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Flames Draft 2026: A history of the 68th overall pick
Photo credit: Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports
Jun 26, 2026, 11:45 EDTUpdated: Jun 26, 2026, 10:55 EDT
The Calgary Flames will be in uncharted territory if they end up selecting 68th overall.
As it stands, the Flames have 10 draft picks after trading away the 35th overall pick in Tuesday’s Šimon Nemec trade. The 68th overall pick is their seventh in the first 70 selections, and it’s produced some okay players over the years.
Let’s take a look at the history of the 68th overall selection.
History of the 68th overall pick
The 68th overall selection has produced just one All-Star and no Hall of Famers. That All-Star happened to retire as a Flame, Tony Amonte. He is the lone player selected 68th overall to play over 1,000 games as well, amassing 416 goals and 900 points in 1,174 games played.
Drafted in 1988 by the New York Rangers, Amonte posted back-to-back 30+ goal seasons in his first two seasons, but was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in March 1994. Just a few months later, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, something that Amonte was never able to achieve.
The Hingham, Massachusetts product spent parts of nine seasons with the Blackhawks, scoring 268 goals and 541 points in 627 games with the team. Among all Blackhawks played, he’s 12th in points and eighth in goals, as well as 28th in points.
Following the 2001-02 season, Amonte signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, but was traded before the deadline to the Philadelphia Flyers. He played 13 regular season games and 13 post-season games, before spending the entirety of the 2003-04 season with them as well. The 2004 playoffs saw Amonte play 18 games, the most in a single season run of his career.
In August 2005, Amonte signed with the Flames, scoring 14 goals and 42 points in 80 games in 2005-06, then 10 goals and 30 points in 81 games the following season. It was a rather productive career, finishing second in Calder Trophy voting in 1991-92, and making the All-Star game every season from 1996-97 until 2000-01.
Amonte is one of two players selected 68th overall who have gone on to play for the Flames. In 2000-01, Niklas Andersson (1989) played his final 11 NHL games with the Flames, picking up an assist. Drafted by the Québec Nordiques, Andersson had a productive 1995-96 and 1996-97 with the Islanders, finishing with 29 goals and 82 points in 164 games.
While the Flames missed out on the 2001 post-season, their American Hockey League team, the Saint John Flames, ended up winning the Calder Cup. A year later, Jeff Mitchell played 64 games with their AHL team, scoring seven goals and 10 points. It was his final games in the AHL, finishing his career in the ECHL.
Another player selected 68th overall who played for the Flames’ AHL team is Rinat Valiev (2014). In 2018-19 with the Stockton Heat, he scored four goals and 21 points in 57 games. The following season, he scored two goals and 10 points.
He and Matt Taormina were acquired in the Brett Kulak trade, one of three times the Montréal Canadiens got the better of the Flames in a trade in a span of a few years. Valiev, who is still active in Russia’s version of the AHL, played just 12 NHL games.
Lynn Powis (1969) was the first player ever selected 68th overall. Not only was he one of 13 players selected 68th overall to play 100 or more games, but he also played for the Calgary Cowboys of the World Hockey Association in 1975-76 and 1976-77. In the latter, Powis scored 30 goals and 60 points. The Saskatoon native finished his NHL career with 19 goals and 52 points in 130 games.
There are two players selected 68th overall with their name on the Stanley Cup. The first is a four-time Stanley Cup winner, Ken Morrow. Selected in the 1976 draft by the New York Islanders, he debuted in 1979-80, just in time for their first of four consecutive Stanley Cups.
Morrow spent his entire career on Long Island, finishing with 17 goals and 105 points in 550 career games. He played at least one playoff game in every season except his last, amassing 127 games with 11 goals and 33 points.
The other 68th overall selection to have his name on the Stanley Cup is an active player, Nick Cousins. Drafted in 2011,he’s had a journeyman type career, winning the Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024, coming close to doing so in 2023 as well.
He joined the Ottawa Senators for the 2024-25 season, which is where he played last season. Over 723 career games, Cousins has 86 goals and 218 points. Cousins has played the third-most games of players selected 68th, as well as second in goals and third in points.
There are also some notable players selected 68th overall who never won the Cup or attended the All-Star game. The two most recognizable players are Craig Rivet (1992) and Jarkko Ruutu (21998). Rivet played 923 games, scoring 50 goals and 237 points. Among all players selected 68th, he’s second in points and games played.
Ruutu played 652 career games, scoring 58 goals and 142 points. That’s good for the third-most goals, and fourth-most points and games for players picked in this spot.
Chris Tamer (1990) played 644 games with 21 goals and 85 points, while Dave Karpa (1991) played 18 goals and 89 points in 557 games. Eric Gryba (2006) and Bill Stewart (1977) each played over 200 games, while Jean-François Jacques (2003), Zac Jones (2019), and Joel Lundqvist (2000) each played over 100 games. The latter is the brother of Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist.
There is just one player selected 68th overall since 2010 who didn’t play in 2025-26. John Draeger (2012) played four seasons at Michigan State University, but hasn’t played since 2015-16. The only 68th overall selection to play an NHL game last season was Cousins.
Jérôme Leduc (2010) played in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey. Niklas Hansson (2013) never played in the NHL and spent the 2025-26 season in Sweden. Valiev (2014) played in Russia’s version of the AHL, while Mārtiņš Dzierkals (2015) played in Czechia. Cam Dineen (2016) played with the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL team.
Scott Walford (2017) spent the 2025-26 season in Sweden and Tyler Madden (2018) spent his season in Germany. Jones has 115 games under his belt, including 46 with the Rangers in 2024-25. However, he spent last season in the AHL.
As did Lukas Cormier (2020), scoring eight goals and 47 points in 49 AHL games. Cormier is a left-shot defenceman with two NHL games played, so if a spot opens up on the Vegas Golden Knights, he’s a good bet to get some games in 2026-27.
Ty Nelson (2022) also spent his season in the AHL and Jesse Kiiskinen (2023) joined him late in the season after playing 54 games in Finland. Another Finn, Samu Salminen (2021), won the National Championship with Denver last season, and was teammates of Flames’ prospect Eric Jamieson.
In the last two seasons Ethan Procyszyn (2024) was picked by the Anaheim Ducks and Will Reynolds (2025) was picked by the Seattle Kraken. Both players played in the Canadian Hockey League.
Since the 1969 draft, 27 players selected 68th overall have gone on to play a game in the NHL. Only seven of those players didn’t reach the double-digit game mark. Additionally, 14 players selected 68th overall went on to play at least 100 games in the league.
What a difference a pick makes
While the Flames possess the 68th overall pick, they’ll actually make the 67th pick. That selection has produced a Hall of Famer, Mark Recchi, as well as an All-Star, Rob Brown. Ulf Samuelsson had a long career, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992.
Former Flame Kris Russell was also selected 67th overall, as was Morgan Geekie, a late bloomer who is bound to wind up an All-Star if he continues his strong play. Last season with the Boston Bruins, he scored 39 goals and 68 points, up from 33 goals and 57 points in 2024-25.
While the 68th overall pick likely won’t produce an All-Star, there are still solid role players to find this late in the draft. And who knows, maybe the Flames will find the first Hall of Famer selected 68th overall.
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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