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Big-bodied blueliner Blake Fiddler could bolster Flames defensive ranks at the 2025 NHL Draft
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Photo credit: Edmonton Oil Kings – Janise Michel
Ryan Pike
Apr 30, 2025, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 30, 2025, 00:45 EDT
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When it comes to the NHL Draft, while teams usually have areas of need, the mantra we always hear is “take the best player available.” The Calgary Flames have an obvious need at the centre position and, all things being equal, they’ll probably focus on centres during the 2025 NHL Draft.
But at a certain point early in the draft, if they work their list and take the best player available, they may think about deviating from positional need. And Edmonton Oil Kings blueliner Blake Fiddler, who boasts size, smarts and great bloodlines, could be a potential fit for the red team.

Scouting report

Born in Nashville to Canadian-born NHLer Vernon Fiddler, Blake grew up primarily in Texas. He’s one of the youngest first-time draft eligible players in this year’s crop as a July 2007 birthday. He’s a right shot blueliner listed at 6’4″ and 209 pounds.
Fiddler has had a really unique developmental pathway. He’s gotten a ton of exposure to high-end hockey in different U.S. markets. He’s played internationally for Canada (at the World Under-17s) and the United States (at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and Under-18 Worlds). While he’s finally planted his flag – from an international event perspective – with the Americans, he’s also played with a lot of the top youth squads in the USA growing up.
He was the first overall selection in the 2022 WHL U.S. Prospects Draft. He became a full-time WHL player – as a 16-year-old – in 2023-24.
Here’s a rundown on Fiddler’s game from Luke Sweeney of Dobber Prospects:
Fiddler got a lot of attention early thanks his size, his smooth skating, and his solid play at the Hlinka tournament over the summer. While still likely a first rounder, Fiddler’s inconsistent play in the WHL has cost him some fans. He uses his reach and skating to close gaps on the rush and demonstrate some physicality, though it is his play with the puck that is less assuring. Fiddler makes some questionable decisions offensively and causes some frustrating turnovers through poor handling. Nevertheless, there is still room for Fiddler to iron out these details and progress into a solid NHLer.
Over at Daily Faceoff, our pal Steven Ellis provided a short scouting report on Fiddler as part of his recent draft rankings:
Standing tall at 6-foot-4, Fiddler is a big-bodied defender who clears forwards away from his net and pushes opponents to the perimeter. Fiddler is averaging around 22 minutes a night this year and already looks good with the puck. He’s mobile, and while he isn’t the quickest defender overall, he moves well for his size. Fiddler isn’t going to be a top-pairing blueliner, but his size and hockey IQ should allow him to have a solid career.
Fiddler is big. He’s smart. He uses his size well. He moves the puck well. He defends well. Is he somebody that will vie for the Western League’s defensive scoring title anytime soon? No. And, as we’ll get into later on, the Flames already have guys like that. But if you’re looking for a all-situations, 200-foot blueliner that can be a complement to some of the high-end puck movers the Flames have… here he is.

The numbers

As a 16-year-old rookie in 2023-24, Fiddler had five goals and 15 points with the Oil Kings. He was not one of the league’s top-scoring rookie blueliners, but he settled into a nice rhythm and ended up playing 63 games. This season, as a 17-year-old, Fiddler had 10 goals and 33 points. He doubled his goal and point output and continued to grow his game.
He was 26th among all WHL blueliners in goals and 39th among that group in points.
Among his peer group – first-time draft eligible blueliners – he was sixth in points (behind Jackson Smith, Bryce Pickford, Will Sharpe, Jonas Woo and Radim Mrtka) and fourth in goals (behind Pickford, Smith and Woo).
Fiddler isn’t an offensive powerhouse – he’s not the guy you send over the boards when you absolutely need a goal – but he’s no slouch offensively either, and his output compares really well against both the league as a whole and his age cohort.

Availability and fit

On most major draft rankings, Fiddler lands somewhere in the 20s. Daily Faceoff has him 21st. FC Hockey has him 28th. Pretty much every ranking has him somewhere in that general range. If the Flames like him, they can potentially get him with Florida’s pick (which is expected to be around 22nd overall).
For fit, well, that’s a debate. You could make an argument that with puck-movers like Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz and Henry Mews in the system, some versatile pieces like Etienne Morin, and shutdown players like Eric Jamieson and Axel Hurtig, that the Flames should probably prioritize players with more offensive upside than Fiddler. That said, Fiddler has a lot of great tools and projects as a pretty complete player if he keeps developing, so you can understand why teams would like him in the first round.
Fiddler has size, smarts and strong bloodlines to his credit. But given the Flames’ needs – centres – it seems unlikely that they’ll grab him with one of their two first-round picks.
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