Calgary Flames fans may be hoping and praying their team gets a centre in Friday’s NHL Draft.
If recent history tells us anything, though, it’s that when you’re picking 18th overall, you’re far more likely to get an elite defenceman than a franchise-altering centre. In the last decade, arguably the best three NHLers taken with the No. 18 pick were Thomas Chabot (2015), Thomas Harley (2019) and Lian Bichsel (2022). All of them were defencemen.
The Flames are well-stocked with young blueliners, so it’s certainly not an area of need, but they’ve insisted they’re going to take the best player available when it’s time to make their pick.
Let’s take a look back at the last 10 years of NHL Drafts and see what the players who were selected at 18th overall can tell us — and then take a quick glance at the No. 32 pick, too.
2024 — Chicago Blackhawks take Sacha Boisvert (C)
It’s obviously way too early to be making any declarations about the pros and cons of this pick, but Blackhawks fans will be feeling optimistic about Boisvert. He scored 18 goals and added 14 assists for the University of North Dakota last season and is transferring to Boston University for next year. He’s still only 19 years old, so let’s not waste too much time unpacking his game, but he’s a solid two-way centre who is developing at two elite NCAA programs. You’d probably be happy with getting a similar type of player on Friday if you’re the Flames.
2023 — Winnipeg Jets take Colby Barlow (LW)
Barlow had a bit of a strange season after being traded to the Oshawa Generals. His regular season numbers were underwhelming, but he went off in the playoffs as he led the Generals to the OHL Finals, where they lost to the powerhouse London Knights. Barlow was third in the OHL in playoff scoring, with 14 goals and 19 assists in 21 games. Jets fans are thrilled about his potential, and landing a player with this sort of offensive upside at No. 18 would be a coup for the Flames.
2022 — Dallas Stars take Lian Bichsel (D)
The Flames have talked about following the Dallas model for their retool, and they could do a whole lot worse than drafting at No. 18 the way the Stars have managed (twice) over the last decade. Bicshel is 6-foot-7, weighs in at 231 lbs. and played in 38 regular season games and 18 more in the playoffs this season. And he’s still only 21 years old. The Flames are well-stocked with young defencemen but are consistent in their declarations that they’ll take the best player available with the No. 18 pick. If that’s a guy with any of Bichsel’s attributes, you’d be crazy not to take him.
2021 — Winnipeg Jets take Chaz Lucius (C)
This is a sad story, plain and simple, and there’s really nothing you can learn from it. Lucius retired from hockey earlier this year because of a tissue disorder that derailed his career and that’s just a horrible turn of fortune.
2020 — New Jersey Devils take Dawson Mercer (C)
Mercer is far from a finished product, but he’s played in all 82 games for the last four seasons and is still only 23 years old. He’s mostly settled into a role as a mid-six winger, but did put up 56 points in his second season with the Devils in 2022-23. Getting a solid, reliable forward who plays a 200-foot game is no small thing, and the Flames couldn’t complain about getting a player like Mercer on Friday night.
2019 — Dallas Stars take Thomas Harley (D)
Remember when we said earlier that the Stars have done really, really well with the No. 18 pick? With the Harley pick, they managed to get a guy who was seventh in Norris Trophy voting this season and was called up to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off squad when Shea Theodore was no longer available. He’s one of the world’s best defencemen and serves as undeniable proof that you can find a star with the No. 18 pick.
2018 — Columbus Blue Jackets take Liam Foudy (C)
Foudy is by no means a flop, but he has yet to establish himself as a full-time NHLer — although he has played 104 games, which is nothing to sneeze at. He’s now played for the Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and New York Islanders but spent the majority of last season with the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL.
2017 — Boston Bruins take Urho Vaakanainen (D)
Vaakanainen was one of the pieces that the Rangers got from the Anaheim Ducks in return for Jacob Trouba last season, and he signed a two-year contract extension to keep him in the Big Apple. He’s a bottom-pairing defenceman who has now played for three teams since making his debut for the Bruins in 2019, and ultimately the Flames will likely look to take a swing on a player with more upside when they pick 18th overall on Friday. The Bruins probably kick themselves when they look back on this one, given that the Blues picked Robert Thomas at No. 20.
2016 — Winnipeg Jets take Logan Stanley (D)
He’s massive, at 6-foot-7, and divisive among Jets fans, but he does have 200 NHL games to his name and can provide real physicality. Is that what the Flames are going to need as they push to get back in contention in a couple years’ time? It feels like drafting for high-end skill might be more of an imperative.
2015 — Ottawa Senators take Thomas Chabot (D)
Chabot has frustrated Senators fans at times, but he’s coming off his best season for the ascendant group in our nation’s capital, playing first-pairing minutes and putting up a career-high 45 points. It may have taken him a while to develop into the player the Sens were always hoping he’d become, but sometimes when you’re drafting outside of the top five, a little patience can go a long way.
Related
Is there any one thing that the last 10 years of No. 18 picks in the draft can teach us? There’s almost always real, high-end talent available. We know that. The Stars, in particular, have made out like bandits with the guys they’ve selected.
And the pick has generally yielded guys who have made their way to the NHL. They’re not all going to be competing for All-Star invites, but it’s not out of the question.
That puts the pressure on the Flames’ amateur scouting staff to get this one right.
What about 32nd overall?
If we were to apply the same lens to analyze the recent history of the 32nd overall pick, which the Flames also hold on Friday evening, it’s unsurprisingly a little harder to draw any conclusions.
It’s too soon to give grades to the Edmonton Oilers taking Sam O’Reilly last year, although that’s a pick that has a lot of potential, or the Vegas Golden Knights taking David Edstrom in 2023 or the Oilers using the No. 32 pick on Reid Schaefer in 2022.
There are a few solid players taken in the last decade, though.
Go back a few years to 2019, and the Senators landing Shane Pinto has worked out nicely for them. He’s scored 20 goals in two of the last three seasons and is a reliable third-line centre.
A year earlier, the Buffalo Sabres took Mattias Samuelsson, and while he hasn’t turned into an elite blueliner, he’s played reliable minutes on a young team that’s hit more than its fair share of speed bumps.
The No. 32 pick doesn’t necessarily land you a star, but there are lots of solid NHLers who have been selected in that spot.