if it ain't broke, don't fix it. nice dub, CGY

Ok so its pretty obvious that Calgary went on that small win streak after the Sutter hiring then the hype faded. I wonder if this new look they are showing is just Sutter fully implementing his system. God this team is such a tease, I had finally started to accept the lottery pick spot and was looking at who we may take at 5-8.

Anyways really happy with the performance of the new lines and pairings overall. That 1 goal against tonight was a poor line change decision by Andersson but that also means they never put us under any sustained pressure.

Before the season started I had said they probably swap to Hanifin - Andersson as the top pair before season end so that we can stop relying on Gio so heabily and let the young guys take over. I think doing so has really made our blue line more consistent. Hanifin hasn't lost a step with his new partner (now 10 points in 18 games since Ward was fired) and the Tanev has covered for Gio's regression very well. I think by next year it may be a good idea to put Valimaki with Tanev (Hughes treatment) and reduce Gio's EV minutes on the 3rd pair, afaik Boston did this with Chara as well.

I agree with everything you said here. I honestly think it's better for our long term outlook to not make the playoffs this year though, I'd rather pick in the top 10 and hope an impact forward prospect is available. Unless we trade our 1st in a package for eichel lol

Devils will have a top-10 pick.
If we could add an asset by swapping with team in mid-teens, could be our best move.
Assuming we end up around #7.
(And Power, Hughes, Edvinsson off board)

I don’t specifically know what the devils needs are (I would assume more D, doesn’t look like there’s much high end talent in your prospect pool outside Smith?) so staying in the top 10 and taking Lambos or Edvinsson might be a good move. You’d also get first crack at the field if you want a winger (maybe you’re lucky and snag Johnson, if not you could likely get a guy like Lysell). I think that trading down in this draft might be a good strategy in other years, but with how little some guys have played I think the safest spots to pick are top 10, and then literally anything after 25, the middle area is more likely to be disappointing than most years, and actually making a good pick likely won’t even seem like a steal, it would just be breaking even. The top 10 seems pretty safe though, and of course by 25 you’re more likely to miss than hit anyway.

Biggest needs are on Defense. Specifically, a defensive top-4 LHD and RHD depth. Ty Smith and Severson are top-4 quality. LHD pipeline are mostly a bunch of wild cards. The hope is one or two of Mukmahadullin, Bahl, Okhotyuk, Misyul and Siegenthaler take a step up, but no sure-fire bets there. Okhotyuk probably gets first look, but is mostly just hard-hitting physical type. Bahl has size, skill, skating but many holes in his game. Muk, who knows. On right side, Reilly Walsh looks to be viable option offensively and Case McCarthy as shut-down d-man. None look to be top-pair types.

Our forward groups looks to be in better shape. A top-9 seems to be forming with Hughes, Hischier, Zacha, Bratt, Holtz, Foote, Mercer, Sharangovich and Kuokkanen. Some upside with Gritsyuk, Thompson and Boqvist. Some decent bottom-6 bigs with Bastian, McLeod, Wood, Maltsev, Pytlik.

I like Power, Hughes and Edvinsson and see a sizable drop-off to next tier with Cuelemans, Clarke, Lambos, etc. And there are a few forwards worth taking there.

If I was picking in top-10, I would keep that pick for:

Beniers
Edvinsson
Power
Hughes
Guenther
Lucius

If all those guys were gone, I’d trade back. All these guys are in similar tier for me:

Sillinger
Raty
Coronato
Eklund
Cuelemans
Lysell

I did a 7-round mock draft: https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/441023?post_id=2270414 If you want too see whole list.