News Article: THW Top Ten Calgary Flames Prospects, Winter 2014 Edition

[UpsideHockey]

Top Ten Calgary Flames Prospects, Winter 2014 Edition by Ryan Pike

For the purposes of this discussion, “prospects†are considered players under the age of 25 who are not yet everyday NHLers. This means that under-25 players like Sean Monahan, T.J. Brodie, Lance Bouma and Joe Colborne are not included, as they’re already considered to have graduated from this listing. In terms of “ranking†the prospects, I base it on which player I would choose in an expansion draft situation, with no other players on my roster – emphasis is placed on a player’s development ceiling, as well as their likelihood that they’ll achieve that potential.

I personally would have had Klimchuk slightly higher, Arnold just slightly lower and Jankowski in the Top 10 vs honourable mention.

How do you see it?

Full article here

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[Taranis]

Interesting how highly Bill Arnold is ranked with Jon Gillies barely making it into the top 10.

 

[MarkGio]

That's the beauty of the Flames' prospect depth. It doesn't matter who you put in that 5-15 range, since they're all got good promise and potential. Jankowski and Reinhart don't make the cut, nor does Wotherspoon or Selioff? Billins, Gordon, Roy, Culkin or Kulak? All guys playing pretty well in their respective leagues. In fact, maybe 5 Flames prospects are underperformers (ie,De Blouw, Harrison)

 

[Taranis]

Your right, it's one of those good problems to have. Cannot wait to see what draft day adds this year.

 

[Anglesmith]

That's the beauty of the Flames' prospect depth. It doesn't matter who you put in that 5-15 range, since they're all got good promise and potential. Jankowski and Reinhart don't make the cut, nor does Wotherspoon or Selioff? Billins, Gordon, Roy, Culkin or Kulak? All guys playing pretty well in their respective leagues. In fact, maybe 5 Flames prospects are underperformers (ie,De Blouw, Harrison)

I'm not so sure Harrison is an underperformer. As a freshman who isn't a big-time scorer, he's probably seeing limited minutes on the fourth line. I'm very willing to cut him some slack because of what he showed us at camp in the summer. He could be a great fourth liner for us one day, and he doesn't need to tear up college offensively for that to happen.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

The Flames have depth in their prospect pool. I thought Janko should've been in the top 10. Strange how Knight and Granlund are so high. Gillies should've been higher. Interesting to see Poirier over Sven

1. Gaudreau
2. Baertschi
3. Poirier
4. Gillies
5. Jankowski
6. Klimchuk
7. Granlund
8. Arnold/Knight
9. Arnold/Knight
10. Ortio
11. Reinhart
12. Wotherspoon
13. Agostino
14. Sieloff
15. Kanzig/Ferland
16. Kanzig/Ferland
17. Kulak
18. Jooris
19. Hanowski
20. Byron

I might of forgotten someone

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Cool to see Arnold get some recognition. Jankowski should be no lower than 7 though.

 

[Taranis]

From what I've seen I would rank Poirier over Baertschi due to his all around game being better. But then for me Poirier is the one Flames prospect I want to see in the NHL next year above all others.

 

[MarkGio]

From what I've seen I would rank Poirier over Baertschi due to his all around game being better. But then for me Poirier is the one Flames prospect I want to see in the NHL next year above all others.

I would too because I like Poirer's toolbox better. And I was one of the few people who thought Baertschi played decently when he was a Flame and I wasn't happy with Burke calling him out or his demotion to Abby. But Poirer is a favorite of mine too, its no secret.

 

[Taranis]

It seems odd to think Baertschi isn't in the NHL when you see his NHL stats of 51GP 8G 16A -2. Hopefully he comes to next seasons selection camp hungry and shows what he is capable of.

 

[MarkGio]

It seems odd to think Baertschi isn't in the NHL when you see his NHL stats of 51GP 8G 16A -2. Hopefully he comes to next seasons selection camp hungry and shows what he is capable of.

I think Baertschi might have let all that hype get in his head. He didn't have a good training camp either, so right away he wasn't bringing his full game. Between everything that took place, its easy to paint a picture. Burke calls him out, Feaster asks for a mulligan, Hartely saying nothing but good things about Monahan's maturing and leadership, but having little or nothing outstanding to say about Baertschi. Even Ward took his time before giving Baertschi any praise this season

 

[Mr Lebowski]

Sven was on pace for 40 points this uear and had more points than Monahan. Baertschi is a great scorer still. He's an NHLer to me now but I was happy with him going back to Abby to work on his 200ft game. I'd like to see Emile in the AHL first. Gaudreau-Arnold-Poirier. Amazing. Unless he has a great training camp. He would be great in the future with Jankowski or the C we'll draft or Arnold. My choice is Baertschi-Draisaitl-Poirier would score a lot and the defensive ability of Leon and Emile would be very good. Draisaitl passing and ability to create plays would result in Baertschi and Poirier getting 30+ goals and maybe 70+ asissts for Draisaitl. This line would have the ability to score in transition and n the rush as well as setting up in the zone and building possession. Another line combo I love is Agostino-Arnold-Ferland. Great bottom 6 grit line that will score some goals. Then Gaudreau-Monahan-2015 draft. Hopefully Eichel. (mved to wing) as scoring line.

