2026 NHL Draft Thread

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think there were three contributing factors to Lindros' shortened career:


1) He too often wouldn't protect himself - looking down, looking at the pass, etc., which left himself vulnerable at times
2) The league didn't protect its player well enough - blindside hits to the head were 100% legal hits
3) The league was still in the era of 'shake it off and get back out there'.


Way too many stars were lost to head injuries so young - Lindros, Lafontaine, even Kariya and Marc Savard who played into their 30s, but were suffering from concussions by this time. Even Daniel Tkaczuk, who so many people call 'bust', was actually trending really well before a concussion essentially ended his NHL career just as it was taking off. So many careers cut short.


Imagine having those stars in the league until they hit their mid 30s (or whenever they retired), and comparing them against other greats. Lindros might have been a top 3 all-time player. Now we have to argue and guess as to how good he really was. Unless you saw him play, you would have no idea how great he truly was.

[Jiri Hrdina]

4. Scott Stevens.

[FlamesAddiction]

All of that is true regarding Lindros. Not only did the league not protect players back then, but his own team let him down. The Flyers kept playing him when he was clearly concussed. I think it was Lindros who said after he retired, he would play games and then have no recollection of even playing afterwards. How a team could treat any person like that, let alone your franchise player, is beyond me. You can't tell me that the coaches and team doctors never suspected anything was wrong.

[Jiggy]

When do the Flames call Joe Iginla's name at the draft? I'm thinking they trade into the late second round and grab him.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

When do the Flames call Joe Iginla's name at the draft? I'm thinking they trade into the late second round and grab him.

He's slowing down again lately, but IMO if he's close to PPG and has 30 goals someone will probably take him end of R1.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

He's slowing down again lately, but IMO if he's close to PPG and has 30 goals someone will probably take him end of R1.

Not a bad way to use the Vegas pick.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Not a bad way to use the Vegas pick.

That's what I have been thinking for a while. Great way to 'win' that trade with Vegas in the eyes of fans, while also getting the fanbase energized for the new building, and new young team that they are building.


Heck of a lot of pressure on Joe, though!

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Goriders

I have a feeling that McKenna watch might be in jeoprdy now that the Flames are starting to meet up with the dreags of the league. I think it’s going to be very hard to finish last. There are a lot of crappy teams. The Flames definitely aren’t a cup contender. But I think they will be hard pressed to continue the nosedive they’ve been on since the start of the year.

The next handful of games are literally against the who’s who of the McKenna contenders. I think it will be a good indicator of how realistic their chances are of being the worst ever.

We just have to hope some teams come along with very strong offers for Rasmus, Kadri and Coleman ASAP.

It'll still be tough to finish with a 25% chance at Gavin with Wolf in net.

[stemit14]

Just realized that Florida’s first round pick in 2026 belongs to Chicago and its unprotected. Right now, that pick would be 5th overall because Florida is last in the east. I’m sure they will finish higher in the standings but their injuries could make it tough for them.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Respectfully, I have to disagree with your camparison. Lindros is one of my favorite players of all time, and one reason for that is that he was physically dominant in the NHL. I don't doubt that it's harder to impose yourself against NHL competition than it is against juniors, but he ran over NHL players on a regular basis. Problem was, Scott Stevens was also a physically dominant monster, and also dirty.

Lindros also won a Hart trophy, and is tied for 24th in ppg in the NHL all-time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZm18klW18c

Problem with Lindros he was complete trash as a human being on and off the ice, once you get the reputation that he had it was only a matter of time.

Stevens got him but there were plenty more wishing it was them that took him out.

[AustinL_NHL]

From what I know of Lindros as a 27-year old, the worst thing he did was reject playing for the Nordiques, would have been dead if not for teammate Keith Jones, had a brilliant potentially top-5 NHL career cut short by cheap shots, and then became a vocal advocate for head injuries.

Would honestly like to know more about what made him such a "trash human".

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by stemit14

Just realized that Florida’s first round pick in 2026 belongs to Chicago and its unprotected. Right now, that pick would be 5th overall because Florida is last in the east. I’m sure they will finish higher in the standings but their injuries could make it tough for them.

I wouldn't worry too much. Florida won yesterday and based on winning percentage, the pick would be #13.

[Canada 02]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1986413111625089148

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/676...shared_article

“I think the chance to play against bigger, older guys was a huge benefit for me,” Verhoeff said. “One of my main points when I was talking to people about it was lots of people saying if you play against 22- and 23-year-olds at 17 in college, then I might be ready to play against pros at 19 or 20. This pushes me to get better in different areas of my game that maybe I wouldn’t have been able to playing against my age in the WHL.”

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1986874649364271505

iginla comes from deep hockey bloodlines, and it looks like his draft season closely resembles his brother tij’s. Tij had a quiet draft-1 season after playing a deeper role. But once he was promoted to the top line in kelowna, he managed to break through in a huge way. The same seems to have happened to joe, who is tracking for over 30 goals and 50 points after putting up just 16 points a year ago.

