jjgallow

I'm in agreement here, the reality is that we have completely gutted ourselves in this "retool". And I'm not complaining. Andersson is probably our last card. Or a combination of Andersson plus previous/future first rounders -(Coronato, Zary) You can do it, but you need to really want it. There would have to be pain. If you draft Tij, then imho you ...Have...to do something because we cannot start our rebuild with a bunch of wingers. Sorry I mean retool. If you don't draft Tij, it's optional but it would still be better to start fresh drafting D. It is actually quite funny that we are calling this a retool when in fact we don't have enough pieces to trade for a first rounder anymore. But it's not a bad thing, it means we are near rock bottom and things aren't going to get That much worse. It's probably the last season for a while where our GM talks about "battling for the playoffs" in January, but otherwise pretty steady. In a situation like this it Does make sense to go heavy on picks right away (if drafting D and G), so imho we should try our best to do so. Even if it means Putting up great pieces like mentioned above. And we should be a seller at each trade deadline for next few seasons. Best way to do that is reclamation projects. Hello Kylington. Hello Kozemenko. We need to sign more Younger high ceiling reclaimation projects in the off-season, rehab them and see who sinks/swims. Put the swimmers up at TDL. Be up front about it. "Hey man, get your act together and you could be hoisting a cup by end of season". Second best way is eating salaries, but I won't get my hopes up.

I was trying to think of a scenario that would actually piss off every single one of us, but is still plausible. I've come up with: Winning the lottery, and picking Tij. watch for it.

It's most likely this. But I still do my best to bring him up in every second post because I know some in here Really appreciate the added content.

I really thought Zary was done. But it wasn't a drafting rant. I just didn't think he'd come back from that concussion. Glad he did. Jury's still out on Ortio, way to soon to make a call.

thanks for taking this too far with me.

Francis has had a big bounce back in the echl this year

he just signed a pro contract, way too early to make any conclusions

Or Terry Ryan?

To us it looks like a small gap. But if the organisation thinks it's a small gap, then they need to ramp up their scouting. Rest assured a couple of these guys will become legends, half will have decent careers, and the rest will be flops. Getting that right supercedes our positional needs right now. but I Do agree that either strategy has a high chance of landing a D. Or Tij, though. Or Tij. Then you need that post-draft trade.

Where is Jiricek in your rankings bro? before getting into philosphy, I ask this. philosophy and such: They have needed this for quite a few years now, but passed them over, as you know, under a relatively impatient GM with short term goals (stepping stone to Toronto). I don't deny that. It's tricky because I also don't know if drafting positionally is wise. The only thing that could make it wise is that they've positionally avoided D for some time. BUT. If one guy projects to be a 2nd liner and another guy projects to be a hall-of-famer, you take the higher ceiling no matter what position they are. I don't agree with stacking them like this as a top 8 ranking, because I don't agree that these are the 8 best players. Not by a long stretch. But I DO agree that if we Simply followed BPA, we would Highly likely end up with a D in the first round. Mostly because many impatient GMs overlook them and let them drop. The Flames need a top D prospect. Yes. The should have drafted them in the first round last year, as they were clearly BPA, and I would suggest the two years prior as well. You are suggesting that we "fix" it in this draft. I just don't know. If it happens it happens, but it should not be rash or hasty. Maybe Tij goes 3rd overall and maybe Demodov lands to us. Or maybe we win the lottery and ...then we....pass on Celebrini? It's hard man. So many possibilities. The best thing you can do is make a REAL-Hash Rate list. Not a pretend list. Make a Real list. and yeah more than half the time, a D will land to you anyway. there's no need to go further than that. But I do want Tij and I actually think he is better than better. I actually think he might be ranked a bit lower Because of his Dad. At the end of the day, we need an elite D prospect. Straight up. Preferably two of them. I would propose that acquiring them through a trade, though, is also an option. So I would play this draft cool, personally, and get as much value as we can. And if we still need an elite D after the draft, Make that trade.

Too many. Highly unlikely they all live up to expectations, need a filter. With regards to Demidov, Levshunov, maybe Buium, definitely Silayev, I have a little rule. If they can't score goals, something is amiss. Now granted, some of this is obscured because a few of these guys are playing pro hockey already so it's not clear cut. but usually there are at least samples of them in junior. I get a little, tiny bit concerned when I see an assist-heavy group. I already know this will piss a number of people off lol, and I get it, sorry. Not an NHL goal scorer? Okay. fine. It's not a death sentence. Applying this rule could mean missing out on a Zdeno Chara or a Mark Giordano (although a number of these guys scored less goals than even Giordano, who went undrafted). Just, odds-wise, generally one Should be able to put up goals. Even if they're not an NHL goal scorer (you can be a first-line NHL D without being a goal scorer). The thing is, The Zdeno Charas and the Mark Giordanos, for every one of them who becomes a star, there are maybe 200 that don't. Not very enticing odds for a first round pick. I prefer to take my risks on guys who can't put the puck in the net in later rounds.

