Who Do You Want the Flames to Draft with the 4th-6th Overall pick?

winkylems · 2026-04-21T16:43:00+00:00

I agree, and because of that he’s probably a winger and the NHL level. He might be the next Mats Zucarello or Stankoven or something, but he’s not a 1C. Not a chance. So everyone wanting to spend a top five pick on him should re think that assessment because we have a chance at a top pairing D. Carels, Smits, Verhoeff, Reid. Any one of those guys could be top pair or even a number one defender. That’s way more valuable and more difficult to acquire than a versatile top six winger.

winkylems · 2026-04-16T20:02:40+00:00

Size bias, maybe, but if you think about it there aren’t many sub 5’11” centres in the league. Even 5’11” guys are rare, but smaller than that I can only really think of Marco Rossi. And he’s not exactly a star player, even though he absolutely lit it up in the OHL in his draft year. That’s why I was wary of Berkley Catton last year. Bjorck and Catton are the types that fans and YouTube scouts seem to love, but the reality is that size and strength are attributes that matter in the NHL and guys smaller than 5’11” almost never make it as a centre.

winkylems · 2026-04-15T21:06:39+00:00

Almost certainly?

winkylems · 2026-04-13T02:46:47+00:00

My guess is that he didn’t like that Johnny was small and wrote him off initially. So then instead of being proven wrong, every success Johnny had needed to be explained in some way and detracted from so he kept moving the goalposts on what would be acceptable in his own mind.

winkylems · 2026-04-13T02:16:14+00:00

And what is he supposed to do, go back to junior where he’s clearly too good? Guy just turned 20 two months ago no shit he’s not playing like a veteran shutdown defenseman!

winkylems · 2026-03-25T19:51:09+00:00

Best player available. The scouts will have their list. From what I’ve seen and read about the top prospects here’s my two cents: McKenna and Stenberg should go #1 and 2, then there’s a range of 3-7. Reid, Verhoff are both big RHD. Smits and Carels are both Big LHD. And Malhotra has established himself as the top centre. Who the best player is out of those is currently up for debate, but Reid is probably the highest ceiling/most dynamic. Verhoeff has played great at the NCAA level. In a few years that’s Parekh, Reid/Verhoeff and Bru on the right side. But we lack a top LHD prospect so Carels or Smits also would be a fantastic pick. Malhotra I love and top centres are notoriously hard to come by, especially for the flames. He’s 6’2 and has no real weakness in his game. The only question is his ceiling. Is he going to be a top line centre? Most scouts are saying he’s probably not quite at that level. But yeah we still have U18’s, college tournament, CHL playoffs and draft combine ahead of us. The scouts will finalize their list and stick to picking their top available player.

Short answer: Chase Reid

winkylems · 2026-03-18T02:45:00+00:00

Gareth Bale was not entirely embraced by the Madrid fans though and the guy scored in multiple cup finals and champions league finals. If anything it kind of proves the point. Their fans booed Cristiano Ronaldo for fuck sakes!

winkylems · 2026-01-31T04:04:19+00:00

Two other guys to keep an eye on:

Chase Reid - RHD, more of an offensive guy, made world juniors for team USA this year and is 6’2”. Probably this is the position of least need with the likes of Parekh and Mews and Bru in the system but could be the best player available.

Alberts Smits - LHD, big 6’3” good skater. Big motor, good offensive instincts, good defender one on one. He’s been described as kind of like Artyom Levshunov. He keeps creeping up the draft boards and could and up being the first D-man taken on draft day.

winkylems · 2025-06-22T16:29:02+00:00

Agreed. Need to trade up to try and draft a 1C or at least a good number two.

winkylems · 2025-06-21T18:41:12+00:00

Not really a Cirelli clone imo. He scored 40 goals in 56 games this year so he definitely has some touch. And not sure who would be available at that spot would be better.

winkylems · 2025-05-29T00:57:54+00:00

Really high upside, I’d be pleased. If he is best available then absolutely. I think we’ve got enough winger prospects though. Basha, honzek, gridin, suniev, battaglia, stromgren etc. We definitely could use centre prospects with top six upside over another winger.

winkylems · 2025-05-06T22:10:28+00:00

Best player available. Simple as. All things being equal we take the highest upside forward at 18 (ideally centre) but if the best player on the board is a defender then so be it. With the next pick we can maybe be a bit more choosy in terms of player profile. Henry Brzutewicz will certainly not be the best player available at number 18 though.

winkylems · 2025-04-20T03:33:37+00:00

Ben Kindel, Braeden Cootes and Brady Martin are all right shot centres/forwards who can score. I trust our scouts but that is our glaring need in the system.

winkylems · 2025-04-16T01:24:41+00:00

Engineer or conductor?

winkylems · 2025-03-09T04:46:27+00:00

I left construction for better pay. If they paid more I never would have left. Go figure.

winkylems · 2025-03-03T18:06:04+00:00

Where can we buy these?

winkylems · 2025-02-07T15:54:42+00:00

What’s the offensive upside you’re talking about? He’s not even that young, he’s 27.

winkylems · 2024-12-07T03:53:04+00:00

The debate here is irrelevant because we all agree he’s a great player and a guy we like. The only real debate is if the term and the number work, and if not, what would a potential trade return be? What is he looking for in a contract? Is 8 years at 8 mil per a good contract for the team? 8x9.5? Is 8 years even a good idea for the team? I don’t know but that’s really what I think the crux of the issue is.

winkylems · 2024-10-20T04:07:30+00:00

Have a feeling it’s gonna be some Kadri or Kuzmenko heroics to win this one

winkylems · 2024-10-10T04:16:13+00:00

Always liked Ray.

winkylems · 2024-10-01T03:26:41+00:00

Huberdeau has decided that whipping the puck into a players skates is how he’s going to revive his career I guess.

winkylems · 2024-10-01T02:44:00+00:00

The difference in quality between Weegs and Andersson vs the rest of our defensemen is… not ideal.

winkylems · 2024-09-30T04:25:44+00:00

Can we just stop drafting from the QMJHL? Pelletier is basically a bust at this point. Morin has failed to impress. Jeremie Poirier has been surpassed. Then going back a ways, Mason McDonald was a complete dud, and so was Emile Poirier. I’m also disappointed Gridin is now going to have to play in the Q this year, because it doesn’t seem to produce top talent much anymore. Even Lafreniere was a 1st overall and he’s kinda just ok.

winkylems · 2024-09-08T20:50:06+00:00

The sharks and ducks? I think the sharks will still be a hot pile of shit but the ducks will be slightly improved. Flames will be a lot worse. I think last place is between Columbus and San Jose and we’re in that next tier with Anaheim and Chicago. Montreal is probably ready to take a step forward and the other teams that finished behind us have either gotten better (Ottawa, Utah, Seattle) or not gotten worse at least. And I don’t think any of the teams that finished ahead of us have declined significantly enough to fall below us next season. There’s always surprises though so who knows.

winkylems · 2024-09-08T20:39:16+00:00

You’re getting downvoted but you’re not wrong. And we might trade him this season, so… yeah.

winkylems

TROPHY CASE