Lynden played his way through high-end B.C. prep teams and was a second-round pick by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft. He just finished his third season with the Warriors, a run that’s seen him win a WHL Championship and compete for a Memorial Cup.

Over at Dobber Prospects, Luke Sweeney wrote this scouting report in January:

Lakovic is an intriguing player due to his combination of skating, size, playmaking, and raw skill. Lakovic cannot really be considered a power forward at this time. His game doesn’t centre around driving inside or using his body and physicality to gain the net front. Instead, Lakovic creates most of his value through playmaking, puck carrying, and rush offence.

At the CHL/USA Prospect Challenge, Lakovic showed more of the things that NHL teams look for, displaying energy on the forecheck, dropping the shoulder on the rush, and finding quality looks for his teammates. The question with Lakovic is whether he’ll be able to develop a more physical, consistent game, and—with the trade deadline departure of Brayden Yager —whether he’ll have the support to do so.

Over at Daily Faceoff, our pal Steven Ellis wrote this rundown of Lakovic’s game in his April draft rankings:

Lakovic is so much fun to watch, and while he’s not putting up explosive offensive numbers, he reads plays so well and has an excellent shot. Things just seem to happen whenever he has the puck on the rush, and at 6-foot-4, he’s got tremendous size. Some scouts think he’s going to be more of a second-liner at best. He drives the play a bit like Dmitri Voronkov, but I’d like to see it more consistently. Some scouts think he’s not a good enough skater to go high in the draft, but I like his NHL potential.

He’s big! He’s smart! He makes plays! His skating may or may not be up to snuff. But coming from a family that put someone in the NHL, he probably understands the sacrifices needed to succeed at pro hockey. He’s the type of player that a lot of NHL clubs would value at the draft.

The numbers

The cool thing about Lakovic is he’s played a lot of high-end hockey. He has 152 regular season WHL games under his belt, more than basically every other potential first-rounder from the WHL. For reference, Jackson Smith, Ben Kindel and Braeden Cootes all have played around 130 games apiece – Lakovic has played about 20 games more. So NHL teams probably have a big book on Lakovic’s progression.

In 2024-25, Lakovic had 27 goals and 31 assists for 58 points in 47 games. (He missed about six weeks with a lower-body injury mid-season.) Despite missing time, he was 64th in the WHL in points and 43rd in goals.

Among the 2025 draft crop, he was fifth in goals (behind Carter Bear, Cameron Schmidt, Ben Kindel and Nathan Behm) and seventh in points (behind Kindel, Cole Reschny, Bear, Schmidt, Behm and Braeden Cootes). And again: that’s despite missing a chunk of the season. On a per-game basis, he was among the top-producing players in the 2025 draft class.

Availability and fit

Do the Flames have a lot of left-shot forwards? Yes. Do they have a lot of players with Lakovic’s interesting mix of size and skill? Not really. The Flames could use more big, skilled forwards, and so while they have an ample amount of southpaws, Lakovic could be someone they consider.

That said, it’s not clear if Lakovic will remain on the board when the Flames select at 18th overall. He appears throughout the middle third of the first round on various draft rankings – typically somewhere between 15th and 17th – but he’s as early as 11th on some rankings and as late as 30th on some. FC Hockey and Daily Faceoff both have him ranked at 17th in their spring rankings.

The Flames probably prefer going for centres early in the 2025 NHL Draft. But we can imagine them being tempted if Lakovic is still available when they make their first selection.