“I’m in the same place on the Flames as I was in my first mock: I keep coming back to the left-shot D (the Flames feel to me like Carels’ absolute floor, and then Šmits) and the centers (Viggo Björck and Tynan Lawrence). I’d heard they like Lawrence, but the sense I have coming out of Buffalo was that Lawrence is no longer viewed in the same light as the top D and Björck by the league. And while Björck is definitely their type, I do wonder about the size of their forward pool with Cole Reschny, Ethan Wyttenbach and Cullen Potter.

It’s hard not to draw the line between Verhoeff and his longtime pal Reschny as well, but Šmits would give them a better foil to their talented up-and-coming righties.”

If the Flames take a D at No. 6, I fully expect them to go with a forward here. I think they’re probably the floor for Klepov if he’s one of the wingers that inevitably lingers. They’re also one of the teams that has the picks to make the Rucks’ dream come true. I don’t think they’d be as afraid of the mercurial Roobreock or Nordmark as some other teams as well. I don’t see Rogowski as their type, but if they feel their pool needs more size down the middle (which it does), he could be an option.