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The Flames have never, ever (ever) won a draft lottery drawing
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Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Pike
May 3, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: May 3, 2026, 02:07 EDT
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The National Hockey League has been using the draft lottery, in various forms, to determine the first round draft order since 1995.
The Calgary Flames, by virtue of missing the playoffs from time to time, have been part of several of these draft lotteries. And there’s been a constant for the Flames in the lottery: never winning
The lottery has changed formats frequently over the years, but the Flames have yet to win a single draw in any traditional format. (They technically won a drawing in 2005, but that “won” them the 26th overall spot after not winning the previous 25 draws that year.)
Here’s a look at back how things have gone for the Flames at the lottery over the years.

The one draw era

From 1995-2004 and 2006-2012, the non-playoff teams were involved in a single draw to determine the first round draft order. Initially, teams could only move up a maximum of four draft spots.
The Flames made the playoffs in 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2015, so they weren’t in those lotteries. During this era of the lottery, they were in 12 draws and won zero of them.
1997 (5.9% odds): The Flames remained at 6th overall, selecting Daniel Tkaczuk.
1998 (5.9% odds): The Flames remained at 6th overall, selecting Rico Fata.
1999 (2.7% odds): The Flames remained at 9th overall. They traded down to 11th overall as part of a trade with the NY Rangers that landed them Marc Savard, selecting Oleg Saprykin.
2000 (2.7% odds): The Flames remained at 9th overall, selecting Brent Krahn.
2001 (1.5% odds): The Flames remained at 11th overall. They traded down to 14th overall with Phoenix, selecting Chuck Kobasew.
2002 (2.7% odds): The Flames remained at 9th overall. They traded down to 10th overall with Florida, selecting Eric Nystrom.
2003 (2.7% odds): The Flames remained at 9th overall, selecting Dion Phaneuf.
2010 (0.8% odds): The Flames remained at 13th overall, but they had already traded that pick to Phoenix as part of the Olli Jokinen trade.
2011 (0.8% odds): The Flames remained at 13th overall, selecting Sven Baertschi.
2012 (0.5% odds): The Flames remained at 14th overall. They traded down to 21st overall with Buffalo, selecting Mark Jankowski.
Between 2013 and 2015, the NHL changed the lottery rules so any team winning the draw could move up to first overall.
2013 (6.2% odds): The Flames remained at 6th overall, selecting Sean Monahan.
2014 (10.7% odds): The Flames remained at 4th overall, selecting Sam Bennett.

An aside: the 2005 lockout lottery

Because there was no 2004-05 season, the NHL used past performances both in the playoffs and the draft lottery to determine lottery odds. 48 balls were placed in a tumbler.
  • If a team had missed the playoffs in each of 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04, and hadn’t gotten the first overall selection in any of the past four drafts (2001 to 2004), they had three balls (and a 6.3% chance at winning the first drawing).
  • If they met one of the two requirements, they had two balls (and a 4.2% chance).
  • If they met neither of the requirements, they had one ball (and a 2.1% chance).
The entire draft order was selected this way, with 29 draws made to choose the first round’s order, then the order snaking back and forth for the rest of the draft.
The Flames had a 4.2% chance of winning the initial draw, then ended up at 26th overall – meaning they lost the first 25 draws they were in, eventually getting chosen on the 26th drawing when their odds had escalated to 35.6%. They drafted Matt Pelech.

The three draw era

Between 2016 and 2020, the NHL changed to a three draw system, with separate draws for the first three spots in the first round. Every non-playoff team had a chance to win the top three picks.
The Flames made the playoffs in 2017, 2019 and 2020, so they weren’t involved in those drawings. They participated in two lotteries, with three draws each, losing every draw.
2016 (8.5% odds): The Flames moved down in the lottery for the first time, a consequence of Winnipeg winning the 2nd overall draw, dropping from 5th to 6th overall. They drafted Matthew Tkachuk.
2018 (2.5% odds): The Flames remained at 12th overall, but they had already traded this pick to the NY Islanders as part of the Travis Hamonic trade.

The two draw era

Starting with 2021, the NHL switched to two lottery draws, adding the provision that teams can only move up a maximum of 10 spots via the lottery. The Flames made the playoffs in 2022, and have participated in four lotteries under this format, losing each drawing.
2021 (2.1% odds): The Flames remained at 13th overall, selecting Matt Coronato.
2023 (0.5% odds): The Flames remained at 16th overall, selecting Sam Honzek.
2024 (5.0% odds): The Flames remained at 9th overall, selecting Zayne Parekh.
2025 (0.5% odds): The Flames remained at 16th overall, and the pick transferred to Montreal to complete the needlessly convoluted conditions of the Sean Monahan trade from 2022.
The Flames are one of six franchises that haven’t won a single lottery draw yet. The others are Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, Vancouver and Vegas. The luckiest team in the lottery era is Chicago, who have won five different draws over the years.
The Flames head into Tuesday night’s drawing with pretty straightforward stakes. There’s a 19.3% chance they move up, 65.3% chance they move down, and 15.4% chance they stay put at 4th overall.
We’ll see how things unfold at the 2026 edition of the NHL Draft Lottery, broadcast on Sportsnet on Tuesday evening.
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