The most magical two days of the year are now upon us, gang.

Welcome to FlamesNation’s continuing coverage of the 2026 NHL Draft! For the second year in a row, the draft will be decentralized. The top prospects and league brass are in Buffalo, New York, with selections being announced at the KeyBank Arena, home of the Sabres. Meanwhile, the majority of team hockey operations groups and media – myself included – are spread throughout the 32 league cities, as everyone does their level best to improve their hockey clubs over the next seven rounds.

We’ll be coming to you live from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, with all the news as it happens during Friday and Saturday’s festivities.

We’re excited to have you with us!

As we go along, please feel encouraged to check out Barn Burner’s live draft watch-along!

Friday, 4:15 p.m. MT: Welcome to our live blog, gang! Pike here, and I’ll be updating this page as we go along this weekend. The Flames are in a pretty unique situation: they may have leaned into their roster overhaul during the latter stages of the 2025-26 season with the trades of Rasmus Andersson, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar, but they had previously moved on from a slew of other veterans, so the Flames have prospect depth across the board.

As a result, they don’t really need to focus on any area in particular at this year’s draft. Entering with 10 picks on their draft board, they’re expected to focus on the best player available with their picks and let the chips fall where they may. They’re still very much in a phase where they’re trying to accumulate young talent across the board. Eventually, they’ll have to start deciding which puzzle pieces to hold onto long-term, but for now, they’re still collecting pieces.

We’re pretty fascinated to see how things shake out over the first three or four picks, as they’ll determine which of the Flames’ targets they’ll end up landing at sixth overall.

Friday, 5:28 p.m. MT: We’re just getting to the second overall pick now. This could take awhile.

Friday, 5:45 p.m. MT: We have the first big shocker, as Prince Albert’s Daxon Rudolph – generally seventh or eighth on the public draft rankings – goes to Buffalo at fourth overall.

Friday, 5:52 p.m. MT: The Flames are now on the clock at sixth overall. The Rangers just selected Alberts Smits at fifth overall.

The future of hockey is about to be selected — and the Nation Network is bringing you closer to every pick.

From live pre and post Draft Day coverage with The Sheet and Pierre McGuire, to custom player profiles, first round pick reactions from Theleafsnation, and Barn Burner’s live hangout, we’re covering every angle of the biggest night for hockey’s next generation.

Follow along for all the Draft features, analysis, and reactions on YouTube and socials.