Taking a look at some mock drafts, and some players who the Calgary Flames could pick!

Wheeler once again picked for their other first-round pick, picking Finnish left-shot defenceman Leo Sahlin Wallenius. He noted his skating ability, while pointing out they could also pick Charlie Elick and Harrison Brunicke. He’s a good playmaking defenceman with a strong stick.

One of the Flames’ biggest needs in the organization is defence, and Wheeler believes that with the 41st overall pick, they’ll select right-shot defenceman Harrison Brunicke, who he said raised his stock in the second half of the season. In his latest Top 64 draft prospects list, Wheeler points to his size, skating ability, and defensive awareness as good tools to build on.

Lastly, Pronman believes that the Flames will pick a netminder with their final pick of the second round, as he has them selecting Mikhail Yegorov. Pronman points to his athleticism and his upside, but noted that he’s half a decade away from being ready. That’s not a bad thing, as it’ll give the Flames time to evaluate top netminding prospect Dustin Wolf.

ESPN’s mock draft

This ESPN mock draft written by Rachel Doerrie only includes the first round, so two of the Flames’ picks this draft.

Unfortunately for Tij Iginla fans, this mock draft has the Montréal Canadiens picking him fifth overall, leading to the Flames picking Anton Silayev, 6’7”, 211 lbs left-shot defenceman from Russia. This season in the Kontinental Hockey League as an 18-year-old, Silayev scored three goals and 11 points, including two assists in five postseason games. Despite his size, Silayev is a good skater who hasn’t even begun to peak. 

Not just that, but the Flames have a track record of trading for big Russian defencemen recently, as they acquired Daniil Miromanov (6’4”, 202 lbs) and Artem Grushnikov (6’1”, 198 lbs) at this past trade deadline.

As for the pick late in round, the ranking is a little out of date as the Flames picked 29th in this article. However, the draft is a crapshoot at this point, and ESPN’s Doerrie has the Flames picking Dean Letourneau. With St Andrew’s College, the 18-year-old centre had a whopping 61 goals and 127 points in 56 games. He stands at 6’7”, 201 lbs with a heavy shot and is committed to Boston College.

Daily Faceoff’s mock draft

Unfortunately, this mock draft doesn’t cover the most recent eliminations, meaning that the Flames’ late-round pick isn’t included here, sadly. This article is written by Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff.

Thankfully, this is the only Tij Iginla repeat, as Daily Faceoff has him going ninth-overall to the Flames, what a pick that’d be. It’s noted on his bio that he didn’t dominate the under 18’s, but showed that his game is more than just scoring. Here’s another Iginla highlight.

With the Kelowna Rockets, Iginla scored 47 goals and 84 points in 64 games as a 17-year-old, including nine goals and 15 points in 11 games during the postseason. In reality, he’s probably raised his stock above where the Flames can draft him.

Sportsnet’s lottery mock draft

Like Daily Faceoff, Sportsnet’s mock draft (written by Sam Cosentino) only covers the lottery teams, which is good because the Flames have a lottery pick. They project that the Flames will select defenceman Carter Yakemchuk with the pick.

The right-shot defenceman scored 30 goals and 71 points in 66 games with the Calgary Hitmen this past season, while also picking up a hilarious 120 penalty minutes. If you’re curious, his goal total led all defencemen, while his point total was fifth for defencemen, and his penalty minutes were fifth in the entirety of the Western Hockey League.

He’s mean, big, and has a heck of a shot with a lot of confidence. Skating is his one big flaw, but it’s something that could eventually improve.

The Hockey News’ mock draft

The Flames need some centres in the farm system so right-shot centre Konsta Helenius could make some sense. The Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy notes that Helenius needs to get stronger and will take a few years to develop, but the skill is there.

In 51 games with Mikkelin Jukurit in SM-Liiga, Helenius scored 14 goals and 36 points, including two goals and six points in six postseason games. On top of that, he played with Finland’s U18 team (seven assists in five games), their U20 World Junior team with a goal and an assist, and their World Championship team, picking up an assist in three games.