I'm just concerned about our front line D. Will Gio be too old? Will Brodie be good enough? Maybe 2015 draft or 2016 draft. Don't want to be the Oilers. We have depth in guys like Wotherspoon, Sieloff, Kulak, Kanzig, Culkin and hopefully Burke takes a run at Franson but these are player who's cieling is top 4.

Goalies are a strength. Gillies and Ortio I believe will be a great tandem. Roy and Ramo are sleeper picks to be good starters.

 

[Taranis]

I agree, which is why despite the BPA strategy I would take Ekblad in a second given the chance.

 

[MarkGio]

Brodie will be a top pairing defenseman. He eats so many minutes and faces the hardest competition. We saw last night how he can go end to end. He's solidified his defensive game this year, and we know how he started out as being an offensively creative puck mover. At 23 years old, I'm comfortable with 10 years of this level of play.

Edit: But I too would take Ekblad. A well rounded team is important, and a couple of impact defenseman is needed for any championship team IMO

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Sven needs three things.

- 10 to 15 pounds of muscle (he's injured way too much)
- a commitment to defensive responsibility
- regain his confidence around the net

Hopefully these are things he can put together between now and next training camp.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

My top 3 choices for this draft have changed, I think...

Ekblad, Reinhart, and then Draisaitl, that's how I'm leaning towards now.

 

[Calculon]

Meh, the Flames' management isn't nearly that incompetent to rival the Oilers. Frankly, Edmonton's an anomaly and a very disingenuous example for most comparisons.

As it stands, if all the forward prospects pan out to some degree, then the team already has a significant surplus up front. A surplus which can be used to address needs elsewhere. I.e., if all of Klimchuk, Gaudreau and Baertschi look like bona fide top line left wingers, one of them would likely be moved for a quality defensemen.

But if one can be realistic for a moment, they'll have to acknowledge it's not likely everyone is going to become an NHL'er. There's no guarantee that Monahan's offensive game will be good enough to anchor the first line, Jankowski ends up being the best player in his draft eight years from now or that Klimchuk turns out to be a top six scorer. It'd look awfully bad in hindsight to pass on what seem to be better players because one wants to address a potential problem in the future.

I suspect we'll see some more quantity for quality trades like the Smid one pretty soon. Hopefully they target younger players though.

 

[TheDebaser]

If Buffalo wins the draft lottery, what would it take to get first overall from them? Edmonton will pick 1,2 or 3, depending on who wins the lottery and they will surely take Ekblad if he's available.

Burkie is known for making big moves for big players and I think Ekblad's worth it.

 

[MarkGio]

Has anybody ever (besides Lindros) pried away the first overall selection from the lottery winner? I can't see it happening

 

[InfinityIggy]

If Buffalo wins the draft lottery, what would it take to get first overall from them? Edmonton will pick 1,2 or 3, depending on who wins the lottery and they will surely take Ekblad if he's available.

Burkie is known for making big moves for big players and I think Ekblad's worth it.

Our pick + Baertschi would be my guess.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Our pick + Baertschi would be my guess.

Try our pick + Baertschi + Gaudreau, provided our top pick is in the top four. Not really worth it, IMO.

 

[Taranis]

As much as I want Ekblad I don't think it's worth giving up Baertschi or even worse him+.

 

[MarkGio]

Nope. Ekblad or a #1 centremen. Even a right handed RW helps. Just no goalies or left wings

 

[Pirate King Luffy]

Draisatl or Dal Colle should be the optimal choices for us. We definitely won't be getting Reinhart,Ekblad or Bennet, which is fine because that still leave us with two stud centreman to choose from.

Unless we win the lottery which is very unlikely.

 

[MarkGio]

Draisatl or Dal Colle should be the optimal choices for us. We definitely won't be getting Reinhart,Ekblad or Bennet, which is fine because that still leave us with two stud centreman to choose from.

Unless we win the lottery which is very unlikely.

But if we do win the lottery? We take Ekblad, no?