This series features players the Calgary Flames drafted and—regrettably—moved on from too soon. Be prepared for pain, frustration, and anger as we delve into what could have been! Up next is the ninth player on our list, Robert Svehla. Truthfully, I did not even know he was part of the Flames organization at any point in his career.
The series will consist of 10 players and five honourable mentions. The criteria for the players selected for this list were that they had a career of at least 500 NHL games, the Flames moved on from the players in their mid-20s, and the players had a noteworthy career after leaving Calgary.
Why does Svehla make the list?
Svehla was a right-shot defenceman out of Martin, Czechoslovakia. If this sentence alone doesn’t date him, let me point out that Czechia has since seen not one but two name changes. The Flames drafted a 23-year-old Svehla in the fourth round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 78th overall.
Svehla was best known as a smooth-skating offensive defenceman. He scored 16 goals and 31 points in the Czech league in 1991–92 before being drafted by the Flames. Unfortunately, Svehla’s entire NHL career was played outside of Calgary. He chose not to sign with the Flames and instead played two seasons for Malmo IF of the SEL before being traded to—who else but—the Florida Panthers on September 29, 1994, along with Magnus Svensson.
Svehla played one more season in the SEL, scoring 11 goals and 24 points in 32 games in 1994–95, before coming to the NHL. He finished that season with a handful of games for the Panthers, scoring a goal and two points. He played 573 games for the Panthers spanning eight seasons before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs following the 2001–02 season. Overall, he scored 61 goals and 290 points in a Panthers uniform, good for 0.50 points per game.
At one point, Svehla held many of the Panthers’ records for goals and points by a defenceman. Some of these records have been eclipsed in recent years. On January 19, 2019, Aaron Ekblad surpassed Svehla to become the franchise leader in goals scored by a Panthers defenceman:
Keith Yandle’s 62 points in 2018–19 overtook Svehla’s franchise record for most points in a single season by a Panthers defenceman:
More recently—on March 4, 2021—Ekblad surpassed Svehla’s franchise record of most power play goals by a Panthers defenceman:
After being traded by the Panthers on July 8, 2002, Svehla played one full season for the Leafs, scoring seven goals and 45 points in 82 games in 2002–03. This season marks his last, as he announced his retirement in September 2003 at age 34.
What did the Flames have to show for Svehla?
As I mentioned, the Flames packaged Svehla with Magnus Svensson to the Panthers. They received a third-round pick in 1996—used to select winger Dmitri Vlasenkov 73rd overall—and a fourth-round pick in 1997—used to select Ryan Ready 100th overall.
Vlasenkov played one season in North America for the IHL’s Orlando Solar Bears. Otherwise, he spent his entire career in Russia’s top league, the Russian Superleague from 1995–96 to 2007–08, and the Kontinental Hockey League from 2008–09 to 2011–12.
Ready was out of the Flames organization almost as quickly as he joined it, as he didn’t sign a contract with the team. He instead signed with the Vancouver Canucks as a 20-year-old free agent on June 16, 1999. He spent most of his career in the AHL before finally getting a seven-game look in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers at age 27. Ready closed out his career playing five seasons overseas in the DEL.
Summarizing how costly the Flames’ mistake was
The Flames’ addition of Svehla only cost them a fourth-round pick. They traded him with Svensson—whom they selected in the 12th round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft—for a third-round and fourth-round pick. This alone is very good value. We must also consider that Svehla forced the Flames’ hand. He didn’t want to sign in Calgary before being traded to Florida… does that sound familiar?
Having the benefit of hindsight, we can look back on a career that saw Svehla miss just six games over eight years. He was a reliable defenceman, averaging over 25 minutes a night on ice for the Panthers over the five seasons in which ice time was tracked. Twice, he received top-15 votes to the NHL All-Star Team. He finished 14th in Norris Trophy voting in both of those years. In his lone season in Toronto, Svehla averaged 23:44 TOI and finished 18th in NHL All-Star Team voting.
The Flames turned good asset management into a major blunder by drafting a pair of players who would combine for seven games played in the NHL, none of which were for Calgary. It is incredibly disappointing that the Flames have nothing to show for a player with such an impressive resumé. At the time of the trade, I would not classify the Flames’ handling of Svehla as a costly mistake. With hindsight, though, it’s easy to say they either didn’t get a good enough return or they didn’t manage the return they did get well enough.
Do you agree with our assessment of the Flames’ handling of Svehla? Let us know your thoughts!
Check out all of The Win Column’s posts from this series:
Main list: #10 Jonas Hoglund | #9 Robert Svehla | #8 Travis Moen | #7 Steve Begin | #6 Sam Bennett | #5 Dion Phaneuf | #4 Derek Morris | #3 Jarret Stoll | #2 Craig Anderson | #1 Cory Stillman
Honourable mentions: #5 Michael Nylander | #4 Jean-Sebastien Giguere | #3 Sean Monahan | #2 Marc Savard | #1 Martin St. Louis
