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Flames Draft 2026: A history of the 30th overall pick
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Jun 25, 2026, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 25, 2026, 02:22 EDT
For just the second time in franchise history, the Calgary Flames will pick 30th overall.
Since the turn of the millennium, the pick at one point belonged to a team that at least went to the Conference Finals. Now, contenders move these types of picks all the time, hence how the Flames ended up with the one.
Originally belonging to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Pacific Division team sent it to the Flames in a deal that landed them Noah Hanifin. Eventually, the Golden Knights fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals, and since the Ottawa Senators are picking 32nd overall, the Flames will pick 30th overall.
The last time they selected 30th overall was back in 1992, when they selected a player who dressed for 62 National Hockey League games. Let’s take a look at that picture, as well as other notable 30th overall picks.
Chris O’Sullivan, 1992
Just three years removed from winning the 1989 Stanley Cup, the Flames finished with the sixth-fewest points in 1991-92, with their second-round pick falling 30th. With it, they selected Chris O’Sullivan, who struggled to find his footing in the NHL.
The left-shot defenceman made his debut in 1996-97, scoring two goals and 10 points, fine production for a rookie. That was the highlight of his career, as he played just 12 games with the Flames in 1997-98, then 10 games with them in 1998-99.
O’Sullivan joined the Vancouver Canucks in 1999-2000, playing 11 more games where he picked up five assists, before spending two of his next three seasons in the American Hockey League, and another in Switzerland. His final NHL games were in 2002-03, registering a point in two games with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Overall, he finished with two goals and 19 points in 62 career NHL games.
Other notable 30th overall picks
The 30th overall pick has produced four All-Stars, no Hall of Famers, and several Stanley Cup champions. Randy Carlyle is one of those All-Stars, amassing 1,055 games with 148 goals and 647 points. He’s played the most games and has the second-most points, only recently being surpassed.
In 1991, the San Jose Sharks selected Sandis Ozoliņš with the 30th overall pick, just the third pick in franchise history. He finished his career as a seven time All-Star, Stanley Cup champion, and the highest scoring Latvian-born player. Ironically, the 55th overall pick, another pick the Flames have, produced the second-highest scoring Latvian.
The player that surpassed Carlyle in points is an active player, Brock Nelson. Drafted in 2010, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche before the 2025 trade deadline and has 334 goals and 652 points in 1,001 games. He leads all players picked 30th in goals and points, and is just one of three players with more than 1,000 games played.
In the following draft, the Anaheim Ducks selected Rickard Rakell. Though he’s never won a Stanley Cup, the Swede has represented his country at the Olympics and is a one-time All-Star, participating in the 2018 All-Star Game.
Ozoliņš is the lone All-Star with his name on the Cup, at least as a player. Carlyle led the 2006-07 Ducks to the Stanley Cup.
The last California-based team to win the Stanley Cup were the Los Angeles Kings back in 2014. On that team was Tanner Pearson, who scored four goals and 12 points in 24 games that post-season. He most recently played with the Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo Sabres in 2025-26.
Pearson is the most recent 30th overall pick with his name on the Cup, but Bradly Nadeau (2023) played 12 games with the Hurricanes this season. Patrice Brisebois won the Stanley Cup 1993 with his hometown team, the Montréal Canadiens. It’s the last time a Canadian-based team has won the Cup, and he’s one of just three players selected 30th overall who has played over 1,000 games.
Doug Soetaert also won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens, doing so during the 1985-86 season while serving as the team’s backup netminder. In 284 regular season games, the Edmonton product posted an .867 save percentage and 3.97 goals against average.
There are a few more notable names who never won a Cup, never were named an All-Star, and didn’t play 1,000 games. Pat Hickey was selected in 1973, scoring 192 goals and 404 points. His goal total is the third-most among players selected 30th overall. Mark Hardy, drafted in 1979, played 915 games, scoring 62 goals and 368 points. His games played is fourth among players drafted in this spot.
O’Sullivan wasn’t the only player selected 30th overall who played a game for the Flames. Camrose, Alberta native Josh Green (1996) had a Cup of tea with the team in 2003-04, scoring two goals and six points in 36 games.
Bernie Lukowich (1972) never played for the Flames, but he did play for the city’s World Hockey Association team, the Calgary Cowboys. In 1975-76, he scored five goals and seven points in 15 games, then another three goals and seven points in 10 playoff games. The following season, he played six games with an assist.
The other player selected 30th overall to have played a game with the Flames happened to be on their roster last season, John Beecher. Claimed by the team off waivers, Beecher played 29 games with two goals and six points, finishing the season as a minus-5.
All but one player selected 30th overall in the last 18 drafts played a game in 2025-26. The exception is John Quenneville, who was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 2014. He played 42 NHL games, with his most recent action being in 2024-25 in Finland.
Netminder Tom McCollum (2008) played three NHL games and spent last season in Austria with EC Kitzbühel. (He was briefly Flames property during the Vegas expansion process so that the Flames had a goalie to expose to meet league requirements.) Simon Despres (2009) played most of his season with the Elite Ice Hockey League’s Fife Flyers after 193 NHL games.
Nelson (2010), Rakell (2011), and Pearson (2012) all played in the NHL last season, as did Ryan Hartman (2013). Hartman scored 23 goals and 43 points in 76 games with the Minnesota Wild last season, bringing his total to 162 goals and 347 points in 725 games.
Nick Merkley (2015) played with the Kontinental Hockey League’s Shanghai Dragons, scoring 24 goals and 45 points in 68 games, after playing 41 NHL games in his career. Sam Steel (2016), Eeli Tolvanen (2017), Joe Veleno (2018), Beecher (2019), and Mavrik Bourque (2020), Brad Lambert (2022), and Nadeau (2023) all played NHL games last season.
Zachary Dean (2021) played nine NHL games with the St. Louis Blues back in 2023-24, but has spent most of his first three professional seasons in the AHL. E.J. Emery (2024) was teammates with Abram Wiebe, Cole Reschny, and Cade Littler at the University of North Dakota last season, while netminder Joshua Ravensbergen (2025) played for the Prince George Cougars in 2025-26.
Overall, 46 players selected 30th overall have played at least one NHL game, while 42 players selected have played double-digit games in the NHL. If a player is selected 30th overall, they have a good chance of playing at least 100 games, as 25 players selected in that spot have gone on to do just that.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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