Flames Draft Preview: Deep centre class plays into Conroy’s hands
Armed with a major trade asset to deal, two first-round draft picks and seven selections in total, Craig Conroy has plenty of ways in which he can finally start addressing the organization’s biggest need: centres. Eric Francis previews the Flames’ outlook heading into the Draft.
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CALGARY — Armed with a major trade asset to deal, two first-round draft picks and seven selections in total, Craig Conroy has plenty of ways in which he can finally start addressing the organization’s biggest need: centres.
By the time this weekend’s draft is over, Conroy should have several talented young middlemen to start developing.
Six or seven of the top ten picks in Friday’s first round are projected to be high-impact centres, but that leaves plenty of capable lads in a second-tier of centres who will be around when the Flames make their first pick, 18th overall.
Don’t be surprised if the Flames also use their 32nd pick overall to help fill their depth charts down the middle.
That’s not to say he couldn’t move into the top 10 by packaging a pick and perhaps an attractive trade piece like Rasmus Andersson at his disposal. As expected, Andersson and the Flames are miles apart on a potential contract extension, opening the door for the club to shop the 28-year-old blue liner whose shot-blocking, leadership and cap hit of $4.55 million will make him one of the most sought-after trade pieces at the draft.
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After spending another full year unsuccessfully trying to land an impact centre on the open market, Conroy knows his club can no longer kick the can down the road to start finding lads to eventually replace the aging Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund.
The acquisition of Morgan Frost wasn’t as impactful a move as the Flames had hoped, and Connor Zary’s injury-plagued season didn’t allow the Flames to gauge whether he’s going to be a long-term solution as a centre.
All of which makes this draft weekend a crucial opportunity to finally start adding some centres to a pipeline of young prospects that appears fruitful at every other position.
Like every other GM in the league, Conroy pays lip service every year to the mindset of simply selecting the best player available, regardless of position, when it’s their turn to step to the podium.
Not this year.
This year, the franchise has to be positionally focused, as centre was proven once again to be one of the most important positions in terms of determining the Stanley Cup champion.
No, now is not a good time to remind Flames fans that playoff beast Sam Bennett was drafted fourth overall by the Flames to be their centre of the future, before being shipped to Florida following years of failed experiments with him up the middle.
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DRAFT PICKS: 1st (18th), 1st (32nd from Fla), 2nd (from Was), 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th
POTENTIAL ROUND 1 OPTIONS
Cole Reschny, C, five-foot-11, 183 pounds, Victoria Royals (WHL)
Jack of all trades who can play it any way you like it, the native of Macklin, Sask., is committed to playing at the University of North Dakota this fall after scoring 26 goals and adding 66 assists in a season in which he got better and better.
The deft playmaker had nine goals and 16 assists in 11 playoff games, and also had five goals and eight points for Canada in five games at the U18 Worlds.
Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala has him ranked 17th, citing him as a potential top-six forward, middle-six at worst.
Six of the top-18 draft prognosticators think he’ll be snapped up before the Flames pick 18th.
Braeden Cootes, C, five-foot-11, 183 pounds, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
As captain in Seattle, as well as for Team Canada, Cootes is a leader on and off the ice.
A reliable, detail-oriented middle man who has quickly earned the trust of his coaches to play in every situation, he had 26 goals and 37 helpers in 60 games in Seattle.
The right-shot product of Sherwood Park, Alta., also had a strong showing at the worlds with six goals and six assists in seven games.
Sam Cosentino ranks him 14th, Bukala 15th, and none of the top prognosticators have him ranked later than 22nd.
Ben Kindel, C, five-foot-10, 176 pounds, Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Flames brass had plenty of chances to take a good look at the Coquitlam, B.C. native as he racked up 35 goals and 99 points for the Hitmen to move up in the draft class all season. A strong presence in all three zones and in every facet of the game, Kindel had eight goals and 15 points in 11 playoff games to further bolster his stock.
Bukala touts the shifty playmaker as “reliable and consistent,” slotting him 15th as a future top-sixer in the bigs.
Jack Nesbitt, C, six-foot-four, 185 pounds, Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
In the rough and tumble west, you can bet the Flames are attracted to the possibility of adding a six-foot-four centre who can cause problems in the corners and opposing creases while proving he can be used in all situations. Known for his shot and his hockey sense, the Sarnia, Ont. Native logged almost 20 minutes a night in Windsor, where he had 25 goals and 39 assists. Cosentino slots him 15th overall.
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LAST YEAR’S TOP PICK
Zayne Parekh, 9th overall
Parekh rebounded from a humbling training camp showing in Calgary to post a second-straight 30-plus-goal season in Saginaw as the CHL’s top scoring defenceman — an OHL feat only Bobby Orr had accomplished before. The 19-year-old then went on to make his NHL debut in the final game of the season in spectacular fashion, scoring once to become the sixth-youngest defenceman in NHL history to do so.
With 66 goals and 203 points over his last two seasons in junior, the most exciting young prospect in the organization will undoubtedly start this season with the Flames, as he’s too young to play in the AHL and is ineligible to play college hockey after signing with the Flames last summer.
Although he still has to get much bigger and stronger, the six-foot, 179-pound Markham, Ont., native is a gifted skater with a hockey IQ that should enable the right-shot defender to continue his ascension towards running the Flames’ power play for many years to come.
When camp opens, he will undoubtedly be the biggest storyline.
ONE BOLD PREDICTION
The Flames will indeed make a splash at this year’s draft.
Whether it’s via the trading of Andersson, moving up in the draft order or landing another 23-26-year-old his team can grow with, Conroy is poised to finally address a need he identified ever since trading Elias Lindholm two seasons back.
Through two seasons as GM, patience has been one of Conroy’s greatest virtues, but now is the time to get this done.
