When you look at the history of the Calgary Flames franchise at the NHL Draft, there’s a long history of the club’s scouts and general managers looking at market inefficiencies and going “Aw man, teams are dumb if they overlook players for these reasons…”

The Flames have found players in unique places because other teams weren’t looking there. And they’ve gotten a few really good players because other teams thought they were too small.

A product of the New Jersey suburbs outside of Philadelphia, Gaudreau was incredibly talented at hockey but he was small. In every level of hockey he excelled, but onlookers doubted he could translate that success to a higher level. He was playing with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints in 2010-11, as a 17-year-old, and was one of the top offensive players in that league.

But because the USHL wasn’t yet considered a high-end proving ground for hockey players and Gaudreau was small, Gaudreau wasn’t expected to be drafted especially high in 2011. The Flames attempted to camouflage their interest in Gaudreau, as Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli was a part-owner of the Fighting Saints, and when they built their draft list they kept Gaudreau (and Nikita Kucherov) “boxed” separate from the list with the idea that they would try to grab one of them when an opportunity emerged.

After Kucherov was selected at 58th overall – one spot after the Flames selected Tyler Wotherspoon – the Flames crossed their fingers and hoped that nobody would select Gaudreau before their next pick, nearly 50 slots later. Their luck held, though, and the Flames selected Gaudreau at 104th overall.

Gaudreau moved from the USHL to Boston College the following fall, and put together three really strong collegiate seasons. After two seasons the Flames made overtures to see if he wanted to go pro, but he opted to stay on for his junior year so he could play a season with his younger brother, Matthew. (When Johnny was choosing a college, he opted to choose a place that would also recruit Matthew, with the idea that they would be able to play together.)

At the end of the 2013-14 season, Gaudreau was named the Hobey Baker Award winner as college hockey’s top player, signed his entry-level deal with the Flames, and flew to Vancouver along with teammate Bill Arnold to start his NHL career. From then on, aside from a brief lull to start 2014-15 and a one-game healthy scratch, Gaudreau was one of the most consistent and dynamic offensive players in Flames franchise history.

During his run with the Flames, Gaudreau was named to the All-Rookie Team and the First All-Star Team. He won the Lady Byng Trophy as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player. In addition to the honours he won, he received Lady Byng votes another seven times (finishing fourth for the award twice) and Hart Trophy votes twice (finishing fourth twice). His 40-goal, 115-point output in 2021-22 is second in Flames franchise history in points and first when era-adjusted, surpasses Kent Nilsson’s 131-point 1980-81 season. If you’re a plus/minus person, his +64 in 2021-22 was a single-season franchise record.

Gaudreau left the Flames in free agency during the 2022 off-season, a decision at the time that general manager Brad Treliving noted was for family reasons. Subsequently, Gaudreau shared in interviews that the idea was to be closer to family – he and his wife were eight months pregnant, and his father had recently had a health scare. When Gaudreau left the Flames, he was fifth on their all-time leaderboard in assists and points.

Gaudreau was with the Flames for awhile and was a very good and occasionally elite performer. He was picked late enough in the draft that expectations were fairly low for someone in his draft slot. The only reason he’s not higher on this list is that the Flames didn’t get any assets back when he left. He is, simply put, one of the best Flames ever and one of their best draft selections ever.

This article is a presentation of Platinum Mitsubishi, family owned and operated by lifelong Calgarians. Home of the industry-leading 10-year, 160,000-kilometre powertrain warranty. Check out their showroom at 2720 Barlow Trail NE or online at www.mitsu.ca.