<p>The Calgary Flames have a few specific needs at the 2025 NHL Draft.</p>
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<p>They need forwards. More specifically, they need centres. More specifically, they need right shot centres. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/04/27/hitmen-forward-ben-kindel-could-be-the-ideal-flames-first-rounder/">We&#8217;ve previously flagged Calgary Hitmen forward Ben Kindel as a really good option for the Flames in the first round</a>. But don&#8217;t overlook another good Western Hockey League product, centre Braeden Cootes of the Seattle Thunderbirds.</p>
<p>So what does Cootes bring to the table that&#8217;s so enticing?</p>
<h2>Scouting report</h2>
<p>A product of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Cootes was born in February 2007. He&#8217;s a right shot forward, primarily a centre, listed at 6&#8217;0&#8243; and 183 pounds.</p>
<p>Cootes played his minor hockey in the Edmonton area, and moved onto the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, B.C. later on. He was selected 10th overall by Seattle in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.</p>
<p>He played a handful of WHL games in 2022-23 – <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2023/05/26/calgary-flames-prospect-lucas-ciona-is-chasing-a-memorial-cup-with-the-seattle-thunderbirds/">Wranglers forward Lucas Ciona, a sixth-round pick by the Flames, captained that Thunderbirds team</a> – before becoming a full-time WHLer in 2023-24. 2024-25 was Cootes&#8217; second full season in the Dub.</p>
<p>Over at Dobber Prospects, <a href="https://dobberprospects.com/player/braeden-cootes/">Luke Sweeney provided this scouting report back in January</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Braeden Cootes is a player NHL teams will have a lot of time for on draft day. What Cootes brings to the table is both obvious and projectable. He plays with absolutely relentless pace, both with the puck, and maybe even more so without it. It’s genuinely shocking the amount of energy that one player can expend on one shift.</p>
<p>Cootes also has a lot of skill, giving him the ability to drive the middle of the ice off the rush. He’s got quick twitch hands, a hard shot, and a snappy release. Cootes also has some solid playmaking instincts, though they’re not put to particularly good use on this particularly poor Seattle team. Cootes’ ceiling might not pop off the page, but his combination of intensity and skill should propel him into an NHL middle-six role.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2025-nhl-draft-rankings-schaefer-misa-hagens-top-75-before-u-18-world-championship">Our pal Steven Ellis at Daily Faceoff included Cootes in his recent draft rankings</a> in April and provided his assessment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="mb-4 text-lg">Cootes might become more of an energy forward in the NHL, but he’ll be a good one at that. The thing that really stands out here is just how much he wants the puck, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Cootes is also a solid playmaker, often easily finding teammates in open space. I think his value goes far beyond his numbers, which you want from a center. He’s not small at six-foot, but he’s not huge, either. That doesn’t seem to hurt him, though, because he’s not afraid to play with an edge. I’ve really grown on Cootes’ game as the season has developed and I’m excited to see him play a solid role with Canada at the U-18s.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the things a lot of scouts really like about <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2024/08/23/flamesnations-2024-calgary-flames-prospect-rankings-5-andrew-basha/">2024 Flames pick Andrew Basha</a> is how he plays with pace, skill, and a chip on his shoulder. If Cootes is a right-shot version of Basha that can play centre, you can see why that would be an enticing type of player.</p>
<h2>The numbers</h2>
<p>In his rookie season in the WHL, 2023-24, Cootes had 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points over 64 games. As a sophomore, he had 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points over 60 games.</p>
<p>This season, Cootes was 48th in points league-wide and tied for 48th in goals. Among first-time NHL Draft eligible players, he was sixth in points (behind Kindel, Cole Reschny, Carter Bear, Cameron Schmidt and Nathan Behm) and tied for sixth in goals (behind Bear, Schmidt, Kindel, Behm and Lynden Lakovic, tied with Reschny).</p>
<p>Statistically, Cootes is pretty good, but not quite in the upper-echelon of WHL prospects in this year&#8217;s draft class.</p>
<h2>Availability and fit</h2>
<p>Generally-speaking, most draft rankings have Cootes as a consensus first-rounder, but likely not until later in the round. He&#8217;s 22nd on FC Hockey&#8217;s recent rankings, 28th for Daily Faceoff, 14th on Corey Pronman&#8217;s rankings at The Athletic and 23rd on Scott Wheeler&#8217;s. Most likely, he&#8217;s a player that would potentially be targeted with the Flames&#8217; second pick – the one they got from Florida.</p>
<p>Would Cootes fit the Flames&#8217; needs? He&#8217;s a right shot forward. He plays centre. He&#8217;s from the Western League. Heck, he&#8217;s in a division and conference within the Western League where the Flames have often drafted, and had success doing so. If Cootes is available late in the first round, we could easily see the Flames call his name. (<a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/05/06/flames-select-pair-whl-forwards-daily-faceoffs-post-lottery-mock-draft/">Heck, Ellis had the Flames taking Cootes with Florida&#8217;s pick in his recent mock draft</a>.)</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong></p>
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The Calgary Flames have a few specific needs at the 2025 NHL Draft.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
They need forwards. More specifically, they need centres. More specifically, they need right shot centres. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/04/27/hitmen-forward-ben-kindel-could-be-the-ideal-flames-first-rounder/">We've previously flagged Calgary Hitmen forward Ben Kindel as a really good option for the Flames in the first round</a>. But don't overlook another good Western Hockey League product, centre Braeden Cootes of the Seattle Thunderbirds.

