Who should the Flames pick at 6th overall?

[handgroen]

weird to see such a gap between chychrun and nylander. i'm curious if folks think nylander is the BPA or just don't want a defence man at all costs

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I'm not going to pretend to know enough about these players to suggest who the Flames should take. I'll leave the debate to those that actually watch these guys regularly (and I bet there are like 5 people on this entire forum who do that). The only thing I can add is that we aren't so strong yet in our prospect pool that we draft according to need. This should almost always be the case anyway, but you take the BPA.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Wow, didn't think Nylander would run away with it like this.

Interesting.

The average fan loves skill, flash and offense. Nylander makes a lot of sense to appeal to the masses.

[transplant99]

Tkachuk

[2macinnis2]

Kind of surprised that people wouldn't be more excited about Chychrun. I will preface by saying I haven't watched any of these guys play... only read the reports. But Dubois was ranked #7 in mid term ISS for NA skaters (https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-central...kings/c-797902) and neither him nor Tkachuk sound overwhelming in their attribute set. Also, I would argue winger is about the easiest position to fill through UFA or trade.

Again, from what I've read, Chychrun for over a year has been considered if not the best very close to the top defenseman in the draft. He is big, good two ways, and reportedly has a heavy shot. Are people still scared off by the failure of the J Bo, Phaneuf and Regehr combo? I would argue J Bo and Phaneuf weren't that good, and Regehr was well past prime.

Having a top flight and deep defense corps is very tough to build and even tougher to play against. Who knows how much longer Giordano will be this good for. Brodie and Hamilton still have greater potential, are fantastic players, but are still more offense than defense. It seems to me Edmonton and Vancouver SHOULD draft Chychrun, but if they don't it seems we should be all over it. Tell me what I'm missing...

[CliffFletcher]

Sergachev or Brown.

Sergachev seems more NHL ready than the other two potential top D, and the question marks around Chychrun's hockey sense are a concern. Could be the best d-man in the draft.

Brown is a fast-riser who I'd be willing to bet the Flames are high on. Brings two-way play, professionalism, and size.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Defencemen aren't the sexy pick. They take longer to develop. I can see why the average fan would prefer a goal scoring winger. As for the ease of acquiring wingers it depends what style they play. Goal scorers are actually not that hard to trade for. Complimentary powerforwards are probably harder to trade for.

Why are you using the central scouting midterm rankings? That's old, outdated information. The final CSS rankings are out. Dubois was #1 in NA on the final rankings.

[2macinnis2]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Defencemen aren't the sexy pick. They take longer to develop. I can see why the average fan would prefer a goal scoring winger. As for the ease of acquiring wingers it depends what style they play. Goal scorers are actually not that hard to trade for. Complimentary powerforwards are probably harder to trade for.

Why are you using the central scouting midterm rankings? That's old, outdated information. The final CSS rankings are out. Dubois was #1 in NA on the final rankings.

The point I was making with the mid-term rankings was just that he was consistently the top or among top NA defensemen. It's a little more reassuring than someone who flew up the boards in just the final ranking... that was the reason I posted mid-year rankings.

You are right in saying power forwards are tougher to acquire but they probably also bust more frequently. Also, how necessary are they? Chicago, Pitt, Tampa... many teams do well without them.

I guess in the end I wouldn't really draft on position for the Flames, outside of scoring line center, they can pretty much use any position. And trying to fill 'need' with a 17 year old sounds like failure to me...

[Spinach]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

With the big three out of the picture, Tkachuk. He's the best fit for this team.

I don't understand why, unless Tkachuk were clearly the BPA, which he isn't.
It's not like we're lacking LWers. Dubois, Nylander, Jost or even Gauthier both fill a need and could arguably be the BPA over Tkachuk.

[PlayfulGenius]

I'd like to see one of 2 extremes...

Option A : Treliving moves the pick in a conservative play... shorting the development curve by picking up an established, Top 6 winger... ideally, a RW to play on the top line.

I'm not sure which players might make sense, necessarily... but maybe someone like Brendan Gallagher, TJ Oshie, Mark Stone, Blake Wheeler or Wayne Simmonds (and I'm not necessarily thinking 1-for-1 trade, here... just the concept)

Option B : Treliving keeps the pick and swings for the fences... they take the player they feel has the highest potential upside, even if there's some risk involved.

