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The placement of the Flames’ first-round pick from Vegas is becoming clearer
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Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
May 15, 2026, 16:00 EDTUpdated: May 15, 2026, 14:36 EDT
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Gang, the Calgary Flames have many, many draft choices in the 2026 NHL Draft.
After the draft lottery earlier this month, we know that the Flames will select at sixth overall. They are owed a first-round pick from Vegas in this year’s draft to complete the Noah Hanifin trade from prior to the 2024 trade deadline. With the Vegas Golden Knights progressing through the Stanley Cup playoffs, the placement of their first-round pick is becoming much clearer.
This year, here’s how the order of the final few picks in the first round of the NHL Draft will be set:
  • As punishment for the Evgenii Dadonov missing no-trade clause controversy from 2022, Ottawa will select at 32nd overall, the final spot in the first round. (They previously had their first round pick taken away, but it was subsequently reinstated with this condition.)
  • The Stanley Cup winner will draft 31st.
  • The Stanley Cup runner-up will draft 30th.
  • The conference final loser with the most regular season points will draft 29th.
  • The conference final loser with the least regular season points will draft 28th.
Vegas will be playing the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final. Meanwhile, Carolina will be facing Buffalo or Montreal in the Eastern Conference Final. With 95 points in the regular season, Vegas will be the conference finalist with the fewest regular season points regardless of whether Buffalo (109) or Montreal (106) advance.
Long story short, here’s what matters from a Flames drafting perspective:
  1. The Flames own Vegas’ 2026 first-round pick, with zero conditions on it.
  2. If Vegas loses to Colorado in the conference final, that pick will be 28th overall.
  3. If Vegas loses in the Stanley Cup Final, that pick will be 30th overall.
  4. If Vegas wins the Stanley Cup, that pick will be 31st overall and, as a condition of the January 2026 trade that sent Rasmus Andersson to Vegas, the Flames will receive Vegas’ 2028 first-round pick (instead of the 2028 second-round pick already included in that trade).
In other words: the next round or two of the Stanley Cup playoffs have some fairly specific draft-related stakes for the Flames. We’ll see how things pan out.

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