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Flames score an A- on the first day of the 2025 NHL Draft
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Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jun 28, 2025, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 28, 2025, 12:30 EDT
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On Friday, the first round of the 2025 draft took place.
Of the 32 picks in round one, the Calgary Flames had two: the 18th overall pick and the 32nd overall pick. With the 18th overall pick, they selected Cole Reschny, followed by Cullen Potter with the 32nd overall pick.
The question is, how did they fare in the first round of the draft? Let’s grade it.

The Reschny pick

Born in Macklin, Saskatchewan, Reschny has played parts of the last three seasons with the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League. Becoming a regular in 2023-24, the left-shot centre scored 21 goals and 59 points in 61 games.
He upped those numbers in 2024-25 with the Royals, scoring 26 goals with an incredible 66 assists for 92 points. Reschny only got better in the post-season, scoring nine goals and 25 points in the Royals’ 11 playoff games.
Reschny is a great skater with a solid two-way game. He was also considered one of the best playmakers in the 2025 draft, but more importantly, he fills a need as the Flames desperately need centres. Last season, he had a 56% faceoff percentage, and while he stands at 5’11”, centre is a position he’ll likely stay at.

The Potter pick

With the last pick of the very long evening, the Flames used the pick they received from the Florida Panthers to select Potter. Like Reschny, he’s under six feet, either standing at 5’10” or 5’9” depending on the publication, which is essentially 6 feet, right?
Last season with Arizona State University, the left-shot centre scored 13 goals and nine assists for 22 points in 35 games, a reversal of his point totals with the U.S. National Development Team in 2023-24 (nine goals, 13 assists in 35 games). If that doesn’t sound impressive, Potter played a portion of his season as a 17-year-old against players in their early 20s.
He’s a good play driver and a skilled player, playing on the Sun Devils’ power play, but not the penalty kill, averaging about 20 minutes a night. Defensively, he’s sound, which is something incredibly important for a centre.

The first round’s grade

The Flames’ need for this draft was centre prospects, but their priority for the Flames coming into this draft was selecting the best player available. They were able to do both with their two picks.
Reschny’s consolidated ranking on Elite Prospects is 21st, but TSN’s Bob McKenzie had the centre 19th, TSN’s Craig Button 14th, Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis 16th, and Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala 17th. Most of these accounted for his post-season run, and it’s hard to argue Justin Carbonneau, Pyotr Andreyanov, Cameron Reid, Bill Zonnon, Logan Hensler, or Will Horcoff were the better prospects available than Reschny. That said, this wasn’t a steal, as he was drafted around where he was projected to be.
There is an argument to be made that Potter was a steal of a pick. His consolidated ranking on Elite Prospects was right after Reschny’s at 22. McKenzie had Potter 21st, The Hockey Network’s Tony Ferrari had him 12th, Ellis had Potter 17th, and Bukala had him 25th. All four had Potter going higher than where the Flames picked him.
Obviously, we won’t know how these two players fare until much further down the road, but the immediate grade is that it looks like the Flames did pretty well. Let’s give them an A-.
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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