries, Lindros could have been one of those exceptional players that never wins the cup. Head to head, I would be hard pressed to not want a guy like Niedermayer, even if it means missing out on Lindros.

But take organizational need where the Flames have a pretty respectable crop of young centers and I think Ekblad is exactly what this team needs this draft. If it turns out that we still need a high end center after we acquire Ekblad then McDavid is waiting in the 2015 draft.

[The Fonz]

Too late. The damage is done.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Too late. The damage is done.

Feelings have been hurt.

[sureLoss]

Reinhart with 2 goals and 3 assists tonight in a 5-2 win.

19 points in 8 games

[Gondi Stylez]

Obliviously the only sane thing would be to snag 1 and 2!

[sureLoss]

Red Line Report's top 10:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...eport/3154193/

Think of all the scouting services they seem to be the one that has come closest to predicting what Weisbrod and the Flames would take in the first round these past 2 drafts. They had Jankowski at #28 for 2012. Monahan #6, Poirier #21, and Klimchuk #27 for 2013.

[devo22]

soooo ... does anybody know Nylanders "real" position? I have read everything by now. Button and Red Line have him at LW. Future Considerations and hockeydb have him at C. Eliteprospects and NHL.com have him at C/RW. Would be interesting to know what he plays and likes most.

[FlamesAddiction]

Five of the top 10 from the WHL. Looks like a good year to be watching junior out west.