Iginla is a good shooter who can get his release off from just about anywhere. He’s also working on using his body a bit more to win battles and get himself into scoring positions. He has struggled with some game-to-game consistency as of late but he’s still shooting a lot and i think his full-season point pace will continue to improve as the season wears on.

[GoFlamesGo89]

Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL

From what I know of Lindros as a 27-year old, the worst thing he did was reject playing for the Nordiques, would have been dead if not for teammate Keith Jones, had a brilliant potentially top-5 NHL career cut short by cheap shots, and then became a vocal advocate for head injuries.

Would honestly like to know more about what made him such a "trash human".

For whatever his shortcomings as a young adult / player, he seems to have his heart in the right place these days. I've chatted with someone in his neighborhood, and when kids are playing at the outdoor rink by his house he'll often go out and give them tips. I know its one anecdote, but compared to other ex-pros who are complete morons to the public, I'm sure he has some redeeming characteristics.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by GoFlamesGo89

For whatever his shortcomings as a young adult / player, he seems to have his heart in the right place these days. I've chatted with someone in his neighborhood, and when kids are playing at the outdoor rink by his house he'll often go out and give them tips. I know its one anecdote, but compared to other ex-pros who are complete morons to the public, I'm sure he has some redeeming characteristics.

I honestly don't know anything about Lindros as a person. I did hate at the time that he refused to play for the Nordiques, but hearing some of the things that came out after, it made me realize that it wasn't cut and dry. Apparently it was all about the owner of the Nordiques who according to Lindros, during a meeting with the family, made derogatory remarks about his mother not realizing that she was a fluent French speaker. After Lindros refused to play for them, the owner apparently did everything he could to trash his name and make it seem like it was a French culture thing, while Lindros actually has family in Quebec. Lindros was adamant that if not for the owner being a jerk, he would have played for the Nordiques.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I may be misremembering, but the entire "Lindros is a bad person" mostly was between his parents that were difficult to deal with, and Bobby Clarke who kept pressuring Lindros to get back to playing even though he clearly had concussion symptoms.


https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/pag...-espn-magazine

In a twisted way, that knowledge and the caution it fostered in Eric made him something of an outsider. Nowadays, most hockey fans applaud and defend Penguins star Sidney Crosby for having the guts and perspective to sit as long as he needed to fully recover from a concussion. A dozen years ago, when Lindros tried to do that? The reaction was, shall we say, slightly less enlightened. The media snickered about his manhood and mocked him as a head case. Fans threw pacifiers on the ice. And when Lindros and his parents dared to question the Flyers medical staff after the team first sent Eric to a migraine specialist in March 2000 instead of a neurologist who focused on concussions, the old-school Clarke flipped. He isolated Lindros from the team, at one point going weeks without speaking to his injured star. Then he stripped him of his captaincy.

FWIW, I too 'hated' Lindros and looked at him as an entitled brat who thought he was bigger than the game. I still disagree with him not wanting to go to Quebec - he should have, and imagine the team! However, that's about all I have disagreed with him about. I still feel bad about how terrible he was treated.


There is no way he is a trash person. Controlling parents? Sure. However, it was Clarke that was an absolute trash human being.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I may be misremembering, but the entire "Lindros is a bad person" mostly was between his parents that were difficult to deal with, and Bobby Clarke who kept pressuring Lindros to get back to playing even though he clearly had concussion symptoms.


https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/pag...-espn-magazine




FWIW, I too 'hated' Lindros and looked at him as an entitled brat who thought he was bigger than the game. I still disagree with him not wanting to go to Quebec - he should have, and imagine the team! However, that's about all I have disagreed with him about. I still feel bad about how terrible he was treated.


There is no way he is a trash person. Controlling parents? Sure. However, it was Clarke that was an absolute trash human being.

Bobby Clarke was a bad person, that is for sure true.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I may be misremembering, but the entire "Lindros is a bad person" mostly was between his parents that were difficult to deal with, and Bobby Clarke who kept pressuring Lindros to get back to playing even though he clearly had concussion symptoms.



FWIW, I too 'hated' Lindros and looked at him as an entitled brat who thought he was bigger than the game. I still disagree with him not wanting to go to Quebec - he should have, and imagine the team! However, that's about all I have disagreed with him about. I still feel bad about how terrible he was treated.


There is no way he is a trash person. Controlling parents? Sure. However, it was Clarke that was an absolute trash human being.

It wasn't just his parents dude, I won't bother to share in an open forum but I personally saw what an idiot off the ice he was and many if not most of his own teammates couldn't stand him.

The only thing he was good for was his ability to play hockey.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

It wasn't just his parents dude, I won't bother to share in an open forum but I personally saw what an idiot off the ice he was and many if not most of his own teammates couldn't stand him.

The only thing he was good for was his ability to play hockey.

I guess I will defer since I never met him.


I would say that with regards to his teammates not liking him, it may have been partly caused by Clarke turning the team against him, and with him already having the reputation of being an entitled brat who views himself as 'bigger than the game'.

However, like i said, I have never seen him off the ice anywhere, nor do I know anyone personally that has, teammate or not, so perhaps your are right. Perhaps everyone involved in that situation has some fault. I can only speak to what I have seen being written and how things in his career transpired.