Who might the Calgary Flames draft with their first pick in 2022?
By Ryan Pike
2 years agoThe Calgary Flames are in the midst of a superb season, but we’re just three months away from the annual NHL Draft. We’re deep enough into the season that the various scouting services and media entities have put out some pretty deep rankings and mock drafts.
The Flames don’t have a first round pick this season, but we can take a quick snapshot of where their second round pick could be (and who might be available).
A recent history
Over the past five drafts, the Flames have made a bunch of picks in the first three rounds, and their habits could provide a bit of an idea in terms of how they’ll handle having just a single (second-round) selection in the top 96 this year.
- 2021: RW Matt Coronato (USHL), LW William Stromgren (Sweden), C Cole Huckins (QMJHL), D Cameron Whynot (QMJHL)
- 2020: C Connor Zary (WHL), D Yan Kuznetsov (NCAA), D Jeremie Poirier (QMJHL), D Jake Boltmann (USHL)
- 2019: LW Jakob Pelletier (QMJHL), C Ilya Nikolaev (Russia)
- 2018: none
- 2017: D Juuso Valimaki (WHL)
Generally-speaking, their aim is offensive ceiling. With fewer picks, they seem to go for surer things in terms of “best player available” rather than roll the dice with more project picks, as they seemed to do at times in 2020 and 2021.
Who will be available?
The Flames’ second round pick is probably going to be around 60th overall, depending on how the post-season goes. So we decided to check out some prominent recent rankings to see who could be around at 60th overall.
We tried to capture who’s ranked between 55th and 65th (e.g., 60th overall, plus or minus five), to give a snapshot.
- 55: Kamloops LW Fraser Minten
- 56: Kingston C Paul Ludwinski
- 57: Northeastern C Jack Hughes
- 58: Barrie C Hunter Haight
- 59: HIFK D Otto Salin
- 60: Soo C Bryce McConnell-Barker
- 61: USNDP LW Cruz Lucius
- 62: HV71 LW Alexander Suzdalev
- 63: USNDP RW Devin Kaplan
- 64: Yekaterinburg LW Viktor Neuchev
- 65: Frolunda C Ludwig Persson
- 55: Okotoks C Rieger Lorenz
- 56: Gatineau D Noah Warren
- 57: Saginaw C Matyas Sapovaliv
- 58: Soo C Bryce McConnell-Barker
- 59: Leksands D Lian Bichsel
- 60: Ottawa RW Vinzenz Rohrer
- 61: London C Ruslan Gazizov
- 62: Saskatoon C Brandon Lisowsky
- 63: Drummondville D Maveric Lamoureux
- 64: Seattle C Jordan Gustafson
- 55: Sioux City LW Dylan James
- 56: USNDP D Lane Hudson
- 57: HV71 LW Alexander Suzdalev
- 58: Mississauga C Owen Beck
- 59: HIFK C Aleksanteri Kaskimaki
- 60: Soo C Bryce McConnell-Barker
- 61: Peterborough C Tucker Robertson
- 62: Leksands D Lian Bichsel
- 63: Kingston RW Lucas Edmonds
- 64: USNDP D Ryan Chesley
- 65: Frolunda LW Ludwig Persson
- 55: Linkoping C Filip Bystedt
- 56: Guelph C Matthew Poitras
- 57: Niagara C Pano Fimis
- 58: Guelph C Danny Zhilkin
- 59: HIFK D Otto Salin
- 60: Swift Current D Owen Pickering
- 61: USNDP LW Cruz Lucius
- 62: HIFK C Aleksanteri Kaskimaki
- 63: Soo C Bryce McConnell-Barker
- 64: Saginaw C Matyas Sapovaliv
- 55: London D Isaiah George
- 56: Green Bay C Ryan Greene
- 57: Tappara C Topi Ronni
- 58: Guelph D Michael Buchinger
- 59: Gatineau D Noah Warren
- 60: Barrie C Hunter Haight
- 61: London C Ruslan Gazizov
- 62: Prince George G Tyler Brennan
- 63: HIFK C Aleksanteri Kaskimaki
- 64: Omsk RW Gleb Trikozov
- 65: HIFK D Otto Salin
There are nine names that pop up on multiple lists around where when the Flames will likely pick: Paul Ludwinski (Kingston), Hunter Haight (Barrie), Otto Salin (HIFK), Bryce McConnell-Barker (Soo), Cruz Lucius (USNDP), Noah Warren (Gatineau), Matyas Sapovaliv (Saginaw), Ruslan Gazizov (London) and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (HIFK). It’s a mix of blueliners (Salin, Warren) and forwards (everybody else), so there’s some variety. It’s also a bunch of OHL players, a place where the Flames have had some success drafting from in recent years.
As we creep closer to the draft weekend we’ll be diving into the upcoming class in more detail, but these are the players probably available when the Flames make their first selection in Montreal.
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