Is Lindstrom going to be available at #5? If so Calgary may accept

Lose kuzmenko and I'd do it, Montreal probably wouldn't in that case though.

I'm gonna say it's about a 50% chance right now

This is an easy pass for the Habs. You get cap space with no guarantee of what it will be used on, no team takes that chance unless they absolutely know they have to clear space, Habs don't need to clear cap space, so like I said, easy no

No other reason to move up to #5 IMO. We're pretty much guaranteed one of Iginla, Dickinson, or Catton at #9 already.

I agree, I'm perfectly fine picking at 9, if Iginla isn't there it means one of the top defensemen are falling to us.

That's the only way Calgary even considers it.

Yakemchuk before Catton.

You can keep saying that and I am never going to agree with you

I think Conroy will agree. The plan is to get bigger too not just younger.

That doesn't matter to me. I'm not debating this with you again

I've gotta agree with Ledge_And_Dairy on this one. You're always saying we have too many under sized forwards already and other then pelletier I don't have a clue who you're talking about. Maybe Zarys a little light.

Pelletier, Coronato, Mangi, most of the higher end prospects drafted under Treliving. Conroy has repeatedly said the team needs to get younger and bigger and he's shown he means it by drafting and trading for bigger players.

Sure you can keep drafting all these little guys based on who put up the most points in junior and be like the Sabres... The pundits keep ranking your prospect system the best in the league but you still can't even make the playoffs after years and years of rebuilding.

Size does matter as do intangibles like grit, competitiveness, physicality, being a team player instead of a me first prima donna focused on personal stats instead of on the team winning games. You can have lots of skill but if you don't have size, grit, etc too (not just in the bottom 6 / on the bottom pair either) you'll get intimidated, pushed around and never go very far in the playoffs.

...

Coronato and Mangiapane may be a little shorter then the average NHLer, but they're both built like brick **** houses. They both come in around 185 pounds, yakemchuk is 6'3 and only 8 pounds heavier. The difference with buffalo is all their pospects are 5'9-5'11 and weigh 160 pounds

Yakemchuk is 18 years old, 3 years younger than Coronato and 10 years younger than Mangiapane neither of which weighed near 180 lbs when they were drafted. Yakemchuk has plenty of time to fill out just like those two did. The difference is when he's in his 20's he'll almost certainly be well over 200 lbs.

Yak isn't just another offensive defenseman who put up a lot of points either. He plays a physical game too and physicality is something the Flames D is lacking right now. Weegar is the most physical defenseman we have besides Gilbert but he's more of a spare part / depth player whose best attribute is he can fight.

IOW Yak is exactly the type of defenseman the Flames need. The fact that he's a right shot makes him even more valuable.

Actually mangiapane has lost 1 pound since he's been drafted and coronato has put on 1. Mangiapane showed a lot of grit but it has kind of disappeared the last few seasons, and coronato was showing a lot towards the end of the season. I agree we don't want a team like the Sabres, but mixing a few smaller skilled guys in wont hurt. I agree as I've noted the average size of the players Conroy has brought in is just under 6'2, but he also added a few smaller skilled guys.