The Calgary Flames take two WHLers in Daily Faceoff’s 2024 mock draft
By Ryan Pike
1 month agoThere are certain milestones in each NHL season that fans and media types alike pay attention to. Now that the 2024 trade deadline is behind us, focus starts to move towards June’s 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. The Calgary Flames have two first-round selections in June.
Over at Daily Faceoff, our pal Steven Ellis conducted an early mock draft to suss out how the first round could unfold. Very much on-brand, Ellis has the Flames selecting a pair of Western Hockey League products: Calgary Hitmen blueliner Carter Yakemchuk and Prince George Cougars forward Terik Parascak.
Ellis has the Flames selecting Yakemchuk with their first pick, at 12th overall:
The Flames don’t have to go far to scout Yakemchuk. At 6-foot-3 and with an incredible offensive toolkit, Yakemchuk is another high-ceiling defender who’s been busy doing a bit of everything in the WHL this year. I feel like his defensive game has taken nice strides forward, and he’s a strong skater, too. Side note: I feel like it would be too lazy just to presume the Flames would take Tij Iginla, but, hey, if it makes sense, he’d be one heck of an addition.
Yakemchuk is a big, right shot defender who’s scoring at just over a point-per-game level for the Hitmen, with 63 points in 61 games. He’s a Calgary-area product and is in his third full WHL season, so from a scouting perspective there are a lot of data points from which to figure out how he could progress as a pro. The scouting consensus is his defensive game isn’t a liability, but it’s not his strength (his scoring prowess is his strength).
Next up, the Flames take Parascak at 31st overall, with the pick they acquired from Vancouver in the Elias Lindholm trade:
After playing prep hockey last year, nobody could have expected Parascak to score at a 40-goal, 100-point pace as a rookie. Parascak doesn’t crumble under pressure and has the speed to thrive in major junior. His quick rise this season has caught scouts off guard, but as a late first-rounder, I can see the Flames taking a chance on someone they’ve been keeping a close eye on with good long-term potential.
Offensively, Parascak is superb. He has 92 points in 62 games while playing on a strong Prince George team, which places him third behind veterans Zac Funk and Riley Heidt. Parascak is a 2006 birthday and he’s still only 17, so there are developmental reps ahead of him where he can round out his game. The risks behind him are primarily in terms of trying to project him. Contrasted with Yakemchuk, a heavily-scouted WHL prospect for years, Parascak is a relative unknown with just this season at the WHL level.
But as Ellis alluded: when teams have multiple first-round selections, sometimes their risk preferences change and allow them to take more home-run swings with their later picks.
Who do you want the Flames to select in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft? Let us know in the comments!
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