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Unfortunately for fans, the Calgary Flames were not lucky enough to win the first overall draft selection through last night’s 2014 NHL Lottery Draft.
That said, the team will still be drafting 4th overall and have some very promising options available to them! While some argue that the draft will not yield as high of potential players as did the 2013 NHL draft, there are certainly some gems throughout both the first and second rounds for whoever does their homework(scouting).
“First up, you never know. You should get a good player,” Brian Burke said. “We are confident that we are going to. If you go back and look at the history of the draft, the fourth pick the year of the (Sedin) twins in 1999, was Pavel Brendl. So there’s no guarantee you’re going to hit a home run or even a triple at four."
“With this group of players, we’re comfortable we can do that.”
In direct relation to Burke’s comment, it would appear to hold true that the majority of 4th overall draft selections went on to be successful NHL players, as shown below.
1 4 Adam Larsson
1 4 Ryan Johansen
1 4 Evander Kane
1 4 Alex Pietrangelo
1 4 Thomas Hickey
1 4 Nicklas Backstrom
1 4 Benoit Pouliot
1 4 Andrew Ladd
That’s a pretty impressive list of 4th overall selections in recent years if you ask me. It should stand to reason that Flames fans would be pretty excited at having the chance to pick this high.
With the playoffs kicking off tonight, I won’t be going into draft discussions just yet. There is plenty of time to discuss who is likely to be available to the Flames and who they are likely to walk away with, and as such, I will dedicate a blog to each potential selection (five picks in the first 85 selections).
As I have done every year since starting to write for Hockeybuzz, I will provide my first round NHL bracket projections. I would offer that you each get involved in the discussions as well in order to try and stay focused on hockey, despite Calgary missing the playoffs for the 5th consecutive year.
With two games tonight between Eastern teams and one between Western tonight, I will start off with my Eastern predictions.
Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings
This will be an interesting series I feel, given the recent success which the Wings have displayed. Going 6-3-1 in their last ten games played, Detroit did just about everything they could to ensure that they extended and maintained their playoff streak.
That said, the Bruins are simply a much stronger and well balanced team and shouldn’t have too much difficulty walking away with a series win. Detroit’s youth were great during the regular season, but without the needed playoff experience which the Bruins possess, Boston has the clear advantage here.
Final: Boston 4, Detroit 2
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens
I have struggled trying to predict this matchup. Both Tampa Bay and Montreal have been great teams this year, a slight advantage going to Montreal’s strong team play. That said, going into tonight’s game, Tampa finished the year 7-3-0 on a four game winning streak and were 3-1 against the Habs this year.
Of the two teams, Tampa plays a more complete game and is a stronger puck possession team whereas Montreal appears to play a better team game and has the stronger netminder and better specialty teams. With Stamkos back to full strength and entering his first playoffs as captain, in addition to Ben Bishop out with an injury, the Bolts success will be by and large due to how either of their goaltenders fair, in direct comparison to Carey Price.
This series for me will come down to goaltending as both teams have the right amount of offensive players who can skate. It should be a quick game and I expect it to go back and forth and be very close overall.
Final: Tampa Bay 4, Montreal 3
New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Unfortunately for Flyers fans, I don’t see much chance for Philadelphia in this match up. Looking at the numbers alone between the two teams this year, the Rangers have won eight straight homes games against the Flyers and have outscored them by quite an impressive margin.
As with most series, it all comes down to strong goaltending and leadership, both of which the Rangers win hands down, in my opinion. While New York lost Ryan Callahan, they have acquired Martin St Louis who has added leadership and a level of work ethic to the room.
Unless Lundqvist falls a part of the Rangers are unable to produce any offense, New York should have no issue walking away with an early win as Steve Mason is simply not going to cut it during these series.
Final: Rangers 4, Flyers 1
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
Similar to the above, I see a clear cut winner here with the Penguins being the much stronger and more experienced team of the two. That said, the Blue Jackets have been playing quite well to close out the season and could surprise the Pens who may not come out of the gates flying.
If the Penguins take the Jackets too lightly to get things going, we could see Columbus walking away with an early win, causing Pittsburgh to chase their lead. Even with this established, the dominance of forward which the Pens hold on their roster should have no issue getting the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky. Columbus’ best chance is that their defensive play is enough to frustrate Pittsburgh’s top scorers and that Sergei comes up big for them.
Moreover, the Pens will need to allow MA Fleury to gain confidence early on as they netminder has been known to struggle when the pressure is on. With some crucial injuries to some of the Columbus’ star players, I do not see the Blue Jackets putting up too much of a fight, unless of course the Pens break down defensively and find themselves pulling the puck from the back of their net more often than they should.
Final: Pittsburgh 4, Columbus 2
I will put together my predictions for the Western Conference teams tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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