2026 NHL Draft Thread

[Flamesfan05]

You can go for BPA if that player is elite and franchise type AND you basically have no elite prospect of any type on your cupboard

Right now , the only area the Flames dont need to add is in goal

They have decent depth on defense but really only one elite prospect and he is still not 100% proven

[Jiri Hrdina]

I don't think you break from BPA because of organizational need, but rather it's entirely because of position scarcity. That has to be a factor.

Centers are the toughest to find
Followed by top end dmen.
Wingers are the easiest.

That's how you factor that in, largely as a tie breaker but a little more than that.

If I have two players.
1. Center. High floor as a 3rd liner, 50/50 possibility of becoming a 2nd line center. Not a 1st line center
2. Winger. Floor is middle 6, could be a 1st liner if absolutely everything goes right.

I pick #1 because of position scarcity.

And that's why you consistently see centers and dmen go higher in the real draft than the mocks and fan lists heading into. BPA is a myth, and easy soundbite. Teams are factoring in position scarcity.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I would argue that this strategy is what has kept us thin at C for the past 30+ years. Centers are coveted by all teams, and cost a premium - if you don't pursue them, and focus on BPA instead, you are left drafting nothing but wingers and defensemen.

The only time you don't have to reach for the best C is when you're drafting #1OA. After that, all the Cs go higher than their BPA-status

So pass on a Brady Tkachuk to draft a 3rd line C? How does that help the team?

Same token, Vancouver felt a need to draft Juolevi over Matthew Tkachuk, based on a lack of d prospects.

Reaching based on organizational need with early picks is poor hockey operations. If not this draft, maybe next draft. Yes, we need C but we also need to nail picks.

Later rounds, sure, but first round picks need to hit.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I don't think you break from BPA because of organizational need, but rather it's entirely because of position scarcity. That has to be a factor.

Centers are the toughest to find
Followed by top end dmen.
Wingers are the easiest.

That's how you factor that in, largely as a tie breaker but a little more than that.

If I have two players.
1. Center. High floor as a 3rd liner, 50/50 possibility of becoming a 2nd line center. Not a 1st line center
2. Winger. Floor is middle 6, could be a 1st liner if absolutely everything goes right.

I pick #1 because of position scarcity.

And that's why you consistently see centers and dmen go higher in the real draft than the mocks and fan lists heading into. BPA is a myth, and easy soundbite. Teams are factoring in position scarcity.

Ok. We draft 3 and McKenna and Stenberg are off the board. Down to verhoff, Lawrence and Malhotra. Who’s your pick?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

So pass on a Brady Tkachuk to draft a 3rd line C? How does that help the team?

Same token, Vancouver felt a need to draft Juolevi over Matthew Tkachuk, based on a lack of d prospects.

Reaching based on organizational need with early picks is poor hockey operations. If not this draft, maybe next draft. Yes, we need C but we also need to nail picks.

Later rounds, sure, but first round picks need to hit.

No one is saying you pick an inferior prospect over a stronger one because of position alone, just that it is a factor that should be weighed.

Positional preference shouldn't dictate the pick alone, nor should BPA.
They should be factored in.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Ok. We draft 3 and McKenna and Stenberg are off the board. Down to verhoff, Lawrence and Malhotra. Who’s your pick?

I flip flop right now between Verhoeff and Lawrence.

I think Verhoeff is a completely different type of dman than Zayne and likely fills the need as a true #1 all around dmen.

Lawrence though is a great two-way center, and there is something very compelling about having him and Reschney up the middle.

Right now, largely due to recency bias of Lawrence's lack of production, I would probably lean Verhoeff, but I'm torn.

I'd be happy with either.

[Calgary Highlander]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Ok. We draft 3 and McKenna and Stenberg are off the board. Down to verhoff, Lawrence and Malhotra. Who’s your pick?

Verhoeff is an easy selection here.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Hard not to go Verhoeff. He’s doing great things, and you can’t push aside the fact that he’s already been with Reschny in college. Give me Verhoeff, and hope that either one of Verhoeff, Parekh, or Brzu can play LD.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Hard not to go Verhoeff. He’s doing great things, and you can’t push aside the fact that he’s already been with Reschny in college. Give me Verhoeff, and hope that either one of Verhoeff, Parekh, or Brzu can play LD.

I think they are roomates right?

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think they are roomates right?

Honestly, no idea. But, that familiarity can go a long away imo.

I know some are impatient here, but I’ve no problem selecting Verhoeff as our top pick and then doing another high risk/reward pick with VGK’s pick.

There’s always next year to draft a franchise center. Someone can correct me if wrong but there’s a better selection of centers in 2027. This draft is very W/D heavy.

[Muta]

Honestly, I'd be feeling pretty good if we took Verhoeff with our pick, and then a mammoth centre that skaes well like Brooks Rogowski with our Vegas pick. Would also be okay with other centres Egor Shilov or Maddox Dagenais with that later pick too. Then you get a D and C in the first round, generally where our picks are now.

[Wastedyouth]

Verhoeff is putting up historic u18 numbers in the NCAA

You draft Verhoeff

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Honestly, no idea. But, that familiarity can go a long away imo.

I know some are impatient here, but I’ve no problem selecting Verhoeff as our top pick and then doing another high risk/reward pick with VGK’s pick.

There’s always next year to draft a franchise center. Someone can correct me if wrong but there’s a better selection of centers in 2027. This draft is very W/D heavy.

Things can always change but yes as of now next year looks better for centers

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/2015445648871731704

[dammage79]

Teams are allowed to interview prospects in season?

That seems new.

[Roko]

Fingers crossed McKenna tells all the other teams he wants to be a flame.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Roko

Fingers crossed McKenna tells all the other teams he wants to be a flame.

It would be nice for this to happen just one time.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

So pass on a Brady Tkachuk to draft a 3rd line C? How does that help the team?

Same token, Vancouver felt a need to draft Juolevi over Matthew Tkachuk, based on a lack of d prospects.

Reaching based on organizational need with early picks is poor hockey operations. If not this draft, maybe next draft. Yes, we need C but we also need to nail picks.

Later rounds, sure, but first round picks need to hit.

Why do people make arguments like this? I never said anything that remotely close to suggesting we should draft a 3rd line C.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Ok. We draft 3 and McKenna and Stenberg are off the board. Down to verhoff, Lawrence and Malhotra. Who’s your pick?

Whichever one of the Cs they like best. Or see if SJS would give us Misa for Verhoeff.

But we absolutely HAVE to come away with a top line talent. If it's one of McKenna or Stenberg - great. If not, it has to be one of the Cs.

[dammage79]

We can debate til we are blue in the face but I think we can all agree Conroy and Tod Buttons scouting staff have earned the trust of the fans. They can draft. If that's the only thing this organization does best right now, it's drafting. I trust them implicitly.

That doesn't mean I don't want my favorite prospect to be drafted by CGY. Just that I hope what I see aligns with what the scouting staff sees.