The Calgary Flames have officially not won the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery and will be sending their 16th overall pick to the Montreal Canadiens.
The Flames entered the lottery with the lowest odds at 0.5% since they finished 16th last in the NHL.
They owned five lottery ball combinations:
They did not have the opportunity to select first or second overall since teams are only allowed to move up a maximum of 10 spots in the draft. If they had won the lottery, the highest they could pick was sixth overall. In this extremely unlikely scenario, the Flames would have kept their pick.
The Flames will send their 16th pick to the Canadiens due to the trade orchestrated by former General Manager Brad Treliving that sent Sean Monahan and a first-round pick to the Canadiens for absolutely nothing in return.
The condition on the pick stipulated that if the pick was in the top 10, the Flames could keep the pick and send the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick instead. Since the Flames pick is 16th overall, the Flames are forced to hand it over to Montreal.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Flames. Due to the trade made by Craig Conroy that sent Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils for Kevin Bahl and a first round pick, the Flames own the Devils’ 2025 first rounder which is 18th overall, just two spots after their own pick.
The Flames also own the Panthers’ first rounder which could be anywhere between 22nd and 32nd overall, depending on how they finish in the playoffs.
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