The BEARD Hockey Dispersal Draft experience was everything the Calgary Flames expected it to be - and then some.
Calgary Flames GM Theo Pepper put in some long hours prepping for and then drafting his team for the inaugural season of BEARD Hockey.
With the #2 overall pick, he said NO to many offers of trading it. Pepper wanted to start the season with a top young player for his franchise. In the end, there were no surprises - Leon Draisaitl was available at #2.
Calgary came into the Dispersal Draft with a plan. That plan was not to sacrifice the future for immediate gratification. As nice as it would have been to select talented veterans round after round, Pepper instead drafted talented youngsters, rookies, and prospects.
The idea was to set up the team for many seasons to come. Calgary might not win this year, but watch out for them after that.
Adding Kirill Kaprizov from the prospect package selected was the only rule that Theo made for the draft. Widely regarded as the best young player ready to step into the pros, Pepper decided he had to grab the Kaprizov package. And grab it he did!
The rest was about getting a good mix of young players that can start now, and prospects that will fill in as the seasons move on.
Looking forward to it!
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