The 2025 NHL Draft is a couple weeks away, and we’re taking a trip down memory lane as we count down the 20 best draft selections in Calgary Flames history.

We’ve already counted down through the 20th through 16th-best selections in franchise history. Now it’s time for another five, the 15th through 11th-best picks.

When online Flames writing fixture Kent Wilson describes “functional toughness,” he may be thinking about Gary Roberts. A mid-first-round pick in 1984, Roberts became one of the best players of that era of the franchise. He was never the play-driver – that was usually Theo Fleury – nor was he the distributor – that was usually Joe Nieuwendyk – but man, Roberts was one heck of a puck retriever. He won the Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989.

Equally proficient at crashing and banging in the corners to get the puck as he was using his shot, Roberts had seasons where he scored 38, 39, 41 and 53 goals. The latter stages of his 10 seasons with the Flames featured a few injury-ravaged seasons – he played just eight games in 1994-95, for instance – but he was a well-respected figure on the team and received regular consideration for the Selke Trophy and the year-end all-star teams.

After Roberts missed the entire 1996-97 season with an injury, the Flames sent him and Trevor Kidd to Carolina in exchange for Andrew Cassels and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, with the idea being that the East’s lessened travel schedule would prolong Roberts’ career. (It worked; he played another 11 seasons before retiring.)

Alright, we know that there’s some question regarding Andersson’s long-term future with the Flames. And we don’t need to litigate the pros and cons of a contract extension. But let’s call a spade a spade: man, he’s been a really good Flame. A standout in the OHL, he was selected with a draft choice the Flames received from trading Sven Baertschi to Vancouver. Andersson was initially criticized for his fitness coming out of junior, as he was talented enough that he didn’t need to be in incredible shape at prior levels of hockey.

Well, Andersson responded to the criticisms and got himself into great shape. As a consequence, he worked himself onto the Flames’ roster and has been a full-time NHL player since 2018-19. Moreover, Andersson has brought a swagger and confidence to the club; he plays with a chip on his shoulder, and is arguably the most notorious chirper on the club. An alternate captain for the past few seasons, Andersson has become a really important player on and off the ice for the Flames.

Time will tell where his future lies, but you cannot deny Andersson’s impact on the Flames or the value of his selection.

One of the first gems that Cliff Fletcher found outside of the first round, Vail impressed in the OHL and gave the Flames confidence that he could be an impactful NHLer. He became a full-time Flame in 1974-75, winning the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie – becoming the first player in franchise history to win a major award.

Vail spent nine seasons with the Flames, scoring with regularity and flirting with the 30-goal mark seemingly every season – he potted 39 as a rookie, and then had two more 30-plus campaigns and two where he scored 28 and just fell short. Vail never quite grew his game beyond being a very good player, but he was a really consistent contributor to the Flames during his time with the club.

Early in the 1981-82 campaign, the Flames made a change, sending Vail to Detroit in exchange for Gary McAdam, a 1982 fourth-rounder and a 1983 fourth-rounder.

An Ontario product, Brodie was selected by the Flames in the 2008 draft, utilizing a conditional pick they received from Boston in the Andrew Ference trade – Brad Stuart didn’t re-sign with the Flames, so they got the pick they used to select Brodie.

Brodie originally made the Flames as a 20-year-old and after splitting some time with the big club and their AHL affiliates for a few seasons, he cemented himself as a regular starting in 2013-14. A fantastic skater with a talent for connecting on breakaway passes, Brodie was arguably the platonic ideal of the high-end complimentary blueliner. He was never the player that the Flames built a defensive pairing around, but he was often part of the club’s top unit because he could play with just about anybody.

Brodie never quite reached the upper-tier of NHL blueliners, but he received occasional award and year-end all-star votes, and he was consistently very good. He left the Flames as a free agent during the 2020 off-season after spending roughly a decade on the NHL roster.

In 2013, the Flames traded Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester, and were about to lose Miikka Kiprusoff to retirement. They were starting a rebuild. They selected Monahan at sixth overall, and man, Monahan was a home run at that slot.

Monahan made the Flames roster out of training camp right away. Yeah, he was a late birthday and so he was a bit more physically mature than a lot of first-rounders, but he was also able to learn the NHL game pretty quickly and figure out how to play his game effectively at that level. He was able to play with pace and details. He regularly scored 20 or 30 goals per season. He spent nine seasons with the Flames, receiving regular consideration for the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly conduct and a high standard of play.

Monahan was a fantastic Flame, even when he was hampered by injuries late in his tenure. Heck, the only thing keeping him from cracking our top 10 was that the Flames had to send a first-rounder with Monahan to Montreal to free up cap space. (And even that was more about the Flames’ specific salary cap situation than anything about Monahan’s play.)