Flames goalie draft picks: a retrospective (of misery)

Photo credit:Chris Mast/Everett Silvertips

4 years ago

Since 2013, the Calgary Flames have used 12 different goaltenders that they’ve acquired from outside of their developmental system. The big reason for that is, to be blunt, they’ve been really horrible at drafting and developing goaltenders since basically forever.

Dustin Wolf is absolutely killing it in the Western Hockey League. He may finally break a decades-long dry spell for drafted netminders. Here’s a brief snapshot – broken down by general manager – of the Flames’ struggles finding puck-stoppers in the NHL Draft.

The Cliff Fletcher years (in Atlanta)

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
1972	Frank Blum	6	82	0	0
1974	Bill Moen	6	100	0	0
1975	Nick Sanza	9	150	0	0
1975	Brian O’Connell	10	167	0	0
1976	Mark Earp	5	82	0	0
1977	Jim Craig	4	72	4	30
1978	Tim Bernhardt	3	47	6	67
1978	Bernhard Englbrecht	12	196	0	0
1979	Pat Riggin	2	33	119	350

The Atlanta years featured a skew towards late picks and very few successes – except for the fabulously-named Bernhard Englbrecht. They went for a few early picks and managed to get Miracle on Ice netminder Jim Craig and the pretty decent Pat Riggin, but there are no home runs here.

The Cliff Fletcher years (in Calgary)

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
1981	Mike Vernon	3	56	527	782
1982	Dave Meszaros	4	65	0	0
1983	Grant Blair	6	111	0	0
1983	Jeff Hogg	7	131	0	0
1986	Scott Sharples	9	184	1	1
1988	Jason Muzzatti	1	21	2	62
1990	Trevor Kidd	1	11	178	387
1990	Shawn Murray	8	167	0	0

The good news: they got Vernon and Kidd! The bad news: that’s it. Jason Muzzatti represents one of the franchise’s big drafting whiffs of the Fletcher era.

The Doug Risebrough years

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
1991	Jerome Butler	5	107	0	0
1991	Andrei Trefilov	12	261	22	54
1994	Patrik Haltia	6	149	0	0

Risebrough only took three goalies and one of which was Trefilov, one of the most underrated depth players in franchise history. Was he good? Uh, no. But man he was always the first guy called up when weird stuff went down.

The Al Coates Years

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
1997	Evan Lindsay	2	32	0	0
1998	Dany Sabourin	4	108	4	57
1999	Craig Anderson	3	77	0	636
1999	Matt Underhill	6	170	0	0

Lindsay and Anderson both didn’t sign and re-entered the draft. Lindsay didn’t amount to anything, but Anderson is still in the NHL. Whoops.

The Craig Button years

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
2000	Brent Krahn	1	9	0	1
2000	Levente Szuper	4	116	0	0
2001	Andrei Medvedev	2	56	0	0
2019	Curtis McElhinney	6	176	29	232

Krahn was drafted ninth overall and played nine goddamn minutes in the NHL. When Ryan Pinder freaks out on Sportsnet 960 The Fan about the horrors of drafting goalies early, this is what he’s having nightmares about. Medvedev was also a historic whiff.

The Darryl Sutter years

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
2004	James Spratt	7	213	0	0
2005	Kevin Lalande	5	128	0	0
2005	Matt Keetley	5	158	1	1
2006	Leland Irving	1	26	13	13
2009	Joni Ortio	6	171	37	37

Ortio was the most successful pick from a group that included a first rounder.

The Jay Feaster years

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
2011	Laurent Brossoit	6	164	0	64
2012	Jon Gillies	3	75	12	12

The bar was set low by his predecessors and Feaster cleared it, with both of his drafted goalies playing NHL games.

The Brad Treliving years

Draft	Goalie	Round	Pick	Flames GP	NHL GP
2014	Mason McDonald	2	34	0	0
2016	Tyler Parsons	2	54	0	0
2019	Dustin Wolf	7	214	0	0

If Wolf beats Parsons to the NHL, the Flames should just stop drafting goaltenders before the fifth round. Forever.

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