As the 2023 NHL Draft approaches, the Flames are in dire need to nail their picks in this year’s draft. Poor drafting and being in win-now mode has made the team’s prospect pool look both old and thin, and the team needs to make a splash this year.
Over the past decade and a bit, the Flames have gone through some drafts that have been massive successes, while others have been complete write-offs. We have ranked every Flames draft from worst to best, looking at both how many picks they made and how much production came out of it. Let’s dive into it.
13: 2018 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
While the Flames are not completely done with the players from this draft, it is quickly going down as one of the worst drafts in franchise history. The team had five selections in the draft, but are not expected to get even a single NHLer out of it. The only players in the organization still are the oft-injured Martin Pospisil and small skilled forward Emilio Pettersen. While Pettersen took a step forward this year, he still has not hit a point-per-game yet and now going into his D+6 season, the odds of him becoming an NHLer are very small.
If this holds, it will be the only draft that the Flames have gotten zero NHL players from. The only factor keeping this from being the worst ever draft is that the first selection was in the fourth round. Still, not to even get a single game played from a draft class is a huge detriment to the team’s prospect pipeline.
12: 2014 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | 546 | 1 |
This draft huts a lot. While this was the first draft that Brad Treliving presided over, he took over just days before the draft, with Brian Burke’s fingerprints are all over this one.
The Flames had the highest pick in organizational history, and took the best player available in Sam Bennett. Unfortunately, as we all know, he simply did not pan out in Calgary, turning into a fourth line player in his time with the team. The Flames ended up trading him and a sixth round pick to Florida for a second and prospect Emil Heineman, who was traded to Montreal as part of the Tyler Toffoli trade.
The rest of the draft was a tire fire, with the team opting for large players over skilled players. None of the remaining players from that draft played in the NHL. A waste.
11: 2022 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Flames had three picks in this draft and it’s already looking suspect. Topi Ronni in Finland has looked decent not great as of yet, but still has some ways to go before we have a better idea of what he is.
Parker Bell looks decent in the WHL, but still has a ton of room to grow before he can even be considered as an NHLer.
Finally, Cade Littler is still very raw, joining the NCAA next season as a rookie after finishing this year in the BCHL. Some opportunity for this draft to look better, but even if all three become NHLers, their ceiling’s are low.
10: 2013 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 3 | 727 | 4 |
This was probably the toughest draft to rank because this was expected to be a franchise-altering draft and aside from Sean Monahan, it simply was not. Going into the draft, the Flames had three first round selections, but absolutely missed on their second and third pick. Combined, Emile Poirier and Morgan Klimchuk played nine NHL games, but Monahan developed into the team’s top centre. Were it not for injuries, he likely would be one of the Flames’ best players in recent memory.
The Flames’ seventh round pick John Gilmour also got into a handful of NHL games, but beyond him there wasn’t much of anything to report.
This draft deserves the tenth spot simply because of the inexcusability of missing on two first round picks. This set the organization back irrevocably in their rebuild following the Jarome Iginla era, and aside from hitting Monahan, they should have done so much better.
9: 2010 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | 366 | 5 |
This draft was again a weird one. They got NHL games out of five of their six picks, but aside from Micheal Ferland, they got a combined 31 games. The difference between this draft and the aforementioned 2013 draft is that the Flames’ first pick was in the third round. However, getting Ferland, who in his time was a top forward for the Flames, was an excellent find, and the way that the Flames were able to use him to acquire Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin was even better.
8: 2017 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 235 | 2 |
Similar to the 2014 draft, the Flames got a great player at the time in Juuso Valimaki, and while there were flashes of brilliance, he simply did not pan out as an NHL defender in Calgary. The Flames would go on to lose him on waivers to the Arizona Coyotes, where he would go on to look like a top defenceman.
The difference was that the Flames also got Adam Ruzicka, who is starting to look like an NHLer. The Slovak forward is now up to 75 games played.
The rest of that draft class is a write off.
8: 2012 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | 775 | 4 |
This draft will live in infamy as the draft in which the Flames went off the board to take Mark Jankowski with their first round selection. As is a theme in the Flames’ drafts, he really was not very good in his time with the team, turning mostly into a depth forward in his time in Calgary. He has bounced between the AHL and NHL since, with little of note since.
The team also found Brett Kulak in the fourth round, who was a very good depth defenceman in his time. He has played in 416 NHL games in his career.
The Flames also drafted “goalie of the future” Jon Gillies, who has bounced around the pro hockey circuit, but played three NHL games last season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Not bad.
