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Calgary Flames Drafting and Development: Your Analysis


rickross

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1 hour ago, cccsberg said:

Tuulola?

Tuulola! Had one decent showing in camp and you'd think we were ready to plan the parade! I almost forget about the kid, he could still prove to a decent prospect. Haven't heard much if anything about Spencer Foo this year, i think D'artagan Joly was also having a decent showing this year..

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2015 draft

 

The Hamilton trade- it was a good trade at the time and I still don't begrudge it, can also argue because of it we ended up with the 5th overall pick which of course was Hanifin. Kinda sucks not picking in the 1st as I enjoy watching the draft haha. Anyway at 15th if we kept the pick I would be lying if I said I wanted us to take Barzal. I remember I had interest in Konency primarily as we had recent success with an Ottawa 67 in the 1st round, also had interest in Zboril and Chabot, although at the time I preferred Zboril...yikes. I also wouldn't have been upset at 15 if we had taken Kylington as I was high on him that whole year and he was such a divisive player in his draft year.

 

In general I liked this draft. Andersson, Kylington and Mangiapane were 3 of the 5 picks we had and have proven to be capable NHLers. Jury is still out on Mangiapane, but the 2 D we took makes this draft look really good for only having 5 picks

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2015 seems like ages ago! Acquiring Hammy is still one of the biggest trades in recent history. I think that draft year was one of the best if not the best under BT, drafting 2 NHL dmen in the 2nd round was a huge win. Still surprised Kylington fell that much in the draft,I’m sure lots of GMs are regretting passing him up now. 

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  • 2 months later...

Now that we have a pick in the 1st, here are a couple names I'm gonna keep my eye on.

 

I get BT's mandate is BPA but I would put an emphasis on a RHD this season and forwards. We are in a good spot on LHD for the foreseeable future, RHD and forwards are an area where the prospect cupboard is thin

 

Keeping in mind the pick could be anywhere from 20-31...

 

Phil Tomasino -RH C Niagara OHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/418531/phillip-tomasino

 

Jakob Pelletier- LH LW Moncton QMJHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/410525/jakob-pelletier

 

Brett Leason- RH RW Prince Albert WHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/257755/brett-leason

 

Anttoni Honka- RD JYP Liiga

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/395069/anttoni-honka

 

Nils Hoglander- LH LW Rogle SHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/395069/anttoni-honka

 

Lassi Thomson- RHD Kelowna WHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/372919/lassi-thomson

 

Nathan Legare- RH RW Baie-Comeau QMJHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/296698/nathan-legare

 

I also think there's a good chance BT trades down this year for a pair of 2nd's

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33 minutes ago, Thebrewcrew said:

 

Brett Leason- RH RW Prince Albert WHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/257755/brett-leason

 

This should be our target, along with trading for another 1st to get Raphael Lavoie. 2 Big RW RHS Forwards who can score and are starting to show an elite level of Hockey IQ. Will be a nice compliment to our LW in a year or two.

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3 minutes ago, pikey7883 said:

This should be our target, along with trading for another 1st to get Raphael Lavoie. 2 Big RW RHS Forwards who can score and are starting to show an elite level of Hockey IQ. Will be a nice compliment to our LW in a year or two.

Yeah I would really like a RH C or RW. Been a very long time since they’ve drafted a impactful right handed forward. I also think a goalie will be drafted this summer likely in the 3rd round at the earliest 

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6 hours ago, pikey7883 said:

This should be our target, along with trading for another 1st to get Raphael Lavoie. 2 Big RW RHS Forwards who can score and are starting to show an elite level of Hockey IQ. Will be a nice compliment to our LW in a year or two.

 

Being here in the UK its a bit hard with prospects so I leave it to others.  But as an observation

 

This guy is 20 in a couple og months and on a stacked PA Raiders team that is miles better than any other team in the Dub.

 

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1 hour ago, rocketdoctor said:

 

Being here in the UK its a bit hard with prospects so I leave it to others.  But as an observation

 

This guy is 20 in a couple og months and on a stacked PA Raiders team that is miles better than any other team in the Dub.

