Eight years later: A look back on the Calgary Flames’ 2017 draft class

Much like many Calgary Flames drafts of the late 2010s, the organization went into draft weekend with low expectations due to a lack of draft capital. The 2017 draft was no different, with the team picking just once inside the first three rounds after sending their second and third-round picks away for Curtis Lazar and Michael Stone. Needless to say, the 2017 draft class was an all-time nothing burger for the Flames. Let’s break it down.

16th overall – Juuso Valimaki

With no quality high-end defencemen in the system at the time, the Flames took Finnish blueliner Juuso Valimaki with their one and only pick in the first three rounds. For a couple years, this looked like a slam-dunk pick. After being drafted, Valimaki dominated the WHL with over a point per game in his D+1 season. He then made the jump to the pro ranks during the 2018–19 season, just two years after being drafted.

This is where things started to go downhill, though. During the 2019 offseason, Valimaki suffered a torn ACL in training, which cost him his entire D+3 season. Needless to say, this was a massive setback for his development. He was expected to earn a full-time role on the Flames that season. The next year, Valimaki started the season in Finland due to COVID-19, tearing up the league with 19 points in 19 games. It appeared as though his injury was behind him, and he was back to his old self.

He then spent the entire 2020–21 season in Calgary, skating in 49 of 56 games and registering 11 points. The issue was that he just never found any consistency in his game, and was regularly in eventual Head Coach Darryl Sutter’s doghouse throughout the year. The next year, in 2021–22, Valimaki once again struggled heavily, failing to earn an NHL job and spending almost the entire year in the AHL, where he played mainly on the bottom pairing.

After a lackluster training camp the following fall, Valimaki found himself on waivers in October of 2022, just days before the start of the regular season. He ended up being claimed by the Arizona Coyotes and was out of the organization just five years after being selected in the first round.

109th overall – Adam Ruzicka

The Flames didn’t pick again until 109th overall, selecting big forward Adam Ruzicka out of the OHL. Ruzicka was very much a project pick, and a project he was. He followed up his selection by immediately gaining attention, posting 150 points in 127 junior games over the next two seasons. He followed that up with two real solid years in the AHL, including 21 points in 28 games in 2020–21 at the age of 21.

In 2021–22, Ruzicka earned his first full tryout in Calgary, posting 10 points across 28 games. The next year, he took yet another step forward, earning top-six minutes at times throughout the year and putting up 20 points in 44 games. Unfortunately, that season ended up being a flash in the pan rather than a sign of things to come.

The next year was a tough one for Ruzicka. He posted just nine points in 39 games and found himself scratched on multiple occasions. In January of that season, he was placed on waivers and claimed by none other than Arizona.

140th overall – Zach Fischer

With their fifth-round pick, the Flames took a wild stab at 19-year-old overager Zach Fischer after a breakout season in the WHL. Fischer would then have a disappointing 2017–18 season in junior, though. He registered just 36 points in 46 games as a 20-year-old.

Following his tough year in the WHL, the Flames opted not to qualify him. He spent the 2018–19 season in the organization, playing just two games in the AHL and the rest in the ECHL. He retired from hockey following that season.

171st overall – D’Artagnan Joly

Selected with the team’s sixth-round pick, D’Artagnan Joly had an interesting post-draft journey. In his D+1 season, he was surprisingly effective, posting 68 points in 55 games in the QMJHL. The next year, things fell off the rails, though, with Joly managing just 49 points across 64 games, being called out for a lack of effort by his coaches, and getting traded midseason to the Rimouski Oceanic.

Following his nightmare D+2 season, the Flames opted not to qualify him. After bouncing around between the ECHL and OUA, Joly has spent the last three seasons in Germany’s third division.

202nd overall – Filip Sveningsson

With their final pick of the draft, the Flames selected winger Filip Sveningsson out of Sweden. Much like any seventh-rounder, this pick was a complete shot in the dark. Following his draft year, Sveningsson spent time in Sweden’s J20 league, HockeyAllsvenskan—Sweden’s second division—and the SHL. While his numbers were solid in the J20 and HockeyAllsvenskan, he never managed to produce much of anything in the SHL.

After a couple of average seasons, the Flames decided not to retain his rights when they lapsed in 2021. He currently still plays in Sweden’s second division.