'Have A Choice To Make'

LAS VEGAS – They’re not playing with house money.

But with a hand like this, the Flames know precisely what's at stake at the NHL Draft this weekend.

“Obviously, at 9 and 28 ... When you have first-round picks, that's really good for the fans and the media,” Flames Director of Amateur Scouting Tod Button said following Wednesday’s meetings. “But for us, it's about all the picks – and you want to make the picks count.

“This gives us options.

“It gives us options to try and move up if we see a guy falling that we really like. It (also) gives us options to move down, which is probably not as likely based on having so many picks. But it's options. And it's putting more prospects in the pipeline and taking some chances and risk where sometimes you feel like you shouldn’t if you have less picks.”

‘Chances.’

‘Risk.’

But in the process, doing it smartly and steering clear of the unmistakable Gambler’s Fallacy this town is built upon.

Indeed, it's an ace in the hole.

Button and the Flames enter this year’s sweepstakes with a total of nine picks, including eight in the first four rounds. For an organization re-inventing itself by putting a premium on youth, it’s a luxury the team’s amateur scouts haven’t had in nearly a decade. This has led to some passionate discourse inside the team’s war room as an “engaged” group of hockey minds "fight for their guy."

And this year, they have every reason to.

Outside of the consensus No.-1 pick in Macklin Celebrini, the Top 10 (and beyond) is wildly variable, with elite talent at almost every position staring everyone in the face.

“I think we're going to have a choice to make,” Button said. “All along, we've thought that there are more players we like for the possibility at 9 than we didn't like.

“So, that makes 9 a choice.

“That's the bottom line, that we've sorted out over the last two months with all the extra work that we've done. We feel good about that now. We know we're going to get two guys with our first two picks – unless we move – out of a certain number of players and we're excited about that part. (But) the variance in the availability of players and player types makes it hard.”

Now, we’re on the home stretch, with the finishing touches of the Flames draft list being put together as this is written.

But Button brings up a good point:

Will the Flames, indeed, have all nine tries by the time Friday (or Saturday) rolls around?

Checking in with GM Craig Conroy, it’s clear the bees have escaped the hive after a drawn-out Stanley Cup schedule forced many clubs to delay the start of their off-season business. And for whatever reason now – maybe it’s the $4.2 million increase in next season’s salary cap – there’s a strong sense that business is about to pick up, league wide.

“The one thing it does – I get lots of calls when I’m here,” he said of having nine picks. “(You have) the opportunity to move.”

“It's a little different from last year's draft when it felt like everybody was going to kind of make their picks. But this year, it feels like when you're calling around, teams are open to move up and down. It will be a fun draft. The phone will be ringing and this is when it's real fun. The pressure's on and you're making picks ... It's kind of like playing again.”

Now, does an extra couple of phone calls guarantee that Conroy will be active – perhaps, even, swinging for the fences – in trying to leverage his bountiful draft capital?

Only he can answer that.

But the reality is, with so many good players at the top end of the draft, you have to be prepared. After all, these are foundational pieces coming at a critical time for the franchise.

For Conroy, Button, and the entirety of the Flames staff hunkered down on The Strip this week, they don’t take that responsibility lightly.

“We know how important … not just this draft; really, the next three drafts are to setting the franchise up,” Conroy said.

“This is the first one.

“We know what we got last year. We got some good, young prospects in last year's draft and what we have in the pipeline. But we have two picks in each of the first four rounds and (one) in the sixth. … I know everyone talks about the first-round picks, but we really focus on how every pick is important.

“With the salary cap, you have to (build your team through the draft). It's the only time you maybe have them for a little less money. It seems like after the entry level (deal), the contracts have grown and guys are getting locked into eight-year deals at big money. You kind of have to bring in the young guys and implement them into your lineup.

“And then, it then allows you to go get some free agents, and make some moves and make some trades.”