Flames Notebook: Organization to prioritize centres in upcoming draft
Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames have plenty of pivotal decisions to make this off-season. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis breaks down the organization’s priorities in the draft and free agency.
CALGARY – The fate of the Calgary Flames’ original first-round draft pick this summer rests in the hands of the NHL’s Draft lottery machine Monday night.
The team will need better luck than they had down the stretch to keep their pick at 16th overall, as anything less than winning the draft lottery would mean the pick goes to Montreal to complete the 2022 trade involving Sean Monahan.
If the Flames can overcome odds of 0.5 per cent to win the lottery, their pick would move to sixth overall, as teams are only permitted to move up as many as 10 spots via the lottery.
Because it’s a top-ten protected pick, the Flames would be able to keep it, and would instead transfer Florida’s late first round pick (acquired in the Matthew Tkachuk trade) to Montreal.
Assuming the Flames don’t pull off a miracle in Monday night’s draw, shown live on Sportsnet at 5 p.m. MT, they’ll still have two first round picks, as they’d keep the late pick from Florida and would also have the 18th overall pick from New Jersey as part of the Jacob Markstrom trade.
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Regardless of where their two selections are made, the priority for the organization will revolve around drafting centres.
At sixth overall they’d be staring at the very real possibility of snagging any number of the five centres ranked top ten amongst North American skaters, including Saginaw’s Michael Misa, Boston College’s James Hagens, Brantford’s Jake O’Brien, Moncton’s Caleb Desnoyers and Brandon’s Roger McQueen.
Incidentally, Misa’s 19-year-old brother, Luke, is a fifth-round pick of the Flames who announced his commitment to play at Penn State next season.
There are also four middlemen ranked top ten amongst international skaters, including Anton Frondell (Djurgarden), Milton Gastrin (Modo Jr), Eric Nilson (Djurgarden Jr) and Jakob Iha Wozniak (Lulea Jr.).
There’s always a chance one or two of those centres could also still be around if the Flames’ first pick this summer is 18th.
The Flames have five other picks to go with their two first rounders for the draft, which will start Friday, June 27.
If the Flames decide they won’t be able to come to terms on an extension for Rasmus Andersson past this season, Craig Conroy may opt to trade the defenceman before the draft, which would likely add another first or second rounder to their haul.
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Calder call
Flames goalie Dustin Wolf will undoubtedly be one of the three Calder Trophy finalists announced by the league during Monday’s draft broadcast.
Also vying for the hardware handed to the league’s top rookie will be San Jose sniper Macklin Celebrini and Montreal Canadiens’ defenceman Lane Hutson.
Hutson is the heavy favourite to win the award, which is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
The argument for Wolf centres around the fact the 24-year-old was the driving force behind Calgary’s ability to stay in a playoff race few thought possible.
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His 29-16-8 record, 2.64 GAA and .910 save percentage put him amongst some of the league’s leading starters.
Full disclosure, I voted for Wolf to win, due to his overweighted impact on the Flames’ season, while playing the toughest position.
However, Hutson’s six goals and 60 points was a franchise record for rookie blue-liners, helping Montreal’s drive to an unlikely playoff spot.
The 21-year-old rearguard would certainly be a worthy winner.
Signing season
Wolf still has one year left on his entry level contract, meaning Conroy could start talking about a long-term extension as early as July 1.
However, the GM’s focus will largely revolve around re-upping other restricted free agents like Kevin Bahl, Connor Zary, Morgan Frost, Adam Klapka, Rory Kerins and Sam Morton.
Conroy locked up 24-goal scorer Matt Coronato with a seven-year extension Saturday, worth $45.5 million ($6.5 million AAV).
Conroy said he hasn’t made quite as much headway on other contract talks, but will obviously get them signed at some point to deals of various lengths.
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Bahl has said he’s open to a long-term pact, while it’s likely that due to his injury-plagued season Zary will opt for more of a bridge deal.
Other RFAs Conroy will endeavour to sign include defencemen Jeremie Poirier and Yan Kuznetsov.
As Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson reported Monday, 25-year-old RFA goaltender Waltteri Ignatjew wrapped up his season with the Wranglers by signing on with Linkoping of the Swedish Hockey League.
The list of unrestricted free agents in Calgary includes Anthony Mantha, Kevin Rooney, Justin Kirkland, Dryden Hunt, Joel Hanley and Dan Vladar.
