Who Do You Want The Flames to Draft in '09? - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

cyclone3483 · 02-12-2009, 01:54 PM

I obviously haven't seen all these guys play, but I've been doing some reading...

Depending on where they draft (let's hope 30th), here are the names I could potentially see them calling for the Flames:

WHL
Landon Ferraro, RW, Red Deer
Jimmy Bubnick, RW, Kamloops
Stefan Elliott, D, Saskatoon

WHL (but from Europe)
Tomas Vincour, RW, Edmonton

OHL
Ryan O'Reilly, C, Erie
Ryan Ellis, D, Windsor
Scott Glennie, C, Brandon
Zach Kassian, RW, Peterborough
Casey Cizikas, C, Mississauga

US Development Program Under-18
Kyle Palmeiri, C
Drew Shore, RW

Europe
Jacob Josefson, C, Sweden
Toni Rajala, LW, Finland

We all know how Sutter has always seemed to favour WHL boys.

The one that stands out to me is Landon Ferraro. He is the son of former NHLer Ray (Chicken Parm) and apparently is a natural leadership guy with all the tools in his toolbox (Jack of all trades, master of none). He plays in Red Deer too so the Sutter connection lives on.

Jimmy Bubnick looks pretty good too.

keenan87 · 02-12-2009, 02:00 PM

I would take the best player available except for a goalie

dobbles · 02-12-2009, 02:26 PM

i don't follow junior hockey near as much as you guys, but i thought i heard ferraro was projected to be a top half of the first round type guy?

Flames Draft Watcher · 02-12-2009, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmer2

He's a guy who was flying under the radar before WJC but really increased his draft stock just from that tournament alone. I was definitely impressed with him, but you have to wonder if it was a fluke or not.

Well Tatar and a lot of the euro's are seen again at the 4 nations tourney and then the world under 18's in the spring. Whether the players are consistent in all the tourneys, show up for big games, etc will definitely play a role in where they end up.

Pity the under-18's aren't quite as big as the world juniors, its a bigger glimpse at the draft eligibles from both Europe and North America.

dustygoon · 02-12-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyclone3483

We all know how Sutter has always seemed to favour WHL boys.

True but his first rounders will be from anywhere. I remember reading somewhere that Sutter, Sands, or Button was saying that they thought a lot of Tom Webster's opinion. Listed as a pro scout, but he had influence on the Mickey Renaud and Nemisz picks (obvious i guess given he is based in Windsor). Just saying that OHL players have just as likely a chance as Western boys.

Tilley · 02-12-2009, 03:32 PM

I would agree with dustygoon. Sutter may have a preference for prospects from the 'dub but he won't select a player simply because he's from the WHL.

Who will be selected at the top of the draft is pretty much set, only the order and the teams have yet to be determined. Tavares, Hedman, Cowen, Duchene, Kane, Schenn, Schroeder, Svensson-Paajarvi, Kadri, Despres and likely Holland and Ellis are pretty much a given as being taken in the top 15 as long as someone doesn't suffer a substantial injury.

There are another 20-30 prospects that have a shot at the bottom half of the first round depending on how each player finishes the year and the team selecting.

Prospects in the next grouping include Josefson, Kassian, Moore, Rundblad, Morin, Erixon, Leblanc, Ekman-Larsson, Roy, Klingberg, Glennie, Budish, Ashton, Doherty, Elliott, Bubnick, Panik, Shore, Ferraro, O'Reilly, Vincour, Werek, Lee, and Tatar.

Swayze11 · 02-13-2009, 10:39 AM

TSN posted its mid-season prospect ratings today:

Top 15:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=92...opRelated_main

Top 16-30:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=4084

Unfortunately as stated by me on the first page of this thread, I really like Glennie. TSN has him at #9

Flame4Ever · 02-13-2009, 11:27 AM

While Glennie will fall due to injury ( He's good, but I'm not dure he's a top 10 guy to begin with). I doubt cowen will drop any further. The guys is just a beast and is clearly the best d man behind Hedman. His size coupled with good skating and edge make him a top 10 guy without a doubt.
If sutter is going to tweak our roster during the draft (ie make room for Backlund and possibly Chucko or Greentree) then I'd like to see him move up if at all possible.
I keep hearing good things about Landon Ferraro so I wouldn't be surprised to see him go earlier than listed. Pehaps one of our WHL correspondents, like Moon could give us a more detailed report on him and Carter Ashton who I haven't seen play.

Flames Draft Watcher · 02-13-2009, 11:49 AM

Wow lots of big North American wingers and centres projected to go by Mackenzie in the latter half of the first rounder.

moon · 02-13-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flame4Ever

While Glennie will fall due to injury ( He's good, but I'm not dure he's a top 10 guy to begin with). I doubt cowen will drop any further. The guys is just a beast and is clearly the best d man behind Hedman. His size coupled with good skating and edge make him a top 10 guy without a doubt.
If sutter is going to tweak our roster during the draft (ie make room for Backlund and possibly Chucko or Greentree) then I'd like to see him move up if at all possible.
I keep hearing good things about Landon Ferraro so I wouldn't be surprised to see him go earlier than listed. Pehaps one of our WHL correspondents, like Moon could give us a more detailed report on him and Carter Ashton who I haven't seen play.

for some reason I haven't actually seen Red Deer play in the past two seasons that Ferraro has been there so I can provide exactly zero info on him.

Ashton has been great this season and really improved since last year. When playing with guys like Boychuk and Sceviour he really shows his nature offensive skills and makes some plays that really only him and Boychuk can make on this team (and sometimes including the other team depending on who is playing.) When playing with other guys I often see him make great plays that the "lesser" players just don't read properly. Basically that is a long way of saying that he is clearly a step above the regular guys and even the "good" players in the WHL.

He has gone from about 6'3 185 to 6'4 200+ this season and really seems a lot more comfortable out there now with "his body" (if I can say that without sounding gay or creepy.) He can really control the puck well along the boards and wins battles more often than not.

His skating is actually pretty good for a guy his size and defensively he isn't outstanding but he isn't a liability.

His improvement in his game has resulted in him jumping from 3rd round to now into the middle of the first round.

He isn't as dynamic as the top end scorers like Kane or Schenn, but he certainly looks like he is developing into a very good power forward.

I would say that the top thing that I like about him is his progression from last year to the start of this year to right now. He has continued to improve all the time and shown that he is really getting better/working on his game.

As I said I don't think he is ever going to be a dynamic scorer like some others but he certainly has the skill to develop into a very good scorer at the NHL level.

SweetDoc · 02-13-2009, 12:19 PM

I would take Landon Ferraro, I'm biased though, I see him play every home game. This kid is fast, has some size, and is aggressive. He doesn't shy away from fights and finishes his checks; he also likes to scrum it up in the corners. He has some offensive flair which is probably underrated playing for a terrible Red Deer squad which I anticipate will be a playoff team next year and a contender the year after. He may not turn out to be a regular 30 goal 70 point man in the NHL, but he will have a long NHL career, of which I have no doubt. Don't pencil him in as a centre unless his faceoffs improve signifficantly.