SBN Mock Draft – Flames pick Landon Ferraro

It came down to Carter Ashton and Landon Ferraro in the reader poll, so I made a judgment call: Ferraro, although smaller, outscored Ashton by 7 goals and 5 points, even though he played on a vastly inferior team. The Lethbridge Hurricanes managed 227 goals for during the regular season, while the Rebels garnered a second-in-the-league worst 172. In terms of percentage of total team offense, Ferraro accounted for 32% of those 172 goals while Ashton was a more modest contributor to his club’s attack (22%).

The only statistical area in which Ashton was superior was plus/minus – but that probably had more to do with cirucumstances than anything else. The Hurricanes were one goal under water in terms of goal differential last season. The Rebels, in contrast, were -78 (!). In fact, most of Ferraro's scouting reports claim he is defensively responsible, suggesting his number is a result of being on the ice a lot for a bad team (own zone draws, empty net goals against, etc.). Of course, this was all simplified by the fact that Ashton went to the Rangers @ 19 anyways. 

As in any draft, some good players were left on the table. Calvin De Haan, Simon Despres, John Moore, Chad Morin, Jacob Josefon, Stefan Elliot as well as Peter Holland. However, should the Flames mirror this pick on Friday, I don’t think I’d be disappointed.

by Kent Wilson