Calgary Flames prioritize ‘high-end skill and elite skill and scoring ability’ in 2024 NHL Draft
By Ryan Pike
1 day agoPlenty of people flock to the Las Vegas Valley every year, dreaming of striking it rich on the Strip. On Friday and Saturday, the Calgary Flames made 10 selections at the 2024 NHL Draft in the Sphere.
Coming away from the festivities, the Flames felt they grabbed 10 young prospects that constitute “a great haul,” according to director of amateur scouting Tod Button.
Here’s how Button and general manager Craig Conroy described the newest members of the Flames organization in their chats with the media.
D Zayne Parekh (9th overall; Saginaw, OHL)
Conroy: “He’s a high-end offensive player. He’s got great hockey sense, sees the ice well, makes plays. Special offensive ability. All young guys need to work on the defensive side, but what we got him for is what he does well and that’s on the offensive side.”
Conroy also praised him for his attitude and personality, noting that not afraid to chirp opposing teams during competition.
F Matvei Gridin (28th overall; Muskegon, USHL)
Conroy: “When you watch him, I watched him on video a lot, to see him and read the reports and everything, the high-end skill. Whether he needs to make a pass, assist, shoot, he can do it all.”
Conroy noted he can take games over at times.
F Andrew Basha (41st overall; Medicine Hat, WHL)
Button: “Hockey sense, skill, quickness. He had really good chemistry with [fourth-overall pick Cayden] Lindstrom in Medicine Hat. He’s a worker and he plays in the hard areas, and he succeeds with his skill in the hard areas.”
F Jacob Battaliga (62nd overall; Kingston, OHL)
Button: “[Flames assistant director of amateur scouting] Fred Parker said, his description is the most apt I’ve heard, he’s a junkyard dog. He’s thick, he’s in the middle of the battle. He’s got good enough hands to score in the trenches and he’s always in the trenches in the middle of it. That’s basically a Fred Parker pick there.”
D Henry Mews (74th overall; Ottawa, OHL)
Button: “Just value. It was pure value. We talked about him and Battaglia at the same pick. And Fred [Parker] said “for sure Battaglia, and then if Henry’s there at the next pick, we’re taking him. And he was there.”
Kirill Zarubin (84th overall; AKM Tula, MHL)
Button referred to this as a Jordan Sigalet pick, referring to the Flames director of goaltending. Button noted they slotted Sigalet’s goaltender targets after the first day of the draft, and then selected Zarubin in this slot.
Trevor Hoskin (106th overall; Cobourg, OJHL)
Button: “A total [OHL area scout] Terry Doran pick. Watched him a lot in Cobourg. We saw him in the World Junior A Challenge. He was really good there, but not a big enough window for us to say definitively what he was going forward. Terry said again, skill, smart, he’s going to Niagara next year. He’s gone through a draft. He’s an older kid, but lots of time to develop. Going to school really helps us as well for that development time.”
F Luke Misa (150th overall; Mississauga, OHL)
Button: “Skilled, smart. We just felt like there was no, like, at 125 we were like, we’re going to get Misa. Just the way it was going, we were going to get him at 150.”
F Hunter Laing (170th overall; Prince George, WHL)
Button; “With Hunter Laing, another guy, Quintin’s boy, was on our list. Again, a guy our western guys really liked. And then what happened was Jarome [Iginla, special advisor to the GM] was sort of the finisher. Jarome really liked the kid. He knows the family, live in Kelowna. He says he’s going to take him in the garage and wrestle with him and train him. And if he can handle that then he’s going to a player for us one day.”
D Eric Jamieson (177th overall; Everett, WHL)
Button: “Jamieson was on our list last year. So we’ve tracked him for three years now and the progress that our scouts in the west had seen were integral in us taking him. Like, staying on top of him and picking him today.”
Overall
Button had a succinct rundown of the qualities the 2024 crop possess: “Skill, hockey sense, offence, in spades. We’ve got a lot of high-end skill and elite skill and scoring ability. And then a junkyard dog and couple project prospects late in the draft.”
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