 

Your absolutely right that he is an overage player, I don’t know if he is playing on a stacked PA team or not. But he plays an honest game and does a lot of little things right, I see him as another mark stone or even giordano type model, drafted late or undrafted (which he has been twice), and has now filled out, has worked very hard on his skating, and is now starting to show what he is capable of. He even went to the world juniors and put up 3 goals 2 assists, to be fourth in scoring on a team that couldn’t find offence. His compete level and retrieval of loose pucks is what reminds me of stone so much.

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I have an issue with drafting over agers high, unless there is simply no one projecting better. The point that they have filled out compared too the younger guys in their first draft and the fact that they simply have more experience means they are closer to reaching their ceiling. If there are similar players who are younger (first go round) then they should be drafted first because in theory they have more growth still. 

 

If a player has already been passed over twice in the draft, it is unlikely they get drafted high.

 

I would likely be looking at D in general for the draft. A late round Goalie (unless there is a great one available earlier) will likely be needed in a few years so a good time to draft. With Andersson, Kylington and Valimaki all proving NHL ready this season, the D pool for the Heat is light at best. Valimaki, Valliev and Healy are the only 3 prospects who are not currently regulars for the Flames who have a shot at really moving up in the system. Healey is quickly falling down the charts as the other 2 are above him and with Hanifin, Kylington, Valimaki already NHL ready and young, unless cap issues arise, I see little room for high skilled D on the Left side. Using Lower picks to grab LD to fill out the minors in the future is fine, though grabbing a better one to have as potential replacement for trades helps too. Andersson, Hamonic and Fantenberg are a decent trifecta on the right side making Brodie traceable at the draft / offseason. This however leaves the cupboards bare for RSD prospects.

 

As for RW, we currently have Eetu Tuulola and D'Artagnan Joly as RW prospects, both are doing well in their respective leagues. That does not mean we can't add if there is an obvious improvement available. Leason may in fact be an improvement over what we have, but again, the overage thing comes into play.

 

I will leave drafting to the pros.

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I like Leason as a prospect, he reminds me of the Tanner Pearson draft year, where he came out of nowhere to become a 1st round pick. I don't think the Flames will have a chance to pick him though, I think he will get picked early 20's.

 

The Flames in general need to re-stock the cupboards at every position beside LW I would say.

 

All the D that have been drafted recently are playing in the NHL. Could use a couple this draft.

 

All the RW prospects have been late round picks and are long term projects.

 

Thought we hit a home run with Parsons, but so far he has battled injuries and off ice issues. Hopefully he is in a good place mentally because he is an awesome goalie. Didn't draft a goalie in 17 or 18 so I would think there's one to pick this season.

 

I think BT will trade back for 2 2nd's. Just because a late 1st isn't much better than an early 2nd and I think this draft will be more about building the system up than anything. I also think they would try to move Frolik for a 2nd or 3rd as he may be a cap casualty

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16 hours ago, Thebrewcrew said:

Yeah I would really like a RH C or RW. Been a very long time since they’ve drafted a impactful right handed forward. I also think a goalie will be drafted this summer likely in the 3rd round at the earliest 

I agree, I have been on the RW power forward band wagon for many years. But lately they filled this position with trades and late round picks so not as critical as it used to be. However this year I have a feeling they could grab a goalie in the 1st round maybe Spencer Knight.

If not then a RHD. 

 

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On goaltending, the forgotten one Mason McDonald is quietly having a good year in the ECHL. He's top 10 in both GAA and Save %. His number are better than what Jonathan Quick did in that league at the same age. 

 

Not suggesting that we should view him as the next Jonathan Quick, just thought it was interesting. 

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5 minutes ago, cross16 said:

On goaltending, the forgotten one Mason McDonald is quietly having a good year in the ECHL. He's top 10 in both GAA and Save %. His number are better than what Jonathan Quick did in that league at the same age. 

 

Not suggesting that we should view him as the next Jonathan Quick, just thought it was interesting. 

I haven't been one to rag on MacDonald over Demko myself. Goalies can take awhile.

MacDonald's a really great kid with a great work ethic.

Doesn't guarantee success but it does guarantee that he'll put in the work.

I think that's all you can ask.

If you look at good fwd prospects, that can be a 5 yr investment before NHL time. At that, some succeed where others fail.

Goal is much the same, but the window is likely closer to 7 yrs. MacDonald is still just 22.

A lot of MacDonald, imo, is to not be intimidated, he's a mellow guy.

I think a big component to Rittich this year is that he wants to be involved in skirmishes and no one will intimidate him.

That's a big part of the position imo. Don't let guys intimidate you, be it Kucherov or Quine.

Biggest hurdle for goalies with talent imho.

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Just now, JTech780 said:

I wouldn't draft Leason in the 1st round myself. This will be his 3rd trip through the draft, and he is 2 years older than most of the players in the draft. I think there are better players available in the 20-31 area that we will be drafting in.

Yup. That's camp invite material. Has he partaken in camps with other teams?

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21 hours ago, Thebrewcrew said:

Now that we have a pick in the 1st, here are a couple names I'm gonna keep my eye on.

 

I get BT's mandate is BPA but I would put an emphasis on a RHD this season and forwards. We are in a good spot on LHD for the foreseeable future, RHD and forwards are an area where the prospect cupboard is thin

 

Keeping in mind the pick could be anywhere from 20-31...

 

Phil Tomasino -RH C Niagara OHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/418531/phillip-tomasino

 

Jakob Pelletier- LH LW Moncton QMJHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/410525/jakob-pelletier

 

Brett Leason- RH RW Prince Albert WHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/257755/brett-leason

 

Anttoni Honka- RD JYP Liiga

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/395069/anttoni-honka

 

Nils Hoglander- LH LW Rogle SHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/395069/anttoni-honka

 

Lassi Thomson- RHD Kelowna WHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/372919/lassi-thomson

 

Nathan Legare- RH RW Baie-Comeau QMJHL

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/296698/nathan-legare

 

I also think there's a good chance BT trades down this year for a pair of 2nd's

Nice overview on some potential prospects to consider. Pretty crazy we’re back to restocking the cupboards already, guess that’s a good sign. I’m still in the camp of BPA. I think the last few times we forced a pick based off need we ended up missing out on some gems and ended up with duds like Hunter Smith and Wotherspoon instead. I’m not surprised at all if BT moves our 1st rd pick for another blockbuster trade at the draft. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, cross16 said:

Didn't know where to put this, but Dillon Dubes AHL season has him in some high end company. 

 

 

Valimaki also doing well early stat-wise at least, with 10 pts and +8 in 15 games.

Hopefully our other (non-AHL) prospects can move up to pro levels next year and have an impact.

 

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5 hours ago, rickross said:

Dube, Quine, Lomberg, Valimaki can all be called up as impact players. Not to mention Stone on the backburner. It’s smart to be getting Fantenburg and Prout some reps now, we are pretty deep at D when u think about it!

 

I just don;t see Stone getting in now.

Ras has replaced him and then some.

At best Stone is RD injury replacement.

Fantenberg has taken over the LD on the 3rd pair.

 

No need to mess with things.  The D that played tonight should probably be the D that starts the playoffs.

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19 minutes ago, flames-fan-in-jets-land said:

Nope, dont like that at all.  1: is 3 games enough to say he's ready if needed?    2: He doesn't bring anything that is not already in the top 7.      3: Who ends up going down?

3. No one has to go down due to the roster expansion rules that kick in after TDL.

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45 minutes ago, flames-fan-in-jets-land said:

Nope, dont like that at all.  1: is 3 games enough to say he's ready if needed?    2: He doesn't bring anything that is not already in the top 7.      3: Who ends up going down?

 

As per the CBA he can only stay on conditional loan for so long before he has to be recalled.

 

As Conumdrumed said nobody has to be sent down, and because he was on loan he doesn't count against our 2 recalls that we have left for the rest of the season.

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30 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

3. No one has to go down due to the roster expansion rules that kick in after TDL.

 

2 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

As per the CBA he can only stay on conditional loan for so long before he has to be recalled.

 

As Conumdrumed said nobody has to be sent down, and because he was on loan he doesn't count against our 2 recalls that we have left for the rest of the season.

Thanks for the clarification guys. I gotta start paying attention to these behind the frontline rules.

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