The Athletic: Scott Wheeler's 2020 NHL prospect pool rankings: No 26 Calgary Flames

[sureLoss]

Can't share too much from the article because of paywall but here it is:

https://theathletic.com/1530542/2020...shared-article

The bad news, if you’re a Flames fan, is that nobody wants their team ranked near the bottom of any series like this. The good news is that if the rankings were broken down into tiers, the first five teams would have been in their own group, with the Flames beginning a slightly higher echelon.

The second layer of good news is that the Flames have recently graduated Dillon Dube and Oliver Kylington, among others.

If there’s a third bit of good news, it’s that despite having just five selections in each of the last three drafts (including no second-round picks since 2016), the Flames’ scouting department has done an impressive job with what they’ve had, including a number of recent hits in later rounds — and almost no misses on early picks.

The teams he has as worse prospect pools:
27. St. Louis Blues

28. Pittsburgh Penguins

29. Washington Capitals

30. Boston Bruins

31. Columbus Blue Jackets

[GreenLantern2814]

Beyond our 1st round pick last year, it's arguable the best prospect we have is the 7th round goalie from the same draft.

It's part of the cycle. Two years of Gaudreau to Philly/NJ might help remedy this.

[Textcritic]

I don't put much stock in prospect pool rankings. They can be fun for fans, but are almost always completely meaningless. It's impossible for one or even a handful of outside observers to know every team's system well enough to weigh their merits against each other. Every year the Flames rank very low in these, and yet every year they continue to produce quality NHL players.

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[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Beyond our 1st round pick last year, it's arguable the best prospect we have is the 7th round goalie from the same draft.

It's part of the cycle. Two years of Gaudreau to Philly/NJ might help remedy this.

Agree with this, but also confused why you would limit the Flames to only two trading partners for Gaudreau. If (when?) he is on the trade block Treliving will be fielding offers from nearly every team in the League for a first line talent on a high value contract.

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[VilleN]

Hypothetically, if we traded Gaudreau to NJ, what kind of return are we expecting? Hischier and 1st?

[Bingo]

The interesting guy to me is Gawdin. He did have great linemates, and he did have gaudy over age numbers but what I find interesting is what's happened to all three Wheat King players since.

Tyler Steenbergen of WJC fame has 37 points in 98 AHL games.
Aleksi Heponiemi went home for a year so his sample size is smaller, but 8 points in 33 AHL games.

Gawdin ... 74 points in 101 AHL games.

Maybe Gawdin was the engine all the while?

[Dajazz]

Gawdin is a player, can he skate well enough?

I ranked him high in the prospect voting. He’s got the full package, except speed.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Meh - I don't even agree with the Flames' prospects ranking within the article, so it leads me to believe that there is no way that the author of this piece is too familiar with the Flames' pool, which leads me to believe he is not all too familiar with every other team's pool.


For instance, I strongly feel that Parsons should at least be leading that 4th tier at a minimum, and they didn't even include Pospisil who I believe to be a top 10 prospect in the system. Good pick of Sveningsson in the top 10, however.



Prospect pool rankings are really nothing more than an excuse for chest-thumping between fanbases anyway.



The author is 100% right, however, with noticing that the Flames have been turning a solid number of selections throughout the drafts into NHL players. Calgary has to be one of the better drafting teams in the NHL over the last 5 years or so.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by VilleN

Hypothetically, if we traded Gaudreau to NJ, what kind of return are we expecting? Hischier and 1st?

Why would New Jersey be the target? Gaudreau grew up in Cherry Point, which is actually a suburb of Philadelphia. Cherry Point is 9 miles from Philly, so it is more likely he has an affinity to the Flyers than the Devils. If you're looking for teams in proximity to Cherry Point, East Rutherford is 90 miles away, the same as New York (both the Rangers and the Islanders). Washington is 148 miles away. All of those teams are within 2.5 hours of where he grew up, and could be likely destinations. Personally, the two that make the most sense for a deal are Philadelphia and the Rangers. Both have good assets, and could be hungry for a local star.

