Roundtable: 2019 NHL Draft edition

After an agonizing wait, the 2019 NHL Draft is finally upon us. With an eye towards figuring out just what the Calgary Flames might be up to on draft weekend, we’ve assembled our staff of sleuths to provide their best guesses.

Christian R: It’s tough to predict who will even be at 26 given the unpredictable nature of the NHL Draft, but things shake out somewhat as expected, I think the Flames end up with Bobby Brink. His size may overshadow his skill and drop him to around the Flames’ spot and he’s the type of player I imagine the Flames would be comfortable with. High end skill albeit undersized. Sound familiar?

Karim: I’m going with Bobby Brink as well on this one. I don’t think NHL GM’s are totally ready to do away with their weird superstitions about smaller players, and I think Brad Treliving capitalizes. It’s become very obvious that he values skill above all else, and I can’t see him passing on Brink if/when he falls to 26.

Konnie: The NHL draft is extremely hard to predict after pick 15, with lots of teams moving up and down in the draft and as such, virtually any player around the 18-31 range could potentially be available. Of those players in that group, I would love to see either Bobby Brink, Phillip Tomasino or Nils Hoglander but I would be happy with pretty much any non goalie option.

Christian T: It’s all guesswork based on how picks 10-25 go, but I’m feeling pretty confident with Bobby Brink. The Flames are familiar with him, as he was Martin Pospisil’s teammate in Sioux City, and they can continue to keep an eye on him when he links up with Mathias Emilio Pettersen in Denver. With a painful lack of high-end RW talent in the organization, Brink is a good option to help shore things up. Philip Tomasino is my second guess.

Nathan: My money is them not even having the 26th pick by the time it rolls around, but if they do, I think they hold on to it for Spencer Knight. All of Brink, Robertson, Tomasino make sense, but Treliving’s biggest misses so far have been major free agent signings and goalies (sans Rittich) so wouldn’t be surprised to see him try and correct that.

Ryan: My gut says the Flames end up trading down to gain some extra picks. If they stick around at 26th, I would guess they go with Matthew Robertson. You can never have too many defenders who are as much of a steadying on-ice presence as Robertson is.

Christian R: I think the Flames deal TJ Brodie for.. something. Probably on Day 2 of the draft because that seems to be Treliving’s favourite time of year to make deals. Otherwise, I don’t see them making any other moves in the draft short perhaps trading down if they feel the player they want will be available later, to acquire an extra 2nd or 3rd. Treliving likes to give his staff as many kicks at the can as possible, and hasn’t exactly been able to do that recently.

Karim: A bit of an off-the-board pick here, but I think Sam Bennett gets dealt. I just can’t see how he’s going to fit under the cap, especially with projections it’ll be lower than $83 million.  He still has a lot of perceived value and I don’t think there will be a better time to trade him than this weekend. Bennett could be part of the rumoured Jason Zucker deal, or just bring a couple picks back. Hopefully it’s Zucker, though.

Konnie: After how close Jason Zucker was to becoming a Flame, I just can’t see how the team doesn’t close a deal to acquire him. I still think Michael Frolik will go the other way, and if the Flames trade Brodie for picks, one of those most likely gets attached.

Christian T: I really don’t know how things pan out, but I imagine Michael Frolik and TJ Brodie are no longer Flames after this weekend. Mark Jankowski and Sam Bennett are on notice, too (sorry to those who think James Neal is getting moved)

Nathan: Out: Frolik, Brodie, the 1st. In: I’m not sure. I don’t think the Zucker deal happens because I feel like Fenton feels like he should do better after all the Zucker news leaked. I am partial to Kapanen, because he’s a speedy little boy, and they could have a home for Brodie.

Ryan: For cap reasons and because he’s the easiest guy to move out, TJ Brodie might be the player moved. But I figure we’ll see a couple trades as the Flames try to add some firepower and maintain some semblance of cap flexibility.