Potential Bottom-Six/Bottom-Pairing Player in the NHL
Axel Hurtig, Trevor Hoskin, Max Curran, Egor Barabanov, Jonathan Castagna, Mace'o Phillips
While all teams are looking for stars in the draft, being able to find reliable players in the bottom half of their lineup is crucial as well, and over the past three years, Craig Conroy has seemingly figured that out too, whether it be via the draft or trade.
In this category, there are some players that have upside and could be more than that (Castagna, Curran, Barabanov), but in Phillips and Hurtig especially, the team have some physical threats that would thrive in a third pairing role. In the other players on this list, the Flames have good prospects with upside, and in the end, they may be used to acquire other pieces as part of larger deals, because when a prospect pool becomes so loaded, the outcome is either a small role on a team or being used as an asset.
Ultimately, this is the toughest group of players to predict in the Flames organization, and while most fans would be happy to see more than one of these players play significant time in the NHL, there's always one player that comes out of nowhere to become a significant contributor.
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