7: 2021 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
This draft is one that looks exactly average, but probably could have looked a whole heck of a lot better. The team nailed their first round pick in Matt Coronato, who looks like he’ll be an NHLer next season. They also have Arseni Sergeev in the NCAA who looks very good right now as the goalie for UConn.
They also signed second round pick William Stromgren and sixth round pick Lucas Ciona to entry-level deals, but both are low-ceiling prospects at this point.
The hard part about this was the bad injury luck to Jack Beck and Cole Jordan, both of whom probably could’ve earned ELCs had they been healthier. That being said, if Coronato becomes an elite forward for this team and any of the other three develop into NHLers, this could be a very good draft for the Flames.
5: 2020 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The Flames made eight selections in this draft, after trading down in the first round to select Connor Zary. From this draft, the Flames have Zary and Jeremie Poirier who both look like NHLers down the line. Poirier is easily the best defense prospect in the organization and could be in the NHL as early as this coming season. Zary also likely projects to be an NHLer, but probably as a middle-six centre.
Then there are Ilya Solovyov and Yan Kuznetsov, both of whom look like depth defencemen but could develop into more. There is also a small chance Daniil Chechelev and Rory Kerins develop into players, but likely as depth players. Even if one of those four becomes an NHLer, having both Zary and Poirier coming out of this draft was a huge find for this team. Probably one of the better drafts in recent memory.
4: 2019 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 25 | 2 |
The 2019 draft will go down as the best draft in the last five years. While they likely missed on their three middle picks of Ilya Nikolayev, Lucas Feuk, and Josh Nodler, they absolutely hit it out of the park on Jakob Pelletier and Dustin Wolf. Pelletier looks like second line winger at this point with huge offensive upside, while Wolf looks like the real deal netminder for this team’s future.
To get not just two NHLers but two high impact players in a draft out of five is an enormous win.
3: 2011 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 1456 | 5 |
The 2011 draft is historic in Flames history as the only time the team has gotten NHL games from all the players they drafted in one class. The reason why this draft is not number one is that four of the five picks developed into at best middling NHLers. Their first two picks, Sven Baertschi and Markus Granlund, both were fine in their time with the team, playing mostly depth roles but never living up to their promise of being middle to top NHL players.
Then there was Tyler Wotherspoon who played just 30 NHL games. Laurent Brossoit develop quietly into a reliable backup netminder for years, but has been in the AHL of late. He did not play for the Flames in his NHL career.
Finally, the Flames picked up Johnny Gaudreau in the fourth round this year, who developed into a franchise player for the team until the end of last season. He is the first player drafted by the Flames to be above a point-per-game since 1987 (minimum 10 games played).
2: 2016 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | 1080 | 4 |
This draft was one of the Flames’ best in recent memory. Not only did they manage to get Matthew Tkachuk at 6th after the Vancouver Canucks fumbled the bag by taking Olli Juolevi, but they also drafted Dillon Dube and Matthew Phillips in this one. The hardest part of this draft was that the Flames took Adam Fox in the third round, but he opted to not sign with the Flames, and is now a perrenial Norris Trophy candidate for the Rangers.
The only notable miss from this draft was Tyler Parsons, whose off-ice struggles hurt his ability to play high-level hockey. Hopefully he’s doing ok.
Still, to get three NHLers and Matthew Phillips in this draft is tidy business by the Flames’ scouting staff.
1: 2015 NHL Draft
| Picks made | First round picks | Total NHL games played | Players with NHL games played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0 | 887 | 3 |
By far the best Flames’ draft in recent memory. The team did not have a first round pick, but sprinkled some pixie dust and drafted three impact NHLers this year. They picked Rasmus Andersson, now a top-pairing blueliner and potential captain for the team, in the second round.
They then got Oliver Kylington, who was projected to go in the first round, in the second round, and he has also turned into a very good second pairing offensive defenceman in the NHL.
Finally, with their sixth round pick, the Flames selected Andrew Mangiapane, who has developed into a gritty two-way winger who loves to score goals.
Not only have all three become NHLers, but they have all spent their whole careers so far with the Flames. This is more than you can say about any draft since 2010. The team may have missed on Pavel Karnaukhov and Riley Bruce, but to get this type of production from 60% of a draft class is incredible value.
What could 2023 look like?
The Flames desperately need to hit it out of the park in this year’s draft. With five selections in the draft right now, the team needs to have a 2015-esque draft under GM Craig Conroy to restock their cupboards. The good news is that this is expected to be a very deep draft and there should be lots of value to be had beyond the first round. Fingers crossed they can pull it off.
