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Carels, Ruck brothers among first five Flames selections in final Elite Prospects mock draft
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Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Dylan Nazareth
Jun 25, 2026, 19:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 25, 2026, 17:18 EDT
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One more sleep until the start of the 2026 NHL Draft… got time for another mock draft?
On Thursday, Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson did one final mock of the first two rounds, including Calgary’s five selections in the top 64. Robinson’s last mock draft was done alongside FloHockey‘s Chris Peters earlier in the month. In it, the two had defenceman Carson Carels going fourth to the Chicago Blackhawks (a pick now owned by the Buffalo Sabres), and the Flames taking Viggo Björck at sixth overall. This time around, Robinson is back amongst the chorus of voices who believe Carels will fall to Calgary at six:
He might not be from Alberta, but Carson Carels is going to fit in well in Calgary. Many teams consider the powerful left-shot defender to be the best in the class. He finished just a whisker ahead of Reid in the Consensus Scout Poll from earlier this month.
Carels has a stiffness to his game that meshes beautifully with his high-end skating and elite-level flashes. Between him, Šimon Nemec, and Zayne Parekh, the Flames’ blueline will be well-positioned for a long time.
After the draft lottery, Carels was the favourite to go to Calgary at sixth overall. Other names were since speculated, including Björck and Keaton Verhoeff, but the tide seems to be shifting back to the Flames landing the 18-year-old Manitoba native.
Meanwhile, at 30th overall, Robinson has the Flames targeting Medicine Hat Tigers winger Liam Ruck:
Oooh, this could be a fun one. Liam Ruck landed second in WHL scoring this season with a whopping 104 points. He’s slight, he’s skilled, and will return to Medicine Hat in the fall before moving on to the University of North Dakota for 2027-28.
Oh, and he has a twin brother.
Given Calgary’s high number of picks in the first two rounds, many NHL experts have pointed to the potential of them taking Liam Ruck, then later his brother Markus. That’s how things played out for Robinson, who has the Flames using their pick at 36th overall to take Markus Ruck. Markus Ruck also tallied an impressive 21 goals and 108 points in the WHL this season, and is committed alongside his brother to playing at UND in the 2027-28 season.
Calgary’s two remaining picks in the second round come in at 51st and 55th. In his mock draft, Robinson points to centremen Adam Valentini and Thomas Vandenberg, respectively, as targets with those two picks. Vandenberg at 55th was also selected by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman in his recent mock draft.

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