Predicting Darryl Sutter moves on draft day is a fool's errand at best. The only clues available are his disingenuous quotes in the local papers. Sutter's recent claims to the Calgary press that he will NOT bet trading the Flames first round, 18th overall pick almost completely guarantees that that is actually exactly what he has in mind.
For those unaware, the Flames only own 5 selections in this year's draft and only one of them is in the first 4 rounds (18th). The rest of the picks include:
5th round (139th overall)
5th round (147th overall) - from NJ
6th round (155th overall) - from WAS
6th round (169th overall)
Not the most impressive collection of future considerations. I think the only certainty for Calgary fans heading into tomorrow is Sutter will make a deal or two in order to close the gap between those 1st round and 5th round selections. Calgary doesn't have a lot of expendable parts outside of Warrener and Zyuzin, neither of which will land you much (if anything), meaning Sutter may have to be swapping picks for picks - say Calgary's first round selection for a 2nd and 3rd from some club replete with picks. St. Louis Blues perhaps? Washington? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
As for the actual player part of the whole draft thing, in general I think the Flames will target big wingers and defencemen. The organization is decently stocked with goalies and centers and is particularly weak on the RW.
The Herald has a nice little prospect preview in the sports section today. Assuming, for the sake of argument Calgary actually keeps it's first rounder, some of the kids listed in the linked piece to keep in mind include:
Thomas Hickey (D), Alex Plante (D), Bill Sweatt (LW), Akim Aliu (W) and Tommy Cross (D). Also, Brandon Sutter is projected by some to go in the mid-to-late first round, meaning there's a possibility he could be a Flame by the end of the day. If Calgary does manage to acquire a few more mid-round selections, Maxime Tanguay (projected to go in the 2nd or 3rd round), little brother of Alex, is another familial connection that could be realized. Tanguay the elder has already gone on record to say he would be thrilled if the Flames picked his younger sibling:
"It'd be kind of a dream for me to play with him in the NHL, how Scott and Rob Niedermayer were able to do," he said. "Playing together with your brother, I don't think it can be any more fun, having a family member."
Uniting brothers on a team is a rare and valuable kind of leverage. Calgary has a burgeoning superstar on their hands in Alex Tanguay, meaning they may want to select Maxime simply for the sake of motivating Alex to stick around once his current contract expires.
Course, in the end, I'm more than certain that the Flames won't have a 1st round pick and/or will be making "off the board" selections throughout the proceedings anyways, as is Sutter's penchant.
The real fun will be had watching the twists and turns of the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow evening. The Oil have 3 first round selections, including the 6th overall, and a desperate GM who is in "salvage my position with the company" mode. Edmonton needs NHL caliber players at almost every position (but particularly on the blueline) RIGHT NOW, and I think Lowe could be motivated to move more than one of his picks for immediate help. Rumors have had guys like Redden and Pitkanen being targeted by Lowe, although whether or not Edmonton has enough assets to land either of those guys is a debate. The conundrum facing the Oilers is their need to add difference makers while retaining all of their current quality players as well. Horcoff, Stoll, Hemsky, Staios, Smith, Pisani and Roloson are the core of the team but also the most attractive trade pieces for other squads. So while Edmonton has a pocket full of futures hey can use to deal with, any talk of roster players in return might just scuttle any potential trade talk. Heh. Sucks to be an Oilers fan these days.
