Recalled/Assigned: Sam Bennett

[Qubax]

Not to de-rail this thread further. But I sort of compare the trajectory of Colborne to a guy like Wheeler. Both were first round picks that took long enough to pan out that many labelled them as a bust or disappointment.

Now ofcourse there are differences, Wheeler actually went 6th overall where as Colborne wasn't quite this high. Also Wheeler is more of a shooter where Colborne is more of a playmaker, but the similarities are that they are strong skating, big men, who went in the first round, have Top 6 upside and took long enough to develop that fan bases got impatient on the road to success that they bounced around (Phx, Bos, Wpg for Wheeler) and Bos, Tor, Cgy for Colborne.)

I think 30 games into next year Colborne could be viewed as valuable as Backlund, Shore and few others (Bouma, Ferland) moving forward after ofcourse Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett.

The Flames have a lot of forward depth, and goaltending depth for that matter.

Just develop Wotherspoon, Hickey etc., and draft a few Top 4 D and we should have a good foundation for years to come.

Cheers, Q

 

[CraigsList]

Not to de-rail this thread further. But I sort of compare the trajectory of Colborne to a guy like Wheeler. Both were first round picks that took long enough to pan out that many labelled them as a bust or disappointment.

Now ofcourse there are differences, Wheeler actually went 6th overall where as Colborne wasn't quite this high. Also Wheeler is more of a shooter where Colborne is more of a playmaker, but the similarities are that they are strong skating, big men, who went in the first round, have Top 6 upside and took long enough to develop that fan bases got impatient on the road to success that they bounced around (Phx, Bos, Wpg for Wheeler) and Bos, Tor, Cgy for Colborne.)

I think 30 games into next year Colborne could be viewed as valuable as Backlund, Shore and few others (Bouma, Ferland) moving forward after ofcourse Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett.

The Flames have a lot of forward depth, and goaltending depth for that matter.

Just develop Wotherspoon, Hickey etc., and draft a few Top 4 D and we should have a good foundation for years to come.

Cheers, Q

I will be freakin' happy if Colborne turns into a Wheeler 2.0. But, to temper our expectations, I think a 40-45 point Colborne per year is just fine with me. Like you said, he probably would have been able to hit that had he not get injured. As recently mentioned in another thread, I think the Bennett - Backlund - Colborne line is going to be used again, those 3 complimented each other quite well as our second line. They played well when Monahan and Hudler were struggling.