Tod Button breaks down the Flames 2021 draft class

I’m really happy about him. It’s one of those picks where the need intersects with the best player on our list. And that worked out well. Skilled right winger, scores in a variety of ways. He’s not one-dimensional, he can make plays on the move. He has a good 200-foot game that’s going to get developed more as he matures and goes to college. We got him for his offense and the different ways he can create and the different ways he can finish.

The next guy we took is a guy we had liked all year. He played in MODO, Sweden, William Stromgren. He’s a tall, lanky left wing. We talk about the draft this year and the pandemic and how hard it is. He’s a guy that we were able to track early and watch his progress. And he comes from a small town and he wasn’t experienced at higher levels of hockey, so we watched that progress right this year right in person as we watched him and watched him on video. So he goes from a small town, MODO, in a lower league, and at the end of the year he’s playing with his peers at the Under-18 in Dallas, Texas. So that was pretty neat to watch. He’s got a lot of raw ability, so we just need to get him the necessary instances where he can learn when he can use his skill instead of… I know he’s a dynamic personality, like he wants to use his skill all the time. So he’s just got to learn through experience and playing at higher levels that you can’t beat guys one-on-two all the time. But he’s got reach, he’s got vision, he’s a really good skater, he’s got quick feet. He’s just got to gain experience and go through the necessary development. He’s in a good spot next year. He’s going to hopefully take a spot on the Rogle SHL team. But we’re really excited about getting a guy with his talent in the second round.

This is probably the area of the draft where we started to rely on area scouts and guys with a lot of viewings. Cole was a high pick in the Quebec Major Junior League Draft. Our main Quebec guys, Fred Parker and Patrick Lachance, saw him a lot. Fred knows him from when he was younger and Patrick saw him a lot. He’s a big, rangy left wing. He’s got work to do on his mobility, but he can skate in straight lines, he’s got a really good reach, good at protecting pucks. We see him as a left wing, although I know he’s played a little bit of centre. And he’s got a mean streak. He can compliment skilled players by going to the net and creating space and then finishing in and around the net.

Just what I would call a ‘today type defenseman.’ Mobile, he moves pucks, he can carry the puck up the ice. He’s another kid who’s physically a little bit under-developed, so he’s got to put some weight on and some strength, which is going to help his defending game. He’s a pretty good defender as far as contain, but when he needs to be assertive and be more physical that’s the part where he’s going to develop his game as he gains more strength and develops physically.

Again, I can’t reiterate or talk enough about our area scouts and how important they were to this whole process. The WHL played 24 games, so our Western League scouts were on Cole Jordan and those two bubbles as soon as they could in Canada. Darren Kruger loved this kid, watched him a lot in Moose Jaw. He’s a kid, he said, even though he’s a late birthday. He’s really come since his 16-year-old year. He’s a little bit bigger than I think he’s listed. He’s 6’2″, 200 pounds. He’s a really good skater. He’s a first-pass, more of a defender type. Kruges doesn’t think he’s going to run a power play any time soon, but he thinks he’s got some potential to improve his offensive game and add a little bit in the offensive zone.

He didn’t play any games this year. He did some training, a lot of training. He’s grown a bit. We have him as a winger/centre. He’s kind of versatile. They were on a pretty good team last year as an underage, so he didn’t get to play his position growing up as a centre, but they moved him around the lineup. He’s a scrappy kid. He’s more of a playmaker/vision type guy. Again, trust in Terry [Doran]. Terry’s done a good job for us. Fred Parker has done a good job for us in Ottawa, so you rely on those guys in this situation. So we think we have another good one here, but we didn’t get to see him play.

We’ve got a kid who’s a big, powerful winger. Again, underrated physical skill. He’s not going to beat guys off the rush that much, but what he’s going to do is get to the net, create space for the skill guys, and then get some pucks in the net from in and around the hard areas. You watch the playoffs, you see those guys have a lot of success. They help create room for the smaller guys, and he’s got enough ability to score when it matters and into the trench areas.

A goaltender from the North American League, Shreveport. We heard about him. We watched him on a lot of tape. Central Scouting had him ranked. When we were at the Under-18s in Texas they were playing in Shreveport, and they actually played a game on the road in Texas, so we had Thomas Speer there. So he went and watched him live. So he was a guy we started tracking. Went to the finals in the North American League. Jordan Sigalet then followed up, watched a lot of video on him. He’s a little bit raw, but he’s got another year, he’s going to go play in Tri-City of the USHL next year and then he’s going to UConn. So we figured, get a guy like this in the pipeline and see where he is in four or five years. We think we’ve done that. You know, we’ve got Dustin Wolf and Chechelev that we drafted last year. So we think we’ve got some guys that are going to pop at different times. The goalie guys made this pick. They really liked the potential and the path that he was going to take.