The Calgary Flames have found depth in the sixth round, but haven’t struck gold in awhile

There are some rounds where teams seem to have a ton of luck, and some where their luck runs dry. In recent history, the Calgary Flames have been a team that can find gems in the late rounds.

The Flames have found useful organizational depth in the sixth round, but they haven’t struck gold with a strong prospect in that round in quite awhile.

The Flames currently have control of their sixth-round pick, 170th overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Here are the last five sixth-round selections for the Flames:

The Flames traded their 2022 sixth-rounder to the Florida Panthers as part of the Sam Bennett trade – it was Bennett and the sixth-rounder to Florida for a second-rounder and the rights to Emil Heineman.

The Flames traded their 2019 sixth-rounder to the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the Eddie Lack trade – it was Keegan Kanzig and the sixth-rounder to Carolina for Lack, Ryan Murphy and a seventh-rounder. (The seventh-rounder was used to select Dustin Wolf.)

Of the past five picks, three of them were signed to entry-level deals and played in the Flames’ farm system… but none have played any NHL games. Still, if nothing else, they’ve found organizational depth in the late rounds. And we’ll see if the Flames end up luring Yegorov over from Russia with an ELC.

Nine Flames’ sixth-rounders have played 200 or more NHL games: Ken Houston (1973), Brett Hull (1984), Tim Sweeney (1985), Joel Bouchard (1992), Andreas Karlsson (1993), Clarke Wilm (1995), Curtis McElhinney (2002), Adam Pardy (2004) and Andrew Mangiapane (2015).

Depending on who you ask, trading Hull to St. Louis prior to the 1988 trade deadline was either a massive whiff or a masterstroke of a move that got the Flames the pieces they needed to win the Stanley Cup. It might’ve been both. Hull continued his growth from a solid rookie season, scoring more than 70 goals in three consecutive seasons between 1989-90 and 1991-92. That run was preceded by a Stanley Cup win for the Flames, in which the two players acquired from the Blues in the Hull trade – backup goalie Rick Wamsley and defender Rob Ramage – played a big part. Regardless of what Hull turned into, they turned a sixth-rounder into pieces that won them a Stanley Cup.

Beyond Hull, Wilm played 303 games with the Flames, while Houston and Mangiapane both played over 400. (And counting, in Mangiapane’s case.)

As we mentioned with our seventh round rundown, there’s no such thing as a miss in the sixth round. Sure, you would love to find a superstar in the sixth round, but they’re basically unicorns. If you can find some organizational depth or quality minor-leaguers, that serves a useful purpose for your system and your scouting staff likely feels pretty good about it. If you get an NHL regular in the sixth round, even if they’re just a role player, the scouting staff is probably ecstatic about the outcome.