Folks, due to physically residing in this great country – and often sharing a building with high-end junior hockey teams – it should be no surprise that the Calgary Flames franchise has selected more players out of Canada than from any other country. But due to sheer geographic proximity, it shouldn’t be surprising that the country they’ve selected the second-most players from is the United States.

Including selecting blueliner Tom Machowski in the seventh round in 1973, the Flames have selected 99 Americans in the entry draft process, representing 20% of all draft choices they’ve made. 23 of those 99 draftees have played games with the Flames. As we’ve seen when looking into other nations’ picks, they not all created equally, and some American draft picks have been better than others.

In chronological order, here are the 10 best Flames draft choices from the United States. (Apologies to Adam Fox, who we didn’t include because, well, he never played for the Flames and his rights were bundled into a bigger trade when it became clear he wasn’t going to sign in Calgary.)

A star forward at Edina high school, Ranheim was a second-round pick in the 1984 NHL Draft. He spent four seasons at the University of Wisconsin before going pro for the 1988-89 season. He emerged as a really effective 200-foot winger for the Flames, playing a really effective middle-six role for the Flames during the early ’90s. He played 354 games over parts of six seasons with the Flames before being traded to the Hartford Whalers just prior to the 1994 trade deadline.

An impressive freshman defender at the University of Wisconsin, Suter was a ninth-round pick in the 1984 NHL Draft. He spent one more season with the Badgers before going pro in the 1985-86. He immediately figured out how to produce at the NHL level, winning the Calder Trophy as a rookie. He spent parts of nine seasons with the Flames, appearing in 617 games. He spent much of his run as the Flames’ second most-impressive offensive blueliner, behind the impeccable Al MacInnis. Suter was traded to Hartford just prior to the 1994 trade deadline. Hey wait…

An impressive prep school player in Connecticut, Drury was selected in the second round of the 1989 draft. He spent three seasons with Harvard and one with the U.S. Olympic Team before joining the Flames in 1993-94. He played just 34 games with the club before being traded to the Whalers just prior to the 1994 trade deadline

The full trade saw Ranheim, Suter and Drury go to Hartford in exchange for Michael Nylander, James Patrick and Zarley Zalapski. All indications are that the three Americans being included a single trade was just a coincidence, but it does seem kind of wacky.

Another player selected out of prep school, Clark was a third-round pick in 1994. He spent four seasons at Clarkson University – Craig Conroy’s alma mater – before joining the Flames organization in 1998-99. Emerging as a really effective bottom-six winger, he played 278 games with the big club across five seasons before a trade to Washington in 2005 for a late-round draft pick.

Drafted out of the United States Hockey League in 2001, Moss was a seventh-round pick. He joined the University of Wisconsin, where he played four seasons before going pro in 2005-06. He became a pretty effective middle-six winger and played 317 games across six seasons before leaving as a free agent.

The son of New York Islanders legend Bob Nystrom, Eric was drafted 10th overall in 2002 after his freshman season at the University of Michigan. He played three more years there, going pro in 2005-06. He became a pretty good bottom-six checking forward and penalty-killer, playing 204 games over four seasons. He left the club as a free agent.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Draft after a strong season with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, Gaudreau played three seasons with Boston College before going pro at the end of the 2013-14 season. Gaudreau figured out the NHL game pretty quickly and became, well, one of the most dynamic offensive players in Flames franchise history. He played 602 games over nine seasons before departing as a free agent.

The son of longtime NHLer Keith Tkachuk, Matthew was selected by the Flames in the first round after a strong draft year with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. He went pro immediately and played at first on a couple dynamite checking lines with Mikael Backlund before Tkachuk moved up to the Flames’ scoring lines. He played 431 games over six seasons before a trade to Florida during the 2022 off-season, which sent Tkachuk and a fourth-round pick to the Panthers in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a first-round pick the Flames used to take Cullen Potter.

Selected 214th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft due to his size – and ignoring his superb performances with the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips – Wolf just did his thing wherever he was playing and built up a heck of a reputation. He went pro in 2021-22 and quickly emerged as one of the American Hockey League’s top players. He moved onto full-time NHL duty in 2024-25 and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy. He signed a long-term deal in 2025 and is currently the Flames’ undisputed starting netminder.

A superb scorer with the USHL’s Chicago Steel, Coronato was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. He played two seasons at Harvard University before ging pro at the end of 2022-23. He became a full-time NHLer in 2024-25 and while he’s still defining his precise role at the NHL level, he’s got a heck of a shot and is a player that’s become relied upon to score key goals. He signed a long-term deal in 2025.

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