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The Calgary Flames entered the 2015 NHL draft with nine draft picks at their disposal but when all was said and done they only drafted five players.
The reason for that, of course, was that they traded three draft picks - including 15th overall - for a rising star in Dougie Hamilton.
They made another trade on Saturday packaging a couple of those picks to move up and select defenseman Oliver Kylington.
While the Flames made just five picks - their first of which came 54th overall - they came away with some high-end talent and should be extremely pleased with what they were able to accomplish.
Some thoughts on each pick:
53rd overall: D Rasmus Andersson (Barrie, OHL)
Having scouted Andersson many of times in my own backyard I'm extremely familiar with his game and think he'll provide the Flames excellent value at 53rd overall.
Andersson is a smart puck-moving defenseman who always has his head up and is extremely accurate with his outlet passes. He has told me he takes pride in hitting tape and he certainly does it often. He's an excellent power play QB and can beat you with both his passing and his shot. His slap shot is pretty hard, as is his wrist shot, and he almost always gets puck through to the net. He's very good at shooting for deflections, too.
His skating looks a little choppy but he gets around the ice well and regularly jumps into the play without struggling to get back.
His defensive game has grown a lot and he started playing with more of an edge as the season went on.
One knock on Andersson is a high body-fat percentage and some have questioned his conditioning level, however, Andersson regularly played 25 minutes a night for one of the best teams in the OHL and averaged almost a point per game - 64 in 67 - in the process so I think that may be overblown.
I'm extremely high on Andersson - I wouldn't have had a problem taking him in the 1st round - and think he will turn into a very good defenseman a few years down the road.
60th overall: D Oliver Kylington (Farjestad)
After coupling some picks together in order to move up the Flames elected to go with another Swedish defenseman who has high potential in Oliver Kylington.
At times he forces plays that aren't there and there have been some questions about his off-ice work ethic, which likely factored into why he fell so far.
Still, he's undoubtedly a 1st round talent and was certainly worth taking a shot on at this point in the draft.
Kylington is an elite skater who uses his fluid stride to get up and down the ice in a hurry. He's an excellent passer and he has no problems skating the puck up ice if no passing lanes are available to him. He's creative and, like Andersson, he can quarterback a power play.
He's far from a finished product but the upside here is big.
136th overall: LW Pavel Karnaukhov (Calgary, WHL)
After waiting it out for a few rounds the Flames selected someone from their own backyard in Russian winger Pavel Karnaukhov.
Karnaukhov is a big bodied winger (6'3' 195 pounds) who scored 20 goals and recorded 42 points in 69 games with the Calgary Hitmen last season. He also tallied 11 points in 17 playoff games.
Admittedly I don't know much about him so I'll defer to WHL scout Cody Nickolet for a little more info.
166th overall: W Andrew Mangiapane (Barrie, OHL)
After selecting Russian forward Pavel Karnaukhov the Flames scooped up one of my favorite sleepers in forward Andrew Mangiapane.
Mangiapane recorded 104 points in 68 games with the Barrie Colts this past season while playing a pivotal role on one of the OHL's best teams.
Mangiapane played big minutes in all situations - top power play, penalty kill, etc. - and made things happen almost every time he hit the ice.
He's a little undersized at 5'10' but he plays much bigger than his size as he's relentless on the puck and isn't afraid to lay the body or go to the net.
He possesses a good shot, is a very good passer and sees the ice extremely well. He's very smart and always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
I thought Mangiapane should have been chosen last year - he recorded 51 points while playing in the middle-6 - and was very happy to see him given a chance this year.
196th overall: D Riley Bruce (North Bay, OHL)
The Flames concluded their draft by selecting a huge defenseman in Riley Bruce.
He gets around the ice fairly well for a 6'6' player and does have a good shot but he's extremely raw. There are some tools in the tool box but he's still figuring out how to use them and is definitely a project pick.
He should get more minutes next season on a North Bay team in transition, which should provide him ample opportunity to develop his game and take the next step forward.
I'm personally not very high on him but it can't hurt to take a shot on a 6'6' blue liner who can skate at this point of the draft.
**
Overall I thought the Flames had an excellent draft. Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington are both 1st round talents, in my opinion, and I think Andrew Mangiapane was an excellent sleeper pick late in the draft.
Time will tell if that's the case but the Flames have to be happy with who they were able to get despite trading a plethora of picks for Dougie Hamilton.
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