Friends, a few years ago I had the opportunity to write a book on the drafting history of the Calgary Flames franchise, dating back to their introduction to the National Hockey League in 1972 back in Atlanta.

As a history and research nerd, and a draft dork, I had a great time writing the book. One of the best parts was digging into a few really interesting mysteries within the franchise’s history. One of the things I was really curious about was the longevity of the club’s head of amateur scouting, Tod Button.

That’s not to say that Button’s not good at his job, far from it. Since he began in a leadership role for amateur scouting in 2005, the Flames have found some really good players in every round of the draft. But the franchise’s uneven drafting history over the years, and the turnover in the general manager’s office since Button first joined the organization in 1997, it’s pretty remarkable that he’s managed to persist in his role for so long.

The 2026 NHL Draft will be Button’s 21st at the helm, including his tenure working in tandem with Mike Sands. For context, Edmonton’s Richard Pracey will be running his third Oilers draft, and Todd Harvey will be in his fifth for Vancouver. League-wide, only Washington’s Ross Mahoney has run their team’s drafting longer than Button has. (Even if you want to be super nitpicky and focus just on Button’s time running things solo, only four other head scouts league-wide have been doing it longer than him.)

So as Button begins his third decade steering the ship at the draft, here’s a quick rundown of how the team’s drafting has operated, broken down by GM.

We’ll be using Byron Bader of Hockey Prospecting’s metrics: an NHLer is a player who played 200+ NHL games, a Star is an NHLer who maintains a 0.70+ career point-per-game scoring rate for a forward or 0.45+ for a defenceman. And we’re using what the NHL lists for each player’s source league drafted from.

Working in tandem with Sands, Button oversaw five drafts under Sutter, spanning 2006-10. Over those drafts the Flames made 32 picks, or 6.4 picks per draft.

The Flames selected 2 goalies, 8 defencemen and 22 forwards. 18 picks were from the CHL (12 WHL, 5 OHL and 1 QMJHL), 7 were from Europe (5 Swedes, 2 Finns), 4 were from the US collegiate system (NCAA/USHL), 2 were from U.S. high school, and 1 was from Canadian junior A. (Yes, their drafting was as skewed towards the Western League as you remember it being.)

Under Sutter the Flames drafted four NHLers: Micheal Ferland, Lance Bouma, TJ Brodie and Mikael Backlund. They drafted zero Stars.

Button oversaw three drafts under Feaster, spanning 2011-13. The Flames made 20 picks, or 6.7 picks per draft.

The Flames selected 2 goalies, 8 defencemen and 12 forwards. 11 picks were from the CHL (8 WHL, 2 QMJHL and 1 OHL), 5 were from the U.S. collegiate system, 2 were from Europe (1 Finn, 1 Russian) and 2 were from U.S. high school.

Under Feaster the Flames drafted six NHLers: Sean Monahan, Mark Jankowski, Brett Kulak, Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund and Johnny Gaudreau. Monahan and Gaudreau qualified as Stars.

Button oversaw nine drafts under Treliving, spanning 2014-22. The Flames made 54 picks, or 6.0 picks per draft. (Treliving’s average is skewed down by making just three picks in 2022.)

The Flames selected 5 goalies, 14 defencemen and 35 forwards. 32 picks were from the CHL (12 WHL, 12 OHL and 8 QMJHL), 10 were from Europe (6 Swedes, 2 Finns and 2 Russians), 7 were from the U.S. collegiate system, 3 were from U.S. high school, and 2 were from Canadian junior-A.

Under Treliving the Flames drafted eight NHLers: Juuso Valimaki, Matthew Tkachuk, Dillon Dube, Adam Fox, Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington, Andrew Mangiapane and Sam Bennett. (Matt Coronato, Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil could reach 200 NHL games in 2026-27, too.) Tkachuk, Fox and Andersson qualified as Stars.

So far, Button has overseen three drafts under Conroy, spanning 2023-25. The Flames have made 24 picks, or 8.0 picks per draft.

The Flames selected 2 goalies, 7 defencemen and 15 forwards. 11 picks were from the CHL (6 WHL, 4 OHL and 1 QMJHL), 6 were from Europe (3 Swedes and 3 Russians), 4 were from the U.S. collegiate system, 2 were from Canadian junior-A and 1 from Canadian high school.

So far, nobody drafted under Conroy has hit 200 NHL games.

Ever listened to an interview with Button where he discusses the scouting team’s preparations for the draft? He’s really passionate and articulate. Now, imagine you’re a new GM taking over the Flames and you sit down with him to discuss what his marching orders were from the prior GM and how things should change. It’s really easy to imagine him providing a good explanation as to why the team prioritized what they did in the draft, and it’s easy to imagine him making helpful suggestions on what to change.

And it helps that every few seasons, Button’s staff drafts a really good player outside of the first couple rounds.