Over the course of their history, the Calgary Flames have proven to be adept at finding hockey talent in unexpected places. Much like they were among the first organizations to delve into drafting from places like Russia and Czechia, they were one of the first clubs to really dive head-long into drafting players from the great kingdom of Sweden.

The Flames have selected 43 Swedish players in the NHL Draft over the years, ranging from Torbjorn Nilsson in 1975 to Jakob Leander in the seventh round of last year’s draft. 14 of those draftees, all skaters, ended up playing games for the Flames. A small handful ended up becoming fairly prominent players. The rest? Not so much. Swedish draft choices have either become important long-term pieces… or they just haven’t really hit the Flames roster at all.

In chronological order, here are the five best Flames draft choices from Sweden. (And let’s acknowledge an honourable mention, Jonas Hoglund, who just missed the cut.)

A fourth-round pick in 1976, the Flames ended up waiting a bit for Nilsson to arrive, as he played with the World Hockey Association’s Winnipeg Jets for a spell before being (re-)claimed by the Flames in the expansion draft process during the WHA’s merger into the NHL.

“The Magic Man” ended up joining the Flames in their final year in Atlanta in 1979-80 and ended up establishing himself as one of the most talented offensive players in franchise history. His 82 assists and 131 points in 1980-81 still stand as a franchise record. Nilsson’s defensive play was less sparkling, though, and he was eventually traded to the Minnesota North Stars at the 1985 NHL Draft in exchange for a pair of draft picks which ended up becoming Joe Nieuwendyk and Stephane Matteau.

A ninth-round pick in 1980, Loob wasn’t in the NHL for a long time, but man, he had a heck of a run. He joined the Flames in 1983-84 and made the All-Rookie Team. He became the first – and to date, only – Swedish player to score 50 goals in a season when he potted 50 in 1987-88. He was part of the Flames’ Stanley Cup championship team in 1989.

And after he won the Cup, he opted to return home to Sweden to continue his playing career. Loob only played six seasons in the NHL, but he was one of the most impactful Flames in franchise history.

We definitely aimed to avoid current Flames in our “best of” draft countdowns. But we’re making an exception for the franchise’s longest-tenured draftee. A first-rounder in 2007, Backlund became a full-time NHLer in 2010-11 and gradually became one of the NHL’s most reliable 200-foot players. Backlund was named an alternate captain in 2018 and ascended to the captaincy in 2023.

He’s played 1,148 games for the franchise and is expected to pass Jarome Iginla for the all-time lead sometime during the 2026-27 season.

A second-round pick in 2015, Andersson was already in North America, playing with the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts as an import. He became a full-time NHLer in 2018-19 and remained a fixture on the Flames blueline for the better part of a decade, serving as an alternate captain for roughly four seasons.

Andersson played 584 games for the Flames overall before being traded to Vegas in January in exchange for Abram Wiebe, Zach Whitecloud, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick.

Kylington was another second-round pick in 2015, selected seven spots after the Flames took Andersson. Kylington came to North America as an 18-year-old and became a full-time NHLer in 2019-20. Kylington’s run with the Flames was disrupted by some off-ice challenges that contributed to him missing a full season, but he played 201 games for the club and showed some flashes of absolute brilliance offensively during his run with the club – particularly during his 2021-22 campaign paired with Chris Tanev. He left the organization as a free agent in 2024.

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