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The Flames could be making a ton of picks in June’s NHL Draft
Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Gang, we’re about 10 weeks away from a pretty important two days on the National Hockey League calendar: the annual entry draft.
Since Craig Conroy became general manager in May 2023, the Flames have really done what Conroy said they would: attempt to build through the draft. The Flames have made 24 picks over the past three drafts. They’re primed to make many picks, and early ones at that, in the 2026 edition of the draft.
Here’s a snapshot of where things sit with just a few days remaining in the 2025-26 regular season.
The picks
As of Sunday evening, the Flames have control of the following 11 draft choices:
- 1st round, 3rd overall
- 1st round, 18th overall (from Vegas in the Noah Hanifin trade)
- 2nd round, 35th overall
- 2nd round, 36th overall (the Rangers’ pick; from Utah in the MacKenzie Weegar trade)
- 2nd round, 52nd overall (from Utah in the Weegar trade)
- 2nd round, 54th overall (the Senators’ pick; from Utah in the Weegar trade)
- 3rd round, 65th overall (from Vancouver in the Nikita Zadorov trade)
- 3rd round, 67th overall
- 4th round, 99th overall
- 5th round, 131st overall
- 6th round, 163rd overall
Since the NHL Draft moved to seven rounds in 2005, the Flames have made 138 picks – an average of 6.6 picks per year. The most picks the Flames have made in the current era is 10, which happened in 2024.
Some historical context
The most first-round picks the Flames have ever made is three in 2013 – Sean Monahan (6th), Emile Poirier (22nd) and Morgan Klimchuk (28th). This is the third consecutive year they’re slated to have multi first-rounders.
The most selections the Flames have made in the first two rounds is four, which has happened four times:
- In 2024: Zayne Parekh (9th), Matvei Gridin (28th), Andrew Basha (41st) and Jacob Battaglia (62nd)
- In 1997: Daniel Tkaczuk (6th), Evan Lindsay (32nd), John Tripp (42nd) and Dmitri Kokorev (51st)
- In 1990: Trevor Kidd (11th), Nicolas Perreault (26th), Vesa Viitakoski (32nd) and Etienne Belzile (41st)
- In 1980: Denis Cyr (13th), Tony Curtale (31st), Kevin LaVallee (32nd) and Steve Konroyd (39th)
The Flames have control of six picks in the first two rounds of the 2026 draft.
The most selections the Flames have made in the first three rounds is six, which has happened twice:
- In 2024: Parekh, Gridin, Basha, Battaglia, Henry Mews (74th) and Kirill Zarubin (84th)
- In 1997: Tkaczuk, Lindsay, Tripp, Kokorev, Derek Schutz (60th) and Erik Andersson (70th)
The Flames have control of eight picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft.
As you can see: quality and quantity have not exactly gone hand-in-hand in Flames draft history. (At least where 1997 is concerned.)
Is there an ideal number of picks for the Flames to be making in this year’s draft? Especially given they’ve had a few pretty strong drafts in recent years? We’ll be digging into the pros and cons of many picks, and the Flames’ chances to potentially move up given the many picks they have, in the coming weeks.
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