[David Struch]

A couple of notable absentees in Justin Kirkland (35gp 24p) & Luke Philp (35gp 23p)

Is Jon Gillies no longer Calder eligible?

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Beyond our 1st round pick last year, it's arguable the best prospect we have is the 7th round goalie from the same draft.

It's part of the cycle. Two years of Gaudreau to Philly/NJ might help remedy this.

Wouldn’t 2.5 years of Gaudreau yield a higher return?

[mikephoen]

Jusso Valimaki also only has 24 NHL games under his belt. I'm not sure what the specific cutoff Wheeler is using (he doesn't specify in the articles as far as I saw). The Flames would probably vault up to middle fo the pack if Valimaki was considered a prospect in these rankings. He played both AHL and NHL games last year, and if he makes it back at all this year I would assume he starts in the AHL, so I personally think he should qualify.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Agree with this, but also confused why you would limit the Flames to only two trading partners for Gaudreau. If (when?) he is on the trade block Treliving will be fielding offers from nearly every team in the League for a first line talent on a high value contract.

I think the feeling is that those teams would pay more since Gaudreau is likely to re-sign with them. He still has 2.5yrs of term left though so I'm not sure it would be that big of a difference.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by VilleN

Hypothetically, if we traded Gaudreau to NJ, what kind of return are we expecting? Hischier and 1st?

Hischier is one of the players they’re building around. Them moving him would be like us moving Lindholm or Tkachuk, ain’t gonna happen.

[Torture]

Can we talk about prospects in this thread rather than trading Gaudreau...?

The goal isn't to have the best ranked prospects, it's to win the cup. Trading one of your best players for picks in the middle of your contending window doesn't get you there.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I don't put much stock in prospect pool rankings. They can be fun for fans, but are almost always completely meaningless.
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I would expect that there is a pretty good correlation between these prospect rakings and the actual strength of a team's farm system.

They certainly aren't set in stone to be sure, but they are hardly "almost always completely meaningless".

[Harry Lime]

I'm hoping for an article on prospect graduation over a five year span, for each team. A successful minor league program should be graded on the success of the players in the major league.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

The teams he has as worse prospect pools:
27. St. Louis Blues

28. Pittsburgh Penguins

29. Washington Capitals

30. Boston Bruins

31. Columbus Blue Jackets

Can't wait to see Edmonton, would love to see this leaf fanboys explanation on how they are ahead of Calgary

[dammage79]

Meh. Rank them however you want. Flames do need more in the cupboard. Amazing how fast a stockpile can dwindle in two short years.

Huge believer in Wolf, Zavgorodny, Zagidulin, Nikolaev and Petterson. Those guys will be NHLers at some point.

I think we have about two drafts to focus on forwards before we really need to focus on D men again.

Even if the cupboards are bare now because they've all graduated.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Torture

Can we talk about prospects in this thread rather than trading Gaudreau...?

The goal isn't to have the best ranked prospects, it's to win the cup. Trading one of your best players for picks in the middle of your contending window doesn't get you there.

We just don't have prospects worth trading right now, that's the problem.

What's someone going to give you for Pelletier? Not a lot, without at least a 2nd attached, and probably a 1st. Same with Gawdin. Passed that, we have Valimaki/Kylington, and nobody wants to trade them.

I really expect a big 2nd half from Kylington. He was spectacular in the Montreal game, and he's been showing flashes of breaking out since the year began, and if/when Brodie/Hamonic depart, we'll need him.

Gio-Andersson
Hanifin-Kylington
Valimaki-X

Move some of the money from the back end into another forward.

The more I look at a future without Brodie/Hamonic, the more I'm thinking we go 4/4/1 in expansion, leaving Gio exposed. It's really the only way to protect all our young D.

Lindholm
Monahan
Tkachuk
Gaudreau/Gaudreau replacement/Backlund

Hanifin
Andersson
Kylington
Valimaki

BSD

We don't have 7 forwards worth protecting.