Calgary Flames 2000 Draft Remix Comments
By Cait Platt
Yesterday, SportsNet ran an article on the 2000 Entry Draft, re-drafting players and how they turned out. Back in 2000, the New York Islanders picked Rick DiPietro first overall and have probably regretted that since day one. Calgary Flames picked 9th that year and went with goalie Brent Krahn. Krahn never played a game for the Flames and is currently unsigned with a team. Krahn bounced between the WHL, ECHL, AHL, and played in one NHL game for the Dallas Stars back in 2008-2009. For 20 minutes. And gave up 3 goals.
Not exactly the best choice for the Calgary Flames. According to SportsNet, the Flames should have picked defenseman Paul Martin, who was drafted by the New Jersey Devils and is currently with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their reasoning?
"An all-around defenceman with the name of a former Canadian Prime Minister, Martin has averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time per game in each of his eight seasons in the NHL, and at least 23 in six of his past seven."
While I can’t comment on how the Prime Minister Martin did during his term, Martin is clearly a much better choice for the Flames than Krahn. There’s no crystal ball for the draft, but other players the Flames could have picked up?
- Brooks Orpik
- Niklas Kronwall
- Ilya Bryzgalov
- Dominic Moore
- Lubomir Visnovsky
- John-Michael Liles
- Henrik Lundqvist
- Paul Gaustad
Not a bad mix of players to come out of that draft. And yet the Flames manage to miss out on all of them. As David Church points out, the Flames are terrible when it comes to picking out goalies during drafts. Please, do not draft a goalie this year, Flames. Leave that to someone else. Maybe a nice defenseman instead?
Hindsight is 20/20, for every miss opportunity, there’s going to be a success when it comes to drafting. The Flames are long over due for some success. Drafting 14th this year, the Calgary Flames have a chance to change up their luck.
Throughout the next few days, I’ll be revisiting the different draft years to see who the Flames picked in the first round and who was passed up.
Go Flames Go