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Can the Flames bet on Vegas to snap their conditional draft pick curse?
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Gang, over the past decade or so, the Calgary Flames have become huge fans of including conditional picks in trades.
And they used all sorts of weird conditions on picks if it helped them get a trade done. Some conditions were related to if a minor-leaguer played a certain number of NHL games for the acquiring team. Some were based on whether they hit goal or points targets. Before the 2020 CBA extension changed the rules to outlaw the practice, many picks were contingent on a player re-signing with the acquiring team.
(The most common conditions were lottery protections, which contributed to the cascading series of conditions that the Flames had to navigate in the Sean Monahan trade to Montreal and the Matthew Tkachuk trade to Florida in 2022.)
But a few times in the past few years, the Flames have had a chance to get an extra draft choice – or have a draft choice improved significantly – based on how another team performed in the post-season. The logic behind the conditional picks was pretty simple: if the player we sent you in this trade helps you go far in the playoffs, we would like additional compensation.
In January, the Flames traded Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights. As part of that trade, the Flames acquired a conditional 2028 second-round pick. The condition on that pick is that if Vegas wins the Stanley Cup in 2026, that pick upgrades to a 2028 first-round pick.
If Vegas wins the Stanley Cup and that pick upgrades, it would end a streak of conditional draft choice losses for the Flames, all tied to a trio of 2024 trades.
- In the Elias Lindholm trade with Vancouver in January 2024, the 2024 fourth-round pick acquired from the Canucks would have become a 2024 third-round pick had Vancouver advanced to the Western Conference Final. (They didn’t.)
- In the Chris Tanev trade with Dallas in February 2024, the Flames would have received an additional 2026 third-round pikc had Dallas advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. (They didn’t.)
- In the Noah Hanifin trade with Vegas in March 2024, the 2024 third-round pick acquired from the Golden Knights would have become a 2025 second-round pick had Vegas won a playoff round. (They didn’t.)
We’ll see if the Flames’ losing streak with conditional picks can be snapped with Vegas hoisting the Stanley Cup in the next few weeks.
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