I thought Pelletier was one of the better players for Team Canada in the Juniors and Zary has done everything you want in a D+1 year, is at 2PPG in the WHL and looked solid in the AHL and was contributing there as well, almost a PPG.
You can't ask more for a guy drafted at 24th overall. I can see Pelletier and Zary being the next Mangiapane and Dube, both middle 6 guys with potential to be more.
With a high pick this draft and a potential tear down for the next 2 drafts (I don't see it as I don't see ownership willing to tear it down and tank for a couple years), Flames could be sitting really pretty.
That's how I view them also. We're building an abundance of quality forwards that are (or project to be) hard to play against in Pelletier, Dube, Mangiapane, Tkachuk, Zary. Throw in guys like Ruzicka, Pospisil and Phillips who could all be regulars sooner rather than later. And some intriguing youth like Pettersen and Heineman.
Some 2022/2023 lotto luck could really have us looking so bright.
3 ridiculous RHS jewels at the top of 2022 in Shane Wright (who looks stunning), Brad Lambert and Matthew Savoie. And then what people say are the best 1-2 since 2004 in 2023 with Bedard and Michkov. Like the probability is so low of it actually happening, especially with us being Flames fans and knowing how this story goes. But it's so fun to dream.