Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
On the draft, the Calgary Flames' bottom-6 and more:
- The NHL draft lottery is just a few days away and, while the Flames stand a decent chance of moving up, they could just as easily drop a couple spots.
With that in mind I figured I'd touch on some targets in the 5-8 range they'll likely end up picking in.
Bob McKenzie just released an updated top-15 and in his rankings Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Nylander, Olli Juolevi and Mikhail Sergachev were ranked 5-8.
This is a deep draft at the top and it's possible Matthew Tkachuk, for example, goes a spot or two lower than 4th or Jakob Chychrun goes higher than 9th but I'll focus on the four above for now.
Of the four my preference (in order) would be Dubois, Nylander, Sergachev and then Juolevi.
That's not a knock on Juolevi - I really like his game - but I think Sergachev has more offensive upside and I don't think Juolevi adds enough defensively to make up for the difference.
As I've said, there will be plenty more draft talk once the order is decided.
- The Flames' bottom-6 was very bad last season and I've been asked on more than one occasion how to fix.
First and foremost I'd say the Flames have to stop prioritizing guys with grit and intangibles (i.e. Brandon Bollig, Lance Bouma) and give more opportunity to guys who can produce at a good rate, relatively speaking, drive play and suppress shots (like Josh Jooris).
In today's NHL almost every team has a few high-end talents so depth players can often be the difference. There is no better example than what Matt Cullen, Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust just did to the New York Rangers.
If you don't have depth you're not going to win a lot of games and that's something the Flames will have to address sooner than later.
- I haven't looked too deeply into the upcoming free agent class but Viktor Stalberg is one UFA that fits the mould of what teams should want in their bottom-6. He's not a bruiser but he's 6'3', can skate like he's 5'10', kills penalties and can chip in offensively.
Recent posts:
On goaltending, the draft & more
Flames need to proceed with caution in Colborne contract talks
Why the Flames should re-sign Jakub Nakladal
Western Conference playoff predictions
Eastern Conference playoff predictions
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»