What did the Flames get from their first round picks between 2003 and 2012?

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.

Here’s a snapshot of what they turned their own first round selections into from 2003 through 2012 in terms of assets and games wearing a Flames jersey.

The Flames held onto their pick, selecting Dion Phaneuf.

After 376 games with the club, the Flames sent Phaneuf with Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie to Toronto for Matt Stajan, Ian White, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers. The four players the Flames acquired in the Phaneuf deal combined for 734 games with the club.

Stajan left the Flames as a free agent after nine seasons and went to Europe (before retiring). White was sent to Carolina with Brett Sutter in exchange for Anton Babchuk (104 Flames games) and Tom Kostopoulos (140 Flames games), who both eventually walked as free agents. Mayers left as a free agent, while Hagman was claimed off waivers.

Between Phaneuf and the players they acquired for him (directly or indirectly), the Flames got 1,354 games out of their 2003 pick.

The Flames packaged their 19th overall pick with their eighth-rounder (247th overall) to the New York Rangers in exchange for 24th overall and 46th overall. Then they traded 46th overall to Columbus for 70th overall and 98th overall. They took Kris Chucko at 24th, Brandon Prust at 70th, and Dustin Boyd at 98th.

Chucko played two NHL games and eventually walked as a free agent. Prust was traded to Phoenix after playing 35 games (as part of the Olli Jokinen trade, see 2010 details below). Boyd played 192 games for the Flames before being traded to Nashville for a fourth-round pick that was used to select Bill Arnold. Arnold played one game for the Flames, eventually leaving as a free agent.

The Flames got 230 games out of their 2004 pick.

At 26th, the Flames drafted Matt Pelech. Pelech struggled with injuries, played five games with the Flames, and eventually left as a free agent.

At 26th (again), the Flames drafted Leland Irving. Irving stayed healthy, but just struggled to find his game at the NHL level. He played 13 games with the Flames, and eventually left as a free agent.

The Flames traded down in 2007, swapping 18th overall to the Rangers for 24th and 70th overall.

24th overall turned into Mikael Backlund, who’s played 826 games for the Flames (and is tied for third all-time on the franchise leaderboard). 70th overall turned into John Negrin, who played three games and was a good AHLer before being flipped to Winnipeg for Akim Aliu. Aliu played seven games for the Flames before leaving as a free agent.

The 2007 first-rounder turned into 836 NHL games (and counting).

The Flames made a fairly bold move in 2008, moving their first-rounder and their 2009 second-rounder to Los Angeles in exchange for Mike Cammalleri and the 48th overall pick, which they used on Mitch Wahl.

Cammalleri spent just one season (81 games) with the Flames before leaving as a free agent. Wahl never played a game for the Flames, and was flipped to Philadelphia for minor-leaguer Mike Testwuide, who left as a free agent.

The Flames traded down in 2009, moving the 20th pick to New Jersey in exchange for 23rd and 84th overall. Then they packaged 84th with 107th overall to Los Angeles to trade up to 74th overall. They selected Tim Erixon at 23rd and Ryan Howse at 74th.

Erixon, son of a former Ranger, famously only wanted to play for his dad’s old team. So the Flames sent Erixon to the Rangers in exchange for Roman Horak and a pair of second-round picks in the 2011 NHL Draft, used to select Markus Granlund and Tyler Wotherspoon.

Horak played 82 games with Calgary before being traded with Laurent Brossoit to Edmonton in exchange for Ladislav Smid and Marc-Olivier Roy. Smid played 109 games before leaving as a free agent, while Roy left as a free agent but played no games.

Granlund played 86 games before being flipped to Vancouver for Hunter Shinkaruk. Shinkaruk played 14 games before being flipped to Montreal for Kerby Rychel. Rychel played two games before leaving as a free agent. Wotherspoon played 30 games before leaving as a free agent.

Howse never played a game for the Flames and left as a free agent.

The Flames got 323 NHL games out of their 2009 pick.

The Flames traded their 2010 first-rounder, along with Matthew Lombardi and Brandon Prust, to Phoenix for Olli Jokinen.

The Flames traded Jokinen by the following season’s trade deadline (after 75 games) with a since-reacquired Prust to the Rangers for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik. Higgins played 12 games and left as a free agent.

Kotalik played 52 games and was packaged with Robyn Regehr and a 2012 second-rounder to Buffalo for Chris Butler and Paul Byron. Butler played 194 games and left as a free agent. Byron played 130 games and was claimed off waivers by Montreal.

The Flames got 463 NHL games out of their 2009 pick.

The Flames held onto their 2011 first-rounder, selecting Sven Baertschi. Baertschi plateaued after 66 games and so the Flames traded him to Vancouver for a 2015 second-round pick, which they used to draft Rasmus Andersson. Andersson has played 298 games with the Flames so far.

The 2011 first-rounder turned into 364 NHL games (and counting).

The Flames traded down in 2012, moving their 14th overall pick to Buffalo in exchange for 21st and 42nd overall – the extra second-rounder more or less made up for the pick they traded to Buffalo in the Kotalik/Regehr trade. They selected Mark Jankowski at 21st and Patrick Sieloff at 42nd.

Jankowski played 208 games before leaving as a free agent. Sieloff played two games and was shipped to Ottawa for Alex Chiasson. Chiasson played 81 games and then left as a free agent.

The Flames got 291 NHL games out of their 2012 pick.

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