It’s that time of year when I get to make a fool of myself and make my picks for the Calgary Flames draft. I had a pretty good idea that Iginla would be going to Montreal, but I’m a homer, so I went with Iginla. So sue me.
First Round
9 Tij Iginla Centre/Left Wing
Tij, like his father, is a sniper/power forward, a centre/left-winger with an explosive shot. He’s got an explosive shot, isn’t afraid to mix it up in the corners, and fights hard for the puck. Let’s say this: he scores and scores often. He knows when to dish the puck because his puck control is so strong. This, combined with his quick release, makes him a deadly power forward.
28 Nikita Artamonov Right Wing
Nikita is your classic Russian forward—he’s all about offense. His strength is his playmaking ability. He is an excellent passer, a big and lean forward who works hard with the puck.
Second Round
41 Julius Miettinen
Julius is a skilled center who can make things happen. He is a solid passer who drives to the net. Julius will be a solid dman using his speed in breakouts. He will need help on the defensive end. He is rough around the edges.
The Flames could go two ways here: another forward or a defenseman.
My defense choice would be:
62 Spencer Gill
Spencer is an offensive dman with a booming shot. While his defensive game needs some improvement, it’s been on the rise, and scouts are confident it will continue to develop. He is a solid passer and an offensive weapon on the powerplay.
My forward choice would be:
62 Luke Misa Centre/Left-wing
Luke is a fast, smooth-skating offensive player. He is a great playmaker and exceptional passer with a high hockey IQ. He has a fabulous dangle with the puck and is known for his steady performance on the ice.
For the rest, I will pick the players without the details.
Third Round
74 Lukas Matecha Goalie
84 Gabriel Eliasson
Fourth Round
106 Lucas Van Vilet
107 James Reeder
Sixth Round
170 Artemi Nizameez
Dearen’s picks
My friend Dearen has given his thoughts:
Here we are again, draft day. Going into the draft, the Flames seem to have an opportunity to stock the prospect cupboards with high-quality players.
Let’s get into it.
9.
The number nine in soccer refers to your striker, your goal scorer. That is exactly what the Flames need. The Calgary Flames lack goal-scoring prospects, and at number nine, they have the opportunity to draft their next sniper. However, Tij Iginla is no longer on the board, and the Flames have to go to their list, and they select Konsta Helenius. The right-handed two-way center that brings speed, skill and a compete level that the Flames surely welcome in a high-end prospect. Some scouts question if he is a true center or if he will end up as a right-winger. With scouting reports referencing Konsta’s strong face-off abilities and hockey intelligence, his developing into a second-line center is more likely than not. Scouts also reference how he is not afraid of the boards or to engage in the hard areas of the ice, so if he does turn into a feisty right winger, Helenius will be a very responsible point-producing NHLer.
Arguably the most well-rounded prospect in this draft and one of the best skaters. The Calgary Flames select Konsta Helenius at number nine and get a player who has been compared to Sebastian Aho and Nico Hischier. Feels like the potential is here where in five, you look back and wonder how Helenius was available at nine and was not selected in the top five. To add a player like Helenius a year after drafting Samuel Honzek, the Flames are filling gaps in behind Zary and Pelletier in terms of young players that can potentially fill top six roles ahead of those two. As the Flames transition into this rebuild, I mean retool, having young players like Zary, Honzek and Helenius learn from the likes of Backlund and Kadri will only help their development to eventually replace both.
28.
At 28, the Flames should take the best player available regardless of position and not trade down. In a draft like this one, the urge to trade down and collect an additional pick will be appetizing. Teams’ draft lists are said to vary drastically from team to team, and a team may come calling for #28 if they see a player available that is high up on their list. You can argue that the Flames should, in that case, make that trade and collect another asset, but instead, the Flames should keep the pick, come to a consensus, and draft the best potential NHLer here.
With this selection, the Flames turn to the City of Lethbridge and draft Lethbridge-born Terik Parascak from the Prince George Cougars. This right-wing forward can do both the goal-scoring and the setting up of goals. A player who finds open space and has a terrific shot. The reason he likely doesn’t make it into the top 20 picks of this draft is because he needs to work on his skating and his defensive awareness. But a player with this type of offensive skill and hockey IQ is surely worth a selection, if available at 28.
Parascak caught the eye of many this past season before being a bit of an unknown. A player that needs some time with proper development, and the payoff could be a top-six forward that plays on your number one powerplay unit. The Flames see a lot of the Western Hockey League and will be familiar with Parascak. There are questions, no doubt, but we often focus more on the question marks than the exclamation points. This kid is creative and can score. With all of the player development roles, specialty coaches, and resources available in a club, there is no reason why you can’t take the offensive abilities and help create an all-around game.
Parascak’s ceiling is Jordan Eberle and has been compared to Dawson Mercer, with his floor being Jason Jaffray.
Hypothetical
What is that, Randy? The Flames acquired pick #10? Oh...
With the number 10 overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Calgary Flames select Carter Yakemchuk from the Calgary Hitmen. Probably a little bit of a reach here, but a big mobile defenseman that the Flames have had daily access to since Conroy has been GM. With multiple defensemen projected in the top 15, Yakemchuk at 10 could very well mean you forego drafting a more complete defenseman in favor of the potential with Yakemchuk. Every time I read up on Carter or watch him play, I immediately feel like he is a defenseman, and I envision him playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. Carter will be an NHL defenseman. The question will be whether he is a top-pairing guy or whether his defensive lapses stay with him. Do you love his physicality and sporadic offensive burst, kind of like Zadorov’s tenure as a Flame?
Yakemchuk does forego his defensive play in favor of making more offensive risky plays, and that gets him into some trouble. For being a force on the ice, he was not always reliable in his own zone to close out a game. What there is to like is everything else: size, shot, physicality, an edge, and his creative passing abilities, all while he skates quite well for a bigger frame.
The Flames organization knows Carter better than any other NHL club and has been able to see his day-to-day work. If Calgary gets an additional pick at or around #10 and does not select Carter Yakemchuk, I would be shocked, and there would be a strong reason for this.
Carter Yakemchuk gets compared to Damon Severson and Brent Burns.
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