cberg

That would be a tough one, with Tij still on the board. I’d have to keep telling myself “D wins championships”. So, btw, you claim he’s the best Canadian D but why did he not make the WJC this year, and who beat him out?

Don’t disagree it is not an equal comparison, and lots of prospects don’t work out. However, nobody knows that before a draft and scouts/teams just have the comparable to consider as a prospect's max upside. Certainly could be a significant factor in the draft evaluation.

Pretty much the same in the East. Well enough, get rid of the pretenders so the big boys can battle it out. Thought Dallas would do better, we’ll see. Lindholme keys the comeback and wins it in overtime. Trades seem to be working out so far.

Yes, the "comparables"(potentially) for some of these kids is crazy... Leshunov-Hedman, Catton-Sakic, Buium-Makar, Iginla-Iginla, Silayev-Chara, Demidov-Kucherov and on it goes. We shall see, but if a team does have this perspective it is easy to see why the picks may be all over the place.

Yeah I agree, but it went Celebrini, Levshunov, Lidstrom… perhaps really fortunate for the Flames, there is no consensus on anyone past Celebrini and there is high likelihood Calgary will have the option of a player who has dropped from “BPA” at their pick. The only way the Flames are in a “must pick THIS guy” scenario is if they win the lottery and get 1OA pick.

Huberdeau seemed to come to life once 2024 hit, Flames should continue to build on that. I also wonder if there is any potential on trading him to Montreal?

Both Ferland and Pospisil were a combination of functional toughness and skill. We need more of that. Would Jeannot out of Tampa be a possible trade target?

Glad you're having fun in the comments. Much needed these days. Crappy, politicized TV got me rewatching old Clarkson auto shows and RedGreen. I agree we need to do a remix and Mangiapanne likely needs to move out. Last year's draft a start and we'll see how it develops this June. Coleman loves being here and he's producing and a great mentor so I'd keep him, and Pospisil is a revelation, hopefully he'll be able to maintain health for many years to come. I think Conroy views things the same way, and some of the trades this past season address size, while still keeping focus on skill. It will be interesting to see how our current UFAs are handled, since between rising salary cap and Flame's current cap space, it could go many ways.

Just watched a mock draft via Gravitah.. Anaheim wins 1OA, Buffalo 2OA, Flames drop to 10OA. Montreal picks Tij, Flames draft Ivan Demidov. It’s going to be wild…

Islanders avoid a sweep in the 2nd overtime, while Tampa Bay comes to life with 3 early goals and 6 overall. Can’t see either hanging on much longer.

I agree with those adds, where you draw the line is tough. When I think back to the Flame’s SC, the team was totally stacked, with 6-8 Stars, at least, but no superstars. They were an offensive juggernaut, had strong D and excellent goaltending. It took them a whole decade to get there, adding 1-2 players every year, about half traded and the rest drafted. Unless we win a lottery that’s probably going to be the same here. Hopefully only 2-3 years till we become semi-competitive again, though with Bettman points it could be next year which would be unfortunate on several levels.

Waiting several years is a challenge, but should be the normal expectation.

Agree, or at the least they've recognized a relatively untapped market, and with the current world situation, the prospects are probably thrilled for an opportunity here...

Yeah, D wins championships, but you also need enough offence to win games. I was thinking this morning how many SC champs over the past couple decades have been led by "superstars", versus not? Not sure who are the superstars? Crosby probably tops of them all.... Since 2000 these teams have won a SC: NJD-Brodeur, Niedermayer Colorado Avalanche-Roy, McKinnon, Forsberg, Sakic Detroit-Zetterburg, Lidstrom TBL-Stamkos, Vasilevski Carolina-Brind'Amour Anaheim-Pronger, Getzlaf Pittsburg-Crosby, Malkin, Fleury Chicago-Kane, Toews Boston-Chara LAK-Kopitar Washington-Ovechkin St Louis- Vegas-Eichel In this same time period Calgary had Iginla, Kiprusoff.... never quite put it together, although 2004 in retrospect should have been. PS: Great Stromgren game-winning goal for the Wranglers last night.

So, I’m interpreting these 5 are your first ledge, albeit Celebrini might be at the top by himself, with little risk they will make it. I’m guessing the next ledge would include several players, eg Catton and Silyov, others(?) who might make my criteria but there are too many unknowns, or too much risk they ever get there? Continuing down the list the players either will never make it to that level, or perhaps are so late developing or have too many current warts/attributes, ie poor skating (Eiserman) that the risk/probability of achieving that high of a ceiling is unreasonably high (ie Gaudreau?)…. I’m trying to think through the likelihood of multiple top level hits the Flames might have, and how and whether that impact’s potential trades? of course, this is only top level players, hockey is a massively team sport and lower level players can be just as important to success, or lack thereof, looking at you TML.