With 28 days to go before the Calgary Flames take the podium with a figurative mountain of draft picks. Today, lets look at Flames past, present and future in order to dig up a few choice nuggets to serve up to your friends about Calgary’s outlook at the draft.
One major sticking point? The Flames are headed into the draft set to break a franchise record:
Most selections made in the first two rounds.
Six picks total. Two firsts and four second round picks.
The current franchise record for most picks made in rounds one and two is a four-way tie: 2024, 1997, 1990, 1980. Those big swings have been a contrast of “well done, boys” and “this may have been the worst draft in franchise history”. Let’s dive into four of Calgary’s most top-heavy drafts.
1980 – 1 first round pick, 3 second round picks
Calgary’s first draft after relocation warranted solid results. One first and three seconds. Dennis Cyr (13th), Tony Curtale (31st), Kevin LaVallee (32nd) and Steve Konroyd (39th).
Cyr, a right winger, played a respectable 193 games in the NHL including 66 with the Flames. Cyr was traded for Carey Wilson, who was traded in a package for Shane Churla and Dana Murzyn. Churla was moved for Brian MacLellan at the 1989 Trade Deadline. Both Murzyn and MacLellan played major parts in Calgary’s 1989 Stanley Cup Championship.
This is all to say that Cyr held more value than his total games played may imply. Curtale played a disappointing two NHL games, but Konroyd and LaVallee combined for 1261 regular season appearances.
It’s worth noting that none of those players remained on the roster by the time the Flames entered contention. Konroyd lasted the longest, but was moved at the 1986 Trade Deadline along with Richard Kromm in exchange for left winger, John Tonelli, who had previously won four Stanley Cups, Canada Cup MVP, and had garnered Selke votes.
The Flames made the Cup Final that year, but fell to Montreal in five games.
Every year is going to be as good 1980, right?
Yes. We at HHS promise that all four of the drafts that the Flames made four picks in the first two rounds will be slammers.
Just kidding. Buckle up. 1990 makes a case for worst draft of all time.
1990 – 1 first round pick, 4 second round picks (before the trade)
Let’s get a fun fact out of the way: the last time the Flames moved up at the draft was 36 years ago. Maybe there is a bit of trauma blocking a return to that concept. Let’s look at what their draft floor blockbuster trade looked like:
To Calgary:
1990 First round pick (NJ-11th) – Trevor Kidd
1990 Second Round Pick – (NJ-32nd) Vesa Viitakoski
To New Jersey:
1990 First round pick (CGY-20th) – Martin Brodeur
1990 Second round pick (DET-24th) – David Harlock
1990 Second round pick (MIN-29th) – Chris Gotziaman
Just find yourself the nearest eye wash station and get yourself in order.
Yes, just over a year separated from their Stanley Cup victory, the Flames were stacked with draft capital.
Kidd put up a solid, .901 save percentage over 387 games, but he’s not, well, the best goalie of all time. Many hockey fans are of the opinion that Martin Brodeur is that guy.
Three Stanley Cups, four Vezinas, a Calder and six Jennings Trophies as well as two Olympic gold medals support that. A .912 save percentage over 1266 games. Here is a few more:
-Most games played all-time (1266)
-Most wins all time (691)
-Most shutouts (125)
-Most 40 win seasons (8)
-Tied for most wins in a season with Braden Holtby (48)
In it’s simplest form, Martin Brodeur has made the most saves of any goalie in NHL history.
The NHL records page has a giant banner of Martin Brodeur right at the top.
The success of the two second round picks that went to Jersey is irrelevant, but for the record, Harlock played a respectable 212 games after leaving the Devils organization as a UFA and Gotziaman never panned out.
Calgary’s three second round picks in 1990 amassed a total of 23 games—all from left winger Vesa Viitakoski; who is now an assistant coach for SaiPa in the Finnish Liiga. Good times.
1997 – 1 first round pick, 3 second round picks
OK. We need a palette cleanser. Maybe let’s start with a positive about the top of the 1997 draft:
Calgary’s 2024 draft class is already outshining the top four in ‘97 in games played. Zayne Parekh and Matvei Gridin amassed 75 games last year. That passes Daniel Tzaczuk (19), Evan Lindsay (0), John Tripp (43), and Dmitri Kokorev (0) in total career games played by 13.
We don’t want to make things worse, but Tzaczuk was selected in the same high slot that Calgary currently holds with their top pick this year: sixth overall.
Arguably Calgary’s second-worst draft ever (1990 reigns supreme) due to the amount of wasted draft capital, it’s probably best to forget. Bottle it up in the cellar along with any series loss to the Oilers, the Wideman Effect, and that one particularly miserable loss to the Canucks in a meaningless game 82 back in 2010.
2024 – 2 first round picks, 2 second round picks
We’re almost two years separated, and this draft looks promising. Zayne Parekh finally started breaking through in the latter half of 2025-26, as did Matvei Gridin.
The other two picks were all-positions forward Andrew Basha, who returned to Junior and put up strong numbers with Medicine Hat, and winger Jacob Battaglia, who was traded at the deadline last March for 23 year old left winger Brennan Othmann.
Currently, it looks like the Flames have two stars, a solid top-six option, and a middle-six power forward primed to push for an NHL job to show for their first two rounds in 2024.
Looking Forward
The fun of the NHL Entry Draft is the uncertainty. The Flames currently have enough prime selections in 2026 to make it difficult to follow the success and story of each player taken within the first 64 picks. That, in itself, is a lot of fun.
Along with that uncertainty is the lingering potential of trades.
Do the Flames move up or down? Do they amass picks and punt a second or two down the road in order to more successfully manage their contract limit? Can they use those picks to move into the top two, and will the player selected 6th with their traded pick turn into the best player at their position of all time?
The fun is in finding out. With the Flames scouting crew on a roll in their last few drafts, there is room for optimism. One certainty is that June 26 and 27 will be a franchise-altering day for the Calgary Flames.
In the words of the venerable Peter Loubardias: Look. Out.
Statistics courtesy of Cap Wages, Elite Prospects, Money Puck and the National Hockey League.
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