
The
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey tea ...
are a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...
franchise based in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. They play in the
Pacific Division of the
Western Conference in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
(NHL). The franchise was founded in 1972 as the
Atlanta Flames
The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along wi ...
, and relocated to Calgary in 1980. Since arriving in Calgary, the Flames have drafted 378 players. The
2020 draft was the 41st in which Calgary participated.
The
NHL Entry Draft
The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...
is held each June, allowing teams to select players who have turned 18 years old by September 15 in the year the draft is held. The draft order is determined by the previous season's order of finish, with non-playoff teams drafting first, followed by the teams that made the playoffs, with the specific order determined by the number of points earned by each team.
Since 2016, the NHL holds a weighted lottery for the 15 non-playoff teams, allowing the winners to move up to the top three selections. From 1995–2012 the winner of the draft lottery was allowed to move up a maximum of four positions in the entry draft. The team with the fewest points has the best chance of winning the lottery, with each successive team given a lower chance of moving up in the draft.
The Flames have never won the lottery. Between 1986 and 1994, the NHL also held a
Supplemental Draft for players in American colleges.
Calgary's first draft pick was
Denis Cyr, taken 13th overall in the
1980 NHL Entry Draft
The 1980 NHL Entry Draft was the 18th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum. This was the first time that an NHL arena hosted the draft.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.241, Published in Canada by Doubleda ...
. The highest that Calgary has drafted is fourth overall, which they have done once, they selected
Sam Bennett (2014) at the fourth spot. Ten picks went on to
play over 1,000 NHL games:
Al MacInnis
Allan MacInnis (born July 11, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames (1981-1994) and St. Louis Blues (1994-2004). A first round selection o ...
,
Gary Roberts,
Paul Ranheim,
Brett Hull
Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian– American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames ...
,
Gary Suter,
Joe Nieuwendyk
Joseph Nieuwendyk ( ; born September 10, 1966) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He was a second round selection of the Calgary Flames, 27th overall, at the 1985 NHL Entry Draft and played 20 seasons for the Flames, Da ...
,
Theoren Fleury,
Cory Stillman
Cory Stillman (born December 20, 1973) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for several teams between 1994 and 2011, winning the Stanley Cup twice. He is currently an ass ...
,
Derek Morris and
Dion Phaneuf. Three of Calgary's draft picks, MacInnis, Joe Nieuwendyk and Brett Hull have been elected to the
Hockey Hall of Fame. 1986 draft pick
Tom Quinlan
Thomas Raymond Quinlan (born March 27, 1968) is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball. Quinlan spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins. He is ...
was also drafted by baseball's
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
and chose a career in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
over the NHL.
Key
Draft picks

''Statistics are complete as of the
2021–22 NHL season
The 2021–22 NHL season was the 105th season of operation (104th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Seattle Kraken. The league had an October-to-April regular season sch ...
and show each player's career regular season totals in the NHL. Wins, losses, ties, overtime losses and goals against average apply to goaltenders and are used only for players at that position. This list includes players drafted by the team in Calgary only.''
See also
*
List of Atlanta Flames draft picks
*
List of NHL first overall draft choices
*
List of undrafted NHL players with 100 games played
References
;General
*Draft history:
*Draft history:
*Player stats:
*Player stats:
;Specific
{{featured list
draft picks
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey tea ...