Given the current direction of the Calgary Flames, a lot of discussion has recently centred around the club’s drafting and player development.

For the club to build themselves up to sustainable contention, they’re going to need to draft well and develop players effectively into NHLers. A player reaching 200 games is generally considered the benchmark for a successful draft pick.

Well, a trio of homegrown Flames draft choices could hit that mark in 2026-27.

A product of Long Island, New York, Coronato played his junior hockey with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. He was drafted by the Flames in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Coronato spent a couple seasons at Harvard University before going pro at the tail-end of the 2022-23 season. He’s been a fun developmental story because he made the NHL roster out of camp in 2023-24 but was sent down to the AHL after the whole team just had a lousy October. He kept building his game, though, and he became a full-time NHLer in 2024-25 and never looked back.

Coronato has played 192 NHL games and will hit 200 in October.

A Saskatoon kid, Zary plied his trade with the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers and impressed as a hard-nosed offensive-minded centre. He was drafted by the Flames in the first round, 24th overall, in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Zary went pro after another year in junior – sorta, it was that weird COVID year where the Dub barely had a season – and then went full-time pro in 2021-22. Like Coronato, Zary’s done a great job building his game. And unlike Coronato, Zary had to battle through injuries and questions about whether he should be a centre or a winger.

Zary’s been a full-time NHLer since early in 2023-24 – ironically enough, he came up in the same series of transactions that sent Coronato to the minors early that season – but we’re still seeking some clarity on what specific role he’ll end up carving out.

He’s played 191 NHL games and should hit 200 in October.

A product of Zvolen, Slovakia, Pospisil played a couple seasons with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers and was a fourth-round pick by the Flames in the 2018 NHL Draft. He signed his entry-level deal right away and joined the Flames’ farm system.

Man, Pospisil was a really fun minor-league player with horrible injury luck. In 2023-24, he managed to avoid injury and maintain some strong play long enough to get an early call-up… and he has basically been an NHLer ever since. He’s primarily been a utility forward, bouncing around whichever line needs a physical centre or winger that can score from time to time, but he’s still had to deal with injuries unfortunately.

Pospisil has played 166 NHL games and he’ll hopefully hit 200 sometime mid-season.

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