The 2015 NHL Entry Draft is now just a few weeks away and there is plenty of debate about what the Calgary Flames should do with their 1st round pick.
As a whole the Flames have a pretty good pipeline but it is lacking in high-end defense prospects, which has many suggesting the Flames grab a blue liner with their top choice.
I believe in taking the best player available regardless of position and Flames Director of Scouting Tod Button shares the same philosophy.
I'm in the belief you take the highest player on your board and if you have too much of a certain position you can move someone else to fill a need.
The Flames could always use a couple of their five picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds to add some quality defense prospects to their system. This is a very good draft class and it's not as if you can only get quality defensemen in the 1st round. A perfect example of that would be T.J. Brodie.
Regardless of your view on best player available vs need this is widely regarded as an above average draft and the Flames should be able to get an excellent player at 15.
As someone who scouts OHL and follows junior hockey very closely as a whole a few guys I'd be targeting who could realistically be available are Kelowna's Nick Merkley, Ottawa's Travis Konecny and Cape Breton's Evgeni Svechnikov.
Merkley is an undersized winger at 5'10' but he plays much bigger than he is. He is a very good skater with excellent edge work and he can get up and down the ice in a hurry. He posted 117 points in 101 regular season/playoff games and has the ability to put up points in bunches.
Konecny didn't get off to a great start this season with Ottawa - they're a highly mediocre team and he suffered a concussion early on - but he really took off in the 2nd half of the season.
After producing points at a .86 per game basis in the first 30 games of the year he averaged 1.4 points per game in the final 30 games. That's elite production.
He's a very good skater who possesses high-end puck skills and an elite shot. Like Merkley he has some feistiness to his game and plays bigger than his size so I don't see it as an issue.
Lastly (for now, anyway) we have Evgeny Svechnikov. He tallied an impressive 32 goals and 78 points in 55 games for Cape Breton this season while being a consistent force all season long.
He averaged a little over 1.3 points per game in the 1st half of the season and took it up a notch averaging over 1.5 points per game in his final 28 contests. He's strong on the puck, he skates well for his size, and he possesses very good puck skills.
While I don't think you can go wrong with either of those three players I'd lean towards Konecny if he's still available at 15 (assuming the Flames stay where they are it).
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Who would you like to see the Flames draft at 15 and why? I'm curious to hear some other opinions on the subject.
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