Tod Button on the 2014 draft. 770 interview

[sureLoss]

Flames Director of Amateur Scouting, Tod Button on 770 talking about the draft. Some of the information he already talked about in previous interviews, but some may have missed it.

Sam Bennett

• very happy Sam fell to 4
• First thing that stands out - he is a real fast, quick, and speedy player
• Sam doesn't slow down with the puck unlike a lot of players (very unique)
• makes plays at high speed, goes into traffic at high speed, can handle the puck at high speed
• compliments Monahan who is cerebral, bigger, draws player to him and finds players while Sam is an electrifying speed first, handle the puck at high speed player

• On whether Bennett can make the team - Sam has 4 months to get ready for training camp and a lot can happen
• Sean earned his spot, not given based on his draft status
• Sean kept earning his spot throughout the year
• Will do the same with Sam [in terms of opportunity to earn a spot] - when Sam is ready to contribute and play, he will

• he is a feisty kid and doesn't take a backseat against anyone on the ice
• plays hard against everyone regardless if you are smaller or bigger than him
• has tremendous desire to succeed - huge attraction for the Flames

• interviewed at the Combine fine
• personality on and off the ice is the same
• well spoken kid
• understands where he needs to get to, understands the steps he needs to take to get there
• came across as very sure and confident and didn't come off as I know everything and I have done everything
• one important part of interview process is for the players self evaluation to match how the Flames see the player
• had more interviews with him and brought him back to Calgary, so spent a lot of time away from the rink with these guys

Hunter Smith

• tall and has room to grow and add muscle mass
• only 4 days away from being a first time draft eligible this year
• skating has improved over the 2 years they have been watching him
• Tom Webster knew him from Windsor, watched him before he got to the OHL
• Hunter's leaps in development and skating wise he put himself on the track to be evaluated as a third round pick, top 90 pick, we had him in the top 50 of the draft - (Button first called him a third round top 90 pick then quickly corrected himself to top 50 read into that what you will)
• thought the steady progression and working on his game shows a lot of character

Mason McDonald

• tall kid and takes a lot of room in net, fills the net really well
• thinks the game really well
• he is compact in movements but he is fluid and quick so that doesn't open a lot of holes as he moves side to side
• came up on the radar as a 17 year old at u17 world challenge
• didn't play on a lot of good teams last year, but as you watch the goals go in, he still gives you confidence, doesn't blame anybody, hang his head or give off bad body language
• another player who steadily improved and put the work in
• a lot to like mentally and physically

• Flames have a separate goalie list and Flames have a positional list
• try to slot in where they would take goalie into their positional list
• determined they had 19 players (he might have said 14 before [in previous interviews]) ahead of the goalies
• if all 19 players were gone at #34 on their list they would take a goalie whoever it was
• Mason was there and the top 19 were gone, so easy decision

Brandon Hickey

• excellent skater, world class skater
• bit slight, has good frame
• lot of room to put on weight and strength
• down the road see a 6'1.5'' - 6'2'' 200lb defenceman that can move the puck and can really skate
• going to a good program at BU, very good at developing players especially defencemen
• 2,3,4 years away but [NCAA] path will be beneficial

Adam Mattsson

• Swedish scout Bobby Hagelin wouldn't stop nagging Button to select the kid
• Hagelin kept asking for them to acquire a pick to select Mattsson as they went through the 4th and 5th rounds
• character kid and big kid
• definitely needs to work on his footwork/agility
• has all the intangibles, great teammate and leader
• projects to be a guy that can play against other teams bottom 6 forwards
• bottom pairing guy that can be on the PK and can play in all types of defensive situations
• may eventually be more than that

Sven Baertschi

• only his first year pro (Button seems to have forgotten 2012-2013)
• Sven still has a lot of time
• there are growing pains along the way
• when you don't have a great prospect base and you have a guy that was as dynamic as Sven was in Portland, you push him or build him up to a point that with the fan base and media, it is unfair to the kid because he won't meet expectations
• still excited about Sven
• had a huge learning year last year, has to digest it
• hopefully mentality is there and is strong enough to do the work he needs to do this summer

Misc

• Webster earned that standing ovation
• Flames haven't talked about making changes to scouting department right now
• Webster's retirement came as a surprise

• asked if he feels happy on how the cupboards feel restocked compared to 3-4 years ago - never happy with what you have, you want more
• happy with what they added to their base over the last few years
• once the team is top of the league will he be truly happy

• big tournament in Buffalo tomorrow, will be back for Flames development camp
• excited about Eichel vs McDavid next year, not only as a scout but as a hockey fan
• looking forward to watching the other highly ranked kids preform as well

[Money Baer]

Thanks for compiling all these points! Great read!

[Da_Chief]

Thanks SureLoss. The CP experience would be incomplete without your contributions. Amazing poster.

[Caged Great]

The Hunter Smith and Mason McDonald things concern me a bit with there being parameters with each pick instead of getting the bpa.

[nixon45]

sureLoss summary > actual interview

We are lucky to have him as a contributor to the forum.

[Ashasx]

wrong thread

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

The Hunter Smith and Mason McDonald things concern me a bit with there being parameters with each pick instead of getting the bpa.

How do you put a goalie on the same list as defensemen and forwards? I would think it would be hard to compare the positions, probably why they need to be on separate lists.

[Vulcan]

Adam Mattsson

• Swedish scout Bobby Hagelin wouldn't stop nagging Button to select the kid

I like this, it's good to have someone in your corner.

Good to know Webster was scouting Hunter Smith. I think he's responsible for a few players that surprised such as Prust, Brodie and Giordano. He'll be missed.