Either approach is fine with me... I'd rather BT not make a safe pick at #6 by taking a forward or D without dominant top line upside.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Spinach

I don't understand why, unless Tkachuk were clearly the BPA, which he isn't.
It's not like we're lacking LWers. Dubois, Nylander, Jost or even Gauthier both fill a need and could arguably be the BPA over Tkachuk.

Tkachuk and Dubois are the only players outside of the big 3 that are consistently ranked in the top 6 in virtually every publication.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Pick the prospect that is going to be the best player in 5 years, not the best player right now. This NHL ready stuff is garbage. That is Oiler drafting strategy.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by New Era

Pick the prospect that is going to be the best player in 5 years, not the best player right now. This NHL ready stuff is garbage. That is Oiler drafting strategy.

Well, that's how we ended up with Monahan.

[ricardodw]

Hopefully there are only so many chance to add the bigger more aggressive players to compliment the small core the Flame will have signed up long term going forward.

Core Flames that will be on the team for at least the next 4 years:

Gaudreau, Monahan, Frolik, Gio, Brodie, Hamilton,

These guys will account for around 30M in cap for the next 4 or more years or 40%.

There also is Bennett, who if he plays as well as expected, will be adding another 5-6M to long term core cap...this time next year.. bringing it close to 50% of the teams cap.


Out of the 7 the only Hamilton and Bennett has make-up to be above average in the truculence department.


This 6th pick is a chance to address a glaring need in the Flames core. It is far less risky to pick a Mcleod or Logan Brown or one of the more physical d-man than to sign Lucic or Okposo or Backes to expensive long-term deals as has been suggested as a remedy to the Flames truculence problems. It has a higher degree of probable success of hoping that a lesser talent (Bouma, Colborne, Ferland, Hunter Smith, Kanzig) grows into a top line player with an edge.

Bottom line IMHO - Flames can not and will not draft Nylander or Keller or Juolevi with their #6 pick

[jg13]

The results of this poll don't really surprise me. Fans want a forward.

Assuming those 5 are gone, the next one in line is Nylander although some of the d prospects are considered to be in that 6-9 range as well.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Spinach

I don't understand why, unless Tkachuk were clearly the BPA, which he isn't.
It's not like we're lacking LWers. Dubois, Nylander, Jost or even Gauthier both fill a need and could arguably be the BPA over Tkachuk.

Except that Tkachuk is consistently ranked ahead of Nylander, Jost and Gauthier by every scouting publication so yes, he and Dubois would likely be the best player available if they are there at #6. Tkachuk and Dubois also bring a blend of size, strength, skill and power that the Flames desperately need up front. So not only would Tkachuk/Dubois likely be the BPA but also fit our needs extremely well.

[dammage79]

I'd be okay with Nylander, but his U-18 performance put a wrinkle in my yearning for him as a top 6 guy. Like Previously stated, he played like soft room temp butter in that tournament. But it could have been he was just worn down form playing much more hockey than he is used to over the course of a season.

The year before he played what looks like a total of 68 games. Not bad and a decent workload, but this year he played a total of 92 gp with OHL Playoffs included. Proabably burnt out near the end.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

I think that's just his style. Nylander is a purely skilled finesse forward. He's going to look soft because he's not a banger. And I think that's why some of us are wary of him. Flames need some jam and power injected into the top 6 forwards to compliment the existing skill and existing game breaking talent.

[sharkov]

For me, get either Chychrun or Sergachev if Dubrois is chosen

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I think that's just his style. Nylander is a purely skilled finesse forward. He's going to look soft because he's not a banger. And I think that's why some of us are wary of him. Flames need some jam and power injected into the top 6 forwards to compliment the existing skill and existing game breaking talent.

Is it really though? Ive seen highlights where he goes in and fights for pucks in his highlight reels, something he flat out didn't do in the tournament. Add to that, that the scouts we fans mostly rely on have in the majority said he is a grittier player than his brother, I don't know exactly if he is that soft consistently. That being said, I am more leery of him now than I was before the U-18's.

Maybe he didn't want to get hurt in this tournament. Maybe he is a softie. Who knows what reasons lie behind the curtain.