So what does Cootes bring to the table that's so enticing?
<h2>Scouting report</h2>
A product of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Cootes was born in February 2007. He's a right shot forward, primarily a centre, listed at 6'0" and 183 pounds.

Cootes played his minor hockey in the Edmonton area, and moved onto the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, B.C. later on. He was selected 10th overall by Seattle in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.

He played a handful of WHL games in 2022-23 – <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2023/05/26/calgary-flames-prospect-lucas-ciona-is-chasing-a-memorial-cup-with-the-seattle-thunderbirds/">Wranglers forward Lucas Ciona, a sixth-round pick by the Flames, captained that Thunderbirds team</a> – before becoming a full-time WHLer in 2023-24. 2024-25 was Cootes' second full season in the Dub.

Over at Dobber Prospects, <a href="https://dobberprospects.com/player/braeden-cootes/">Luke Sweeney provided this scouting report back in January</a>:
<blockquote>Braeden Cootes is a player NHL teams will have a lot of time for on draft day. What Cootes brings to the table is both obvious and projectable. He plays with absolutely relentless pace, both with the puck, and maybe even more so without it. It’s genuinely shocking the amount of energy that one player can expend on one shift.

Cootes also has a lot of skill, giving him the ability to drive the middle of the ice off the rush. He’s got quick twitch hands, a hard shot, and a snappy release. Cootes also has some solid playmaking instincts, though they’re not put to particularly good use on this particularly poor Seattle team. Cootes’ ceiling might not pop off the page, but his combination of intensity and skill should propel him into an NHL middle-six role.</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2025-nhl-draft-rankings-schaefer-misa-hagens-top-75-before-u-18-world-championship">Our pal Steven Ellis at Daily Faceoff included Cootes in his recent draft rankings</a> in April and provided his assessment:
<blockquote>
<p class="mb-4 text-lg">Cootes might become more of an energy forward in the NHL, but he’ll be a good one at that. The thing that really stands out here is just how much he wants the puck, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Cootes is also a solid playmaker, often easily finding teammates in open space. I think his value goes far beyond his numbers, which you want from a center. He’s not small at six-foot, but he’s not huge, either. That doesn’t seem to hurt him, though, because he’s not afraid to play with an edge. I’ve really grown on Cootes’ game as the season has developed and I’m excited to see him play a solid role with Canada at the U-18s.</p>
</blockquote>
One of the things a lot of scouts really like about <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2024/08/23/flamesnations-2024-calgary-flames-prospect-rankings-5-andrew-basha/">2024 Flames pick Andrew Basha</a> is how he plays with pace, skill, and a chip on his shoulder. If Cootes is a right-shot version of Basha that can play centre, you can see why that would be an enticing type of player.
<h2>The numbers</h2>
In his rookie season in the WHL, 2023-24, Cootes had 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points over 64 games. As a sophomore, he had 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points over 60 games.

This season, Cootes was 48th in points league-wide and tied for 48th in goals. Among first-time NHL Draft eligible players, he was sixth in points (behind Kindel, Cole Reschny, Carter Bear, Cameron Schmidt and Nathan Behm) and tied for sixth in goals (behind Bear, Schmidt, Kindel, Behm and Lynden Lakovic, tied with Reschny).

Statistically, Cootes is pretty good, but not quite in the upper-echelon of WHL prospects in this year's draft class.
<h2>Availability and fit</h2>
Generally-speaking, most draft rankings have Cootes as a consensus first-rounder, but likely not until later in the round. He's 22nd on FC Hockey's recent rankings, 28th for Daily Faceoff, 14th on Corey Pronman's rankings at The Athletic and 23rd on Scott Wheeler's. Most likely, he's a player that would potentially be targeted with the Flames' second pick – the one they got from Florida.

Would Cootes fit the Flames' needs? He's a right shot forward. He plays centre. He's from the Western League. Heck, he's in a division and conference within the Western League where the Flames have often drafted, and had success doing so. If Cootes is available late in the first round, we could easily see the Flames call his name. (<a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/05/06/flames-select-pair-whl-forwards-daily-faceoffs-post-lottery-mock-draft/">Heck, Ellis had the Flames taking Cootes with Florida's pick in his recent mock draft</a>.)

<strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong>
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WHL forward Braeden Cootes is an intriguing first-round option in 2025 NHL Draft

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