I would say Sutter as a GM. lol. but if we want to blame players, then yes..Giordano

I'm with you. We were never terrible. If that was the goal, we achieved it. But there's a reason cemeteries aren't filled with that slogan on tombstones.

So for me, the whole "trade for Askarov/Wallstedt" thing was based on: Derisking (what if Wolf flops) Them being the next thing (possible but not clear right now) The chances of Wolf being the real thing are going up. The chances of Askarov/Wallstead being the real thing...I won't say they're going down, but they didn't go up this season. I would absolutely trade for them, but not with a 1st. I'd trade for them with a 2nd. After Kipper, we drafted maybe one goalie every 2 years. We should have drafted twice that, with significantly more scouting. And we should at all times, with or without Wolf or Askaraov or anyone. If Wolf continues to impress, it negates the need for us to do something "drastic". We can simply go into maintenance mode there. imho. Which means 2-3x more drafting,scouting, development than we've done in the past.

Wolf is giving me great, great hope. I have said for a while that goaltending prospects are our greatest need, and that we can't just rely on Wolf. That's kind of changing fast. I mean, I still want to see us draft a goalie pretty much every year. But, man. He really could be our guy. Unfortunately, the Markstrom situation.... we Really should have traded him. That is going to be a big, big issue

i think we're saying similar things. really. history says you will disagree, but...i dunno. If you think you can win a cup just by acquiring top 10 picks, then your plan is flawed. But, acquiring top 10 picks is very much a part of asset accumulation. For two reasons. The pick that you get,,, and the picks that you get...after. Seen many cup winners do that. Just, there's a lag. The lag is smaller, though, than if they try and right the ship without an initial top pick acquisition.

I agree with you that the best way to acquire top 10 picks is trading for 2+ years in future. It's a time premium discount. willing to wait = better trades. But, my conclusion there is more like 'let's get started with that'. I also agree that it's risky to expect to just build a team off of that. You need those later round wins. You really do. or off-seasons signings, or great development, etc etc. But I don't agree that it's an either-or thing. I think you need it all. High picks, low picks. scouting, development. "prefer lots of low picks to high picks" doesn't get you anywhere, statistically that strategy is doomed. "we only want high picks" --- also very likely doomed unless you go into a deep, deep, deep fail like Edmonton (and then you can still get it wrong, as they've shown.). you look at the cup winners....they had it all. High pick successes. Low pick successes. All of it. we can't do either, or. We have to get lots of low picks, we have to get those high picks, we need to use them all well. So instead of deciding between the two, maybe.... we consider that we are sellers at the next Few trade deadlines. and maybe we sign some players this offseason only to have them for sale at trade deadline. Maybe we make some smart trades. Because yeah, we need those high picks, and we will need to spend low picks to get some of them. So.. have Lots of low picks. do the things you need to do to have that flexibility.

Pretty compelling arguements. Actually. However. Don't you mean all 4? What about Jiricek? When he plays in his own age category he blows everyone out with his offense. Like, blowout. Pretty offensively dominant against kids 2 years old than him too. He has the size, the WHS, the offense, the defence, that maturity. Ain't there 4?

Often the 6'4 type D in the first round don't live up to the hype and never jump to the next level. Not always of course. I think a better strategy is to draft a guy who got his ranking on skill. With a cutoff of course. They shouldn't be diminutive in the 1st round either . To me, if I were to pick a D who got his ranking solely on skill, Parakh comes out on top. He's not big, he does have warts. Imho you take the warts and you live with the average size and you gamble on the skill. Talent is the one thing that can't be taught. The rest can, and you hope that it will be

Totally agree, and I'm agreeing form the "pro" side of drafting Tij. A lot of experts in here on how drafting Tij will affect Tij. Only person who really knows this, is Tij. Ask him.

Totally agree, and I'm agreeing form the "pro" side of drafting Tij. A lot of experts in here on how drafting Tij will affect Tij. Only person who really knows this, is Tij. Ask him.

You might be onto something. But I would refer to it more as injuries, usually. Which, can happen when you give a 20 year old goalie 50 games.

Bursting on the scene did in fact ruin Hart, I agree. But not the kind of scene you're talking about.

I love this game. as some here know. My choice for the spot was Pellika, all day long. My fave strategy would have been sell at the trade deadline, and fail for Michkov. OR, upgrade for Michkov. We will also so here. Zary's proven that it's too early to count these guys out.

I personally give this one the thumbs up. Depending of course on where NJ's and Van's picks end up. Logic: Any time you can get a top 10 pick, you get that top 10 pick. We need one elite D, and...well, Tij, out of this draft. This gets it done. Quality over quantity. Gives NJ an out to explain to their fans too. Simply put, drafting Is getting better very gradually and there IS a big difference between 10 spots in the first round. Arguments against this and my counters to them: 1. We would not have had to give up the 1st if we'd done this at the trade deadline. *True, but we don't have a time machine. 2. Markstrom will command more than this *No he won't 4. We should never give up picks in a rebuild/retool *Unless it's an upgrade. We can and should re-obtain a late-round first through other means after. We cannot typically obtain a top 10 pick.