2026 NHL Draft Thread

[shutout]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I wouldn’t force the center position.

The Habs forced Kotkaniemi when they could have picked Tkachuk or Hughes.

I thought we were supposed to emulate and copy the habs rebuild?

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by shutout

I thought we were supposed to emulate and copy the habs rebuild?

Hughes/Gorton build not the Bergevin build

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by shutout

I thought we were supposed to emulate and copy the habs rebuild?

I thought we were doing the Dallas model?

[Aarongavey]

It is hard to say which rebuild the Flames are emulating because nobody has ever ripped it down to the studs and traded as many vets as the Flames have since Conroy took over.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Hughes/Gorton build not the Bