2011 NHL Draft: Calgary Flames still feeling the positive vibes

[HF Article]

Photo: Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has been the definition of a draft steal while prompting other teams to take a chance on skill over size (courtesy of Jose Quiroz/Icon Sportswire)


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In 2011, Jay Feaster was overseeing what would be his first draft as the newly anointed General Manager of the Calgary Flames. Taking over for Darryl Sutter in December of 2010, and having been officially named GM later on in May, the former Tampa Bay Lightning man had a lot of work to do.

In hindsight, the 2011 NHL Draft may have been one of Feaster’s highlights of his short and frustrating tenure.… read more

The post 2011 NHL Draft: Calgary Flames still feeling the positive vibes appeared first on Hockey's Future.



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[Flames Fanatic]

As far as drafts go, pretty damn good success rate as at least none are busts yet and all have gotten some NHL games, even if three of them are with other teams now.

 

[tfong]

I really preferred Brossoit over Ortio. But it was a good draft.

 

[JurassicTunga]

Flames also have Dougie Hamilton from that 2011 draft now. Great draft year.

 

[JPeeper]

If only Tod Button would have told Feaster to pull the trigger on Kucherov earlier.

Though if Kucherov doesn't get picked early then we might not pull the trigger on Gaudreau with our next pick which was 2 rounds away.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Kucherov and Gaudreau are perfect examples of why I want Nylander or Keller over Tkachuk or Brown. Players that develop to their potential with that kind of skill become elite players and drive an entire teams offence. Is Monahan a 30 goal scorer without Johnny? I don't think Tkachuk scores 75% of his points this year if he doesn't play with Marner. All these players would be excellent picks and you probably can't go wrong, but I'd be going for the skill with our pick.

 

[Sparky93]

Kucherov and Gaudreau are perfect examples of why I want Nylander or Keller over Tkachuk or Brown. Players that develop to their potential with that kind of skill become elite players and drive an entire teams offence. Is Monahan a 30 goal scorer without Johnny? I don't think Tkachuk scores 75% of his points this year if he doesn't play with Marner. All these players would be excellent picks and you probably can't go wrong, but I'd be going for the skill with our pick.

That's just it though, Tkachuk doesn't have to, he has Bennett. Teams made up of purely finess players don't win cups, you need a balance of players, with different skill sets and chemistry. I don't really think Brown even belongs in the conversation, just a few peoples wishful thinking.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

Kucherov and Gaudreau are perfect examples of why I want Nylander or Keller over Tkachuk or Brown. Players that develop to their potential with that kind of skill become elite players and drive an entire teams offence. Is Monahan a 30 goal scorer without Johnny? I don't think Tkachuk scores 75% of his points this year if he doesn't play with Marner. All these players would be excellent picks and you probably can't go wrong, but I'd be going for the skill with our pick.

I've been one of the most critical of Tkachuk, but to say he would have only scored 27 points this year? That's a bit extreme.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

That was a typo, meant to say he would have gotten 25% less points. I've had a bad headache all day, my brain isn't functioning right.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

Haha fair enough. I first saw it and thought I found someone else who thinks Tkachuk's numbers are very inflated due to his line mates. No such luck I guess

But I do agree with you that we should draft someone who creates, complimentary players are easier to find.

 

[L13]

Tkachuk's numbers are clearly inflated by playing with Marner and Dvorak; I don't think that's debatable.

When you look at the top 10 scorers in the OHL this season, our very own Mangiapane, who spent large stretches of the season driving Barrie's second line with less offensively talented linemates, has the second lowest number of secondary assists at 17. Mike Amadio, the only player in that group who has fewer secondary assists than Mangiapane, outscored the second highest scorer on his team by 30 points.

Tkachuk has a whopping 41 secondary assists and Dvorak has 35. Marner, who many think was the offensive dynamo on their line, has 25. Labanc, who led Barrie's first line in scoring, has 27.

Secondary assists aren't completely worthless or fake or anything like that, but they can tell more than one story, and in Tkachuk's case I think they clearly show he benefited from high-scoring teammates.

 

[Sparky93]

Think Tkachuk will be very comparable to Schenn or Saad, I'd be very happy with either of them. Complimentary top end scoring isn't easy to find and is very under appreciated. You can't just put anyone with top end talent and expect them to succeed. Guys like Okposo, Lucic, Saad or to a lesser extent even Frolik usually come with high cap hits in free agency.