2014-15 Calder Trophy Race - Page 9 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Weitz · 02-02-2015, 01:38 PM

Anyone have thoughts on John Klingberg? Or because of his last 2 games has he only warranted some interest?

Erick Estrada · 02-02-2015, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnySkittles

Ekblad is the best rookie dman to come along in a long time, Johnny will have to light it up to beat him.

All the more reason think Dale Tallon is an incompetent GM for actually shopping that pick hard.

Poe969 · 02-02-2015, 01:48 PM

I still remember everyone saying that Ekblad wasn't going to be good....The kid is amazing.

Johnny is still better.

codynw · 02-02-2015, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hackey

Sure. Fair enough. But no amount of development was going to turn RNH into Steven Stamkos or Nail Yakupov into John Tavares. Point stands the Oilers hit some bad drafts.

I'll give you Yakupov, but RNH easily could have been that good. The Oilers ruined him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poe969

I still remember everyone saying that Ekblad wasn't going to be good....The kid is amazing.

Johnny is still better.

I guess I'm one of these people. But to be fair, I never said Ekblad would be bad. I just didn't think he'd be THIS good, especially not at age 18.

Igster · 02-02-2015, 02:06 PM

Would anyone trade Johnny straight up for Ekblad? Thought it might be a fun question.

Poe969 · 02-02-2015, 02:13 PM

In all honesty, I would. I think Ekblad is that good and we need a good young defenseman. It would really suck to lose Johnny but I think Ekblad would help this team now and in the future more than Johnny could only because of our lack of depth on D.

PugnaciousIntern · 02-02-2015, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Igster

Would anyone trade Johnny straight up for Ekblad? Thought it might be a fun question.

Yeah. I'm crazy about JG but Ekblad is just a stud. I'm more defensively focused than most, and think that what Johnny brings is more easily replaced by someone on the farm or through trade, than inserting Ekblad into the lineup and knocking Engeland off. We would essentially have 3 capable defensive pairings in most situations.

Of course, johnny brings things that Ekblad doesn't, and I'm thrilled that he's on the flames. But I would certainly make that trade if I were GM.

Jagermeister · 02-02-2015, 02:18 PM

I think its a pretty even trade, however I wouldn't do it.

Basically every time Johnny touches the puck and goes into the offensive zone something happens. I think that creates a lot energy on the team, especially on home ice. It would be nice to have a stud defensive prospect but I think you can find those with late first round draft picks where its harder to find stud forward prospects, especially of Johnny's caliber.

sa226 · 02-02-2015, 02:22 PM

If I was tied up and injected with a truth syrum, I would make that trade every day of the week.

One thing about Johnny is that I don't think we really know what he is yet. He just keeps blowing away expectations. People compare him to Kane. But I think Johnny has things in his game that Kane doesnt (and vice versa) I don't think anyone really can peg Gaudreaus ceiling.

Street Pharmacist · 02-02-2015, 02:24 PM

I don't think you could find too many impartial people that wouldn't take Ekblad over Johnny. I wouldn't do it only because I'm a "fan" of Johnny after all these years of watching him develop

burnitdown · 02-02-2015, 02:27 PM

Yeah, as good as Johnny is, I think you have to take Ekblad. An 18 year old stud D with size and offense doesn't come along often. I'd much rather have Ekblad than Bennett...and I'd rather have Bennett than Gaudreau. So it makes it an easy call for me...

GioforPM · 02-02-2015, 02:28 PM

Yeah, it's tough, especially after seeing games where every time Johnny touches the puck the whole barn gets excited. But Ekblad may be the best defenceman to come along in a decade.

polak · 02-02-2015, 02:28 PM

I'd take Johnny, simply cause the Flames have never had a player that creates so much buzz when they get the puck since I've been watching hockey. The closest thing I've seen was Huselius and he was my favorite Flame when played for us.

Drury18 · 02-02-2015, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by handgroen

next season, bennet says hello...

Quote:

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

And Connor McDavid says hey man, remember when we played together?

Emile Poirier says "Bonjour, Je suis également ici"

GranteedEV · 02-02-2015, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Igster

Would anyone trade Johnny straight up for Ekblad? Thought it might be a fun question.

Not at all.

For the next ~six years, we've got a pretty solid Top 2 in Gio & Brodie. There's a dropoff below there, but it's not really all that bleak (I'm really hopeful about Hickey BTW. I think he's our best D prospect in terms of ceiling.)

And then, when Ekblad is a seasoned guy wanting out of Florida, we reel Ekblad in, like how Vancouver got Roberto Luongo or we got Jay Bouwmeester. No need to lose Johnny Hockey.

DoubleF · 02-02-2015, 02:44 PM

Difficult question. It would hurt a lot, but I'd take Guile over Skittles. We need D.

Enoch Root · 02-02-2015, 03:56 PM

The reason I wouldn't is that, with defensemen, you just never know if they'll get the defensive part of the game.

An extreme example is Phaneuf - at 20, he was an absolute stud. But he never got the rest of it.

Ekblad looks fantastic in his current role. But there is no guarantee that he becomes a top pairing, shut down guy.

And since we already have a top pairing, I'll keep the offensive catalyst.

Oling_Roachinen · 02-02-2015, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The reason I wouldn't is that, with defensemen, you just never know if they'll get the defensive part of the game.

An extreme example is Phaneuf - at 20, he was an absolute stud. But he never got the rest of it.

Ekblad looks fantastic in his current role. But there is no guarantee that he becomes a top pairing, shut down guy.

And since we already have a top pairing, I'll keep the offensive catalyst.

Ekblad's already better than Phaneuf has ever been defensively.

I would take Ekblad over Gaudreau as much as I love Johnny Hockey.

heep223 · 02-02-2015, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I'd take Guile

First time I've heard this comparison and it's amazing

Hackey · 02-02-2015, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codynw

I'll give you Yakupov, but RNH easily could have been that good. The Oilers ruined him.

I agree that RNH was mishandled and probably didn't reach his potential but his ceiling was way lower than most of the other top picks. Like I said no amount of development was going yo turn RNH into Stamkos or Tavares. If you look at the draft as a whole it was pretty weak. No real stand out players and not very deep.