[Miniac]

Thank you SureLoss for the great summary.

[Read Only]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

The Hunter Smith and Mason McDonald things concern me a bit with there being parameters with each pick instead of getting the bpa.

Weren't the parameters with McDonald that if the 19 guys who they had ahead of him were gone then he was the BPA?

Seems like they did get the BPA in their mind.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Adam Mattsson

• Swedish scout Bobby Hagelin wouldn't stop nagging Button to select the kid

Last time a scout did this we ended up with Gaudreau.

[c.t.ner]

I don't see anything wrong with the Macdonald pick. Yes, I understand it's better to pick goalies in the later rounds, but if the scouts had Macdonald as their number one choice and they felt he wouldn't be available later on then I'm glad the Flames got the player they wanted on their list.

Button's take on the last few drafts is always the part of the draft I'm most interested in over Feaster/Trevling's takes. To me it seems the Flames draft far better when they stick to their lists and rely on numerous indepth interviews with the guys they really want. (For example last year with Poirier even though Hunter had dropped) Sounds like Macdonald was really high on their list and given the run of goalies right after their pick, he wasn't going to be there at Smith's pick.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Read Only

Weren't the parameters with McDonald that if the 19 guys who they had ahead of him were gone then he was the BPA?

Seems like they did get the BPA in their mind.

• determined they had 19 players (he might have said 14 before [in previous interviews]) ahead of the goalies
• if all 19 players were gone at #34 on their list they would take a goalie whoever it was

From that is where I got the impression that they were determined to take a goalie and lucked out and got the first name on their goalie list. I don't mind the pick much at all. I just am concerned with pigeon holing we need to pick this here regardless. It's those kinds of moves that tend to be less good compared to what is available.

I feel with both those picks that they left potential on the table. I can't complain too much though as both those players are good for what they are. Smith is likely going to be an NHLer in some capacity and MM has very good potential for a goalie. Lots of good tools to work with with him.

I am concerned about that becoming a habit, where we might pass on a really good average sized player because there's some big player with minimal potential on the board.

[ah123]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

I don't see anything wrong with the Macdonald pick. Yes, I understand it's better to pick goalies in the later rounds, but if the scouts had Macdonald as their number one choice and they felt he wouldn't be available later on then I'm glad the Flames got the player they wanted on their list.

Some interesting research on the myth of taking goalies in later rounds:

http://flamesfrom80feet.blogspot.ca/...selection.html

[Read Only]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

• determined they had 19 players (he might have said 14 before [in previous interviews]) ahead of the goalies
• if all 19 players were gone at #34 on their list they would take a goalie whoever it was

From that is where I got the impression that they were determined to take a goalie and lucked out and got the first name on their goalie list. I don't mind the pick much at all. I just am concerned with pigeon holing we need to pick this here regardless. It's those kinds of moves that tend to be less good compared to what is available.

I feel with both those picks that they left potential on the table. I can't complain too much though as both those players are good for what they are. Smith is likely going to be an NHLer in some capacity and MM has very good potential for a goalie. Lots of good tools to work with with him.

I am concerned about that becoming a habit, where we might pass on a really good average sized player because there's some big player with minimal potential on the board.

I guess I took that to mean they would take a goalie, so long as they liked the goalie, and they figured that if those 19 guys were gone it would be one of McDonald or Demko (if that was their second choice) available.

I have a hard time believing if those 19 guys plus 11 goalies were taken they are going with their 12th ranked goalie just because they wanted a goalie.

If they would have reached for a guy like Smith perhaps I would agree but Smith was rated right around 54 by many different scouting services so it wasn't like they toook a 4th rounder because he was big.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

• determined they had 19 players (he might have said 14 before [in previous interviews]) ahead of the goalies
• if all 19 players were gone at #34 on their list they would take a goalie whoever it was

From that is where I got the impression that they were determined to take a goalie and lucked out and got the first name on their goalie list. I don't mind the pick much at all. I just am concerned with pigeon holing we need to pick this here regardless. It's those kinds of moves that tend to be less good compared to what is available.

I feel with both those picks that they left potential on the table. I can't complain too much though as both those players are good for what they are. Smith is likely going to be an NHLer in some capacity and MM has very good potential for a goalie. Lots of good tools to work with with him.

I am concerned about that becoming a habit, where we might pass on a really good average sized player because there's some big player with minimal potential on the board.

I'm fine with this year's draft. If, going forward, we only take giants I'll be worried as it will look like a return to the Chris Dingman era of bigger comes before talent. I suspect this will not be the case, however.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by New Era

Last time a scout did this we ended up with Gaudreau.

Uh, Jankowski? That was Weisbrod pretty much by himself (not that he's necessarily a scout).

[UKflames]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

The Hunter Smith and Mason McDonald things concern me a bit with there being parameters with each pick instead of getting the bpa.

You are of course using your opinion of who the BPA was at the time of the pick was someone else, rather than who the flames felt was the BPA at the time of the pick, as decided by their draft list which is created over months of profiling these kids.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

The Hunter Smith and Mason McDonald things concern me a bit with there being parameters with each pick instead of getting the bpa.

My opinion on this draft was there wasn't very many BPA picks going on right after the first 10 picks. Teams then started picking players for organizational needs. Yes, the BPA way should probably always be the way to go, but it's fine if you pick an early player if he fits the needs of the team.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Uh, Jankowski? That was Weisbrod pretty much by himself (not that he's necessarily a scout).

You don't know that. Tod Button recommended Weisbrod see him
so obviously our head scout liked him. The whole staff might have liked him for all we know. No need to make questionable assumptions that it was just Weisbrod.