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What did the Flames get from their first round picks between 2013 and 2022?

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Photo credit:Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Pike
1 year ago
The Calgary Flames have been one of the better teams in the league in terms of drafting over the past few seasons, with several recent picks contributing in recent years at the NHL level. This is a recent development, as they didn’t have a ton of success earlier on.
We’ve looked back at their 2003 to 2012 picks, but they’ve gotten more consistent value out of their selections from 2013 through 2022.

2013 NHL Draft: 6th overall

The Flames began their rebuild in earnest in 2013 and grabbed Sean Monahan at sixth overall. The selection worked out pretty well, as Monahan made the team immediately out of training camp and has played 656 games for the Flames so far.

2014 NHL Draft: 4th overall

The Flames made their highest selection since moving to Calgary in 2014, grabbing Sam Bennett at fourth overall. Bennett ended up playing 402 games with the Flames, then was traded to Florida with a sixth-round pick in exchange for a 2022 second-rounder and the rights to Emil Heineman.
The Flames sent Heineman’s rights to Montreal in the Tyler Toffoli trade (see 2022 pick) and the second-rounder was sent to Seattle in the Calle Jarnkrok trade. Jarnkrok played 17 games for Calgary before leaving as a free agent.
The Flames got 419 games out of their 2014 pick.

2015 NHL Draft: 15th overall

The Flames headed to the draft ready to pick, but instead packaged the 15th overall pick along with a pair of second-rounders (their own and one acquired from a trade with Washington) to Boston for Dougie Hamilton.
Hamilton played 245 games with the Flames before being packaged with Micheal Ferland and Adam Fox’s rights to Carolina for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin during 2018 draft weekend. Lindholm has played 289 games to date, while Hanifin has played 278 games.
All this wheeling and dealing, combined with flipping less prominent assets, has resulted in the Flames getting 812 games (so far) out of their 2015 pick.

2016 NHL Draft: 6th overall

The Flames grabbed Matthew Tkachuk at six overall, and he played 431 games with the club. He was flipped to Florida last month for four assets: Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a conditional 2015 first-rounder.
So far, the 2016 pick has resulted in 431 games for the Flames.

2017 NHL Draft: 16th overall

The Flames grabbed Juuso Valimaki in 2017. So far, he’s played 28 games for the Flames.

2018 NHL Draft: 12th overall

At the 2017 draft, the Flames traded their 2018 first-rounder (along with their 2018 and 2019 second-rounders) to the New York Islanders for Travis Hamonic. Hamonic played 193 games for Calgary before leaving as a free agent.

2019 NHL Draft: 26th overall

The Flames drafted Jakob Pelletier in 2019. So far he hasn’t played any NHL games, but he was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2021-22.

2020 NHL Draft: 19th overall

The Flames were allotted 19th overall, but traded down twice – sending 19th overall to the Rangers for 22nd and 71st, then sending 22nd to Washington for 24th and 79th.
The Flames selected Connor Zary at 24th, Jeremie Poirier at 71st and Jake Boltmann at 79th. Of the three, only Zary has played pro hockey so far.

2021 NHL Draft: 13th overall

The Flames selected Matt Coronato in 2021. He’s still in college.

2022 NHL Draft: 26th overall

The Flames put their 2022 first-rounder in a package with Tyler Pitlick, Emil Heineman’s rights and a 2023 fifth-rounder and sent them to Montreal for Tyler Toffoli. So far Toffoli has played 37 games for the Flames, but has two seasons remaining on his current deal.

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