Folks, it’s really looking like the Calgary Flames might not make the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. So as we wait to see how the final 11 games play out, we thought we’d turn our eye towards the future and the 2021 NHL Draft.

This draft is a bit of chaos for various reasons, primarily because a pandemic has made scouting a big challenge.

In keeping with tradition, we’ve looked to the scouting community for a snapshot of how the draft class looks and what prospects the Flames may select based on where they are in the standings.

The rankings included

We’ve chosen to aggregate eight major rankings into one consolidated consensus ranking. The eight rankings are:

Elite Prospects
Sam Cosentino (Sportsnet)
Bob McKenzie (TSN)
Scott Wheeler (The Athletic)
Hockey Prospect
FC Hockey
McKeen’s
Corey Pronman (The Athletic)

We’ve used the most recent publicly-available rankings from each entity.

The projected top 32

Rank	Player	Pos.	2020-21 Team(s)
1	Owen Power	LD	University of Michigan (NCAA)
2	Matthew Beniers	C	University of Michigan (NCAA) United States (World Juniors)
3	Luke Hughes	LD	U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
4	Dylan Guenther	RW	Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL) Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
5	Brandt Clarke	LD	HC Nove Zamky (Slovakia) [on loan] Barrie Colts (OHL) [loaned]
6	Kent Johnson	C	University of Michigan (NCAA)
7	William Eklund	C	Djurgardens IF (SHL)
8	Simon Edvinsson	LD	Frolunda HC (SHL/J20 Nationell) Vasteras VK (HockeyAllsvenskan)
9	Jesper Wallstedt	G	Lulea HF (SHL/J20 Nationell) Sweden (World Juniors)
10	Fabian Lysell	RW	Frolunda HC (J20 Nationell) Lulea HF (SHL)
11	Chaz Lucius	C	U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
12	Cole Sillinger	C	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
13	Mason McTavish	C	EHC Olten (Swiss League) [on loan] EV Zug (National League) [on loan] Peterborough Petes (OHL) [loaned]
14	Aatu Raty	C	Karpat (SM-Liiga/U20 SM-sarja)
15	Carson Lambos	LD	JYP (SM-Liiga/U20 SM-sarja/U18 SM-sarja) Winnipeg Ice (WHL)
16	Oskar Olausson	LW	HV71 (SHL/U20 Nationell) Sodertalje SK (HockeyAllsvenskan) Sweden (World Juniors)
17	Corson Ceulemans	RD	Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
18	Zachary Bolduc	C	Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
19	Brennan Othmann	LW	EHC Olten (Swiss League) [on loan] SC Bern (National League) [on loan] Flint Firebirds (OHL) [loaned]
20	Zachary L’Heureux	C	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
21	Simon Robertsson	RW	Skelleftea AIK (SHL/J20 Nationell) Pitea HC (HockeyEttan)
22	Matthew Coronato	LW	Chicago Steel (USHL)
23	Nikita Chibrikov	RW	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) SKA-Neva St. Petersburg (VHL) SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (MHL)
24	Sebastian Cossa	G	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
25	Isak Rosen	LW	Leksands IF (SHL/J20 Nationell/J18 Region)
26	Scott Morrow	RD	Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep (USHS)
27	Xavier Bourgault	C	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
28	Fyodor Svechkov	LW	Lada Togliatti (MHL/VHL)
29	Sasha Pastujov	LW	U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
30	Francesco Pinelli	C	HDD Jesenice (AlpsHL/Slovenia) [on loan] Kitchener Rangers (OHL) [loaned]
31	Zach Dean	C	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
32	Daniil Chayka	LD	CSKA Moscow (KHL) Zvezda Moscow (VHL) Krasnaya Armiya Moscow (MHL) Russia (World Juniors)

Pre-lottery draft order

The 15 teams that don’t make the playoffs, plus the Seattle Kraken, will be ranked from 1 to 16 based on their points percentage. (The worst team will be slotted first). Seattle will be given the same odds in the lottery as the third-worst team.

Based on Tuesday’s end-of-day standings, here’s the draft order:

Buffalo
Anaheim
New Jersey
Seattle*
Ottawa
Detroit
Columbus
San Jose
Calgary
Los Angeles
Arizona
Vancouver
Chicago
Philadelphia
Nashville
NY Rangers

The Flames are tightly clustered with the Kings and Sharks in the standings – they’re tied with San Jose but ahead in the standings due to the regulation wins tiebreaker. The Flames could slide down to seventh or eighth overall with a few more losses.

This and that

A word of warning: this is a very 2012 draft class – by the I mean, aside from the top handful of players, opinions vary massively among scouting bodies and likely vary wildly between NHL clubs’ draft lists, too. It’s likely that we could see a lot of shuffling around in the first round as teams try to move up (or down) to get their preferred player.

In the general area where the Flames may draft, there are basically three clusters of players:

Forwards like Fabian Lysell, Chaz Lucius and Cole Sillinger
Goaltender Jesper Wallstedt
Forwards like Kent Johnson, William Eklund and Simon Edvinsson

If they finish right around where they are now – e.g., they don’t get appreciably worse in the standings – they’ll likely need to choose between Lysell, Lucius and Sillinger. We’ll go into the Flames’ potential selections in great detail in the coming weeks – we’ll have two months to ponder the draft and expansion, after all – but here’s what some friends are saying about these three young fellas.

Tony Ferrari

@theTonyFerrari

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Fabian Lysell (#2021NHLDraft) pushing the pace, attacking the defense and scoring his second of the game! This kid is loaded with talent and his motor and pace are among the best in the class. Lysell still doesn't get the type in most circles that he deserves.

Watch on X

6:47 PM · Feb 12, 2021

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Minnesota Men’s Hockey

@GopherHockey

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Signed #Gophers prospect Chaz Lucius has been named to the 2021 U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team ahead of the 2021 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship (April 26-May 6) in Frisco and Plano, Texas.