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The Flames ‘want to move up’ from 6th overall in 2026 NHL Draft: report
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Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
May 24, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: May 24, 2026, 00:38 EDT
Folks, this could be a big draft for the Calgary Flames.
Due to a slew of trades by general manager Craig Conroy involving a few prominent players, the Flames have 11 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft at the end of June. Included in that tally are two first-round picks, four second-round picks and two third-round picks.
In the first round, the Flames have been assigned the sixth overall selection following the results of the draft lottery, which saw the Flames slide back two spots. As of right now, Toronto picks first and San Jose picks second, followed by Vancouver at third, Chicago at fourth, the NY Rangers at fifth and the Flames at sixth.
However, on Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta discussed the distinct possibility of the Flames trying to trade up.
“It looks like they want to move up or at least try to, to see if… They were hopeful they were going to get a better pick. They move down. They’re hopeful that they can figure something out here, maybe move up to two, maybe three, four. I mean, they’re going to talk to, I would imagine, all of those teams to see what the price tags are and what the appetite is to move up or for those teams to potentially move down. We know San Jose is willing to listen on number two. We know Chicago is willing to listen on four. I think different motivation on both. I think San Jose is willing to move back. I think Chicago is willing to move the pick entirely. If it brings in a legitimate NHL caliber top six in his 20s type of player to play with either Bedard or Frondell. So we’ll see kind of where Chicago goes with that and how that impacts the Calgary Flames. They’re not the only ones. I think the Rangers want to move up too. So we’ll see kind of where that all goes. But there’s definitely interest there.”
Pagnotta also discussed the Flames being essentially open for business, which is consistent with what’s we’ve been hearing in-market since the fall and what several out-of-market voices have been indicating since the season ended, including Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco.
The Flames have had three pretty successful drafts, and they seem to be pretty happy with the amount of depth they have across their prospect base in every position. That said, they lack game-stealing talent, and the top of the draft is the place to get it. And between their many, many picks early in the 2026 draft and the amount of prospect depth they have, this might be their best chance to make a move up the draft order to grab that game-stealing player they so sorely desire.
We’ll see if they can pull off that type of big move.
Check out Pagnotta’s full appearance on Daily Faceoff Live below.
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