The_People1

This team just doesn't need another LW but it could sure use another Iginla. We'll draft Tij and throw him over to RW like we do to every other LHS LW we draft and develop. 🤪

I wish

BUF wants Kadri?? I don't doubt teams have interest in Kadri, I just don't think it would be BUF considering they have Thompson and Cozens 1/2 already. If anything, they would want Wings and RD.

Would love for Tij to be gone earlier than our pick so the Flames can avoid the controversy of picking him vs picking a need (D and C). In that scenario, I think it's easy. Dickinson is the best D available. Buium is my next choice.

Picking Tij feels like the right thing to do. But picking Tij also means our rebuild will take much longer because we are missing elite D to get us out of the rebuild. We have Huberdeau and Honzek on LW for the next 7 years.

Nah, scoring is the hardest thing to do in hockey. Yakemchuk can do this. But yes, he's not high IQ and doesn't defend well. RW sounds like where he should be. Shades of Dion Phaneuf in some ways. Still, Yakemchuk has an elite snipe from distance. He's a rare perimeter shooting threat from the point, something the Flames are missing badly. Teams are going to pick him very high and forgive the defending shortfalls. Plus, the 6'-3" frame, grit, and coveted RHS. Dickinson has some of the same problems too. He's very Noah Hanifin. Has all the tools but he's "raw"... Same with Valimaki. Always raw and needs more seasoning. But Hanifin never really got it. Settled in as a 2/3 guy at the NHL level. Valimaki is only finally coming around too after all these years.

I wish. SJS, ANA, and CHI are in a league of their own. They are not NHL teams. 4-point game against ARZ coming up. But it likely doesn't matter because the Flames will win their final game of the season against SJS. I just hope we don't accidentally pass SEA in the standings or something.

Almost impossible to lose all 4 games considering ANA and SJS are on the schedule. We need to lose to ANA tonight badly. The more you study the draft, the more it feels like there's a top 5 + 2... drafting 8 is nice but we might just miss on a real solid prospect for a more risky one.

Helenius looks like a good player. RHS C too so that's a bonus. He's not a guy who can move the box in the offensive zone with fakes and deception but he is good at finding the soft zone and finding openings within the box. His highlights do show good anticipation (can recognize who is going to get the puck next and cheat towards them early). He looks like a solid two-way 2nd line Center. He's a bit smaller at 5'11" but he's smart enough to make up for it.

If we had to guess, Celebrini Demidov Levshunov Lindstrom Dickinson Gone by 8. Not saying they go in that order but they will be gone by 8. Catton and Buium are the two best of the rest. If we can get any of them, then that's the best pick. I hope we get Buium. Unfortunately, both might be gone too. And so, draft starts at 8... Eiserman, Silayev, Parekh, Yakemchuk, Helenius, and Iginla. Who to pick here?

Yes, I'd take Buium as well. There's a chance both won't be there unfortunately.

From what I can gather: player and range picked. Celebrini 1-1 Demidov 2-4 Levshunov 2-5 Lindstrom 3-5 Dickinson 4-7 Silayev 4-10 Eiserman 5-12 Catton 6-9 Parekh 6-10 Buium 6-12 Yakemchuk 6-12 Helenius 8-13 Iginla 9-15 Greentree 12-15 Jiricek 12-19

What's your rankings right now? Personally, I want the Flames to draft a D regardless if Catton or Lindstrom is there at 8. We will see. 8 is too early to draft Tij but I also want the Flames to draft Tij.

Wish ARZ, OTT, and MTL still had 5-games to go. But we running out of runway to rise in draft order. We still have 2 easy wins coming against SJS and ANA.

The new Michael Stone

Good for Hanifin. He just didn't want to sign long term in Canada. Hopefully the VGK 1st in 2026 will be a top 10 pick for us.

Sure, Newhook was a successful reclamation project. But they don't all work out like that. For example, would you want to trade the Canucks first for Dylan Holloway former 13th overall? He might turn into a 50-point player with the Flames. Or just draft and find the next Pastrnak?

I would say Newhook (originally 16th overall) wasn't trending very well. And so got my moved for a 31st overall pick. And that's what we would be looking at. Former busts and reclamation projects. Is Newhook considered a "decent player" that is better than just using the pick? I would just make the pick and roll the dice.

Of course but the catch is, nobody is going to give you a proven prospect (or prospects trending well) for a late first round pick where they have to develop from scratch again. Getting much older players is more realistic. We can trade the VAN 1st for a 2nd pairing D or 2nd line Forward. But then again, I personally prefer to roll the dice and draft.

That would be awesome to trade Andersson straight up to BUF for the 9th and we pick Tij.

No way Andersson gets top 5 pick especially after you've been calling him average all season. He's worth a little more than what Hanifin got us due to RHS RD. DET could play Andersson on the 2nd pairing where he belongs and that's not top 5 pick material. I personally think a 10-15th pick is possible depending on the right team.

Points aren't really there yet. Room to grow. Not arrived completely. But ya, good rookie year though. Needs to bulk up this summer.

Like saying... to prove my point? He's also been IR'd once this season and is about 10 lbs of muscle away from executing the game he wants to.

100% agree. I guess more teams in the league will help the NHL market the game to the USA and add rinks and youth programs locally. It will turn out to be a good long term investment for the NHL because you tap into an expanded talent pool. I don't know the Utah hockey scene but a new team there could spur building more rinks and get more kids in Utah to play hockey. One thing that appears to have failed is NHL's ventures into China. We don't see a Yao Ming of hockey come out of China or anything. Otherwise, that's one country that can turn out some hockey talent and justify the NHL expanding to so many teams. And yes, the SJS are basically 90% AHLers. No hope against the Flames who are already a pretty bad team. And we want to water them down further?

The main thing is, all these kids need to bulk up, add between 20 to 30 lbs of muscle while trimming the fat off. Part of drafting and scouting is to project the kid with this stuff added on top of what they already have. Catton is 165 lbs or whatever. That's just not going to cut it at the NHL level. He needs to be 180 lbs. And so how does the added weight affect his game which is supposed to be a puck carrying F and play driver? Does it make him better or worse off because loss of agility and added weight? Lots of things to project and take an educated guess. Silayev, 6'-7" 207 lbs... He needs to play at 225 to 235 lbs for that frame. But will that make him too big and slow? What if he rounds out at 250 lbs? Better? What type of player would be be then? Tij is 6'-0" 185... Maybe that's the right weight for what he tries to be? And also, IQ. Want to see fast thinking and anticipation one second into the future. Don't want to draft players who are simply good because they are bigger and stronger than their 16 year old competition. That won't get them far at the NHL level but those fancy stats are hard to resist.