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Headlined by Jakob Pelletier, the Calgary Flames made five selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Let's take a closer look at each of them.
LW – Jakob Pelletier – 26th overall
The Flames have shown on numerous occasions they are not afraid to bet on an undersized player if the skill and work ethic is there. Johnny Gaudreau, Andrew Mangiapane, Matthew Phillips and Dillon Dube are all great examples.
That's why I was hardly surprised Pelletier was the pick at 26. I suggested he could be weeks ago.
Pelletier is a skilled player who consistently makes the right play. He's not shy about mucking it up along the boards or around the net. He'll go where he needs to in order to make a positive impact.
Arthur Kaliyev was the only CHL draft eligible to outscore Pelletier overall. At even-strength, the latter was a more efficient point producer than notables top picks like Kirby Dach and Peyton Krebs.
Pelletier has an above average skill set and a good head for the game. He's also extremely productive. Who cares if he is a couple inches shorter than ideal?
C – Ilya Nikolayev – 88th overall
The Flames' system is pretty thin up front. In particular, down the middle. They took a step towards addressing that with the Nikolayev pick.
He is thought of as a smart, responsible two-way center with plus-playmaking ability. Here's a little taste of what he can do.
Nikolayev was fairly productive in the MHL so the Flames aren't just buying a toolkit. There's reason to believe upside is there.
TSN's Bob McKenzie had Nikolayev ranked 49th in his final rankings and essentially every outlet/draft guide slotted him higher than 88th. He seems like a good value pick.
W/C – Lucas Feuk – 116th overall
Feuk is a versatile offensive forward coming off a very strong season in the SuperElit. Feuk mustered up 21 goals, 22 assists, 43 points and 84 penalty minutes, all of which were good for top spot on the team.
He brings a nice mix of skill, competitiveness, and bite to the table. Given his production, he was a worthwhile gamble at this point in the draft.
C – Josh Nodler – 150th overall
Nodler is a hardworking center whose best traits are vision and playmaking ability.
HockeyProspect.com's BlackBook, which I'd recommend checking out if you want to learn more about this class, voiced concerns about Nodler's hands and defensive positioning, which is probably why Nodler was not ranked by them.
If he can figure things out away from the puck, perhaps he can eventually nail down an NHL job as a pass-first depth center with PP2 upside.
He's a long-term project.
G – Dustin Wolf – 214th overall
Wolf is coming off a remarkably strong season in the WHL. He posted a .936 save percentage while appearing in 61 games. At 6'0' he is pretty undersized for a modern goaltender. That hasn't slowed him down to date, though. If you're going to pick a goalie, draft a productive one and don't use high capital.
Data via Prospect-Stats.com and Scouching's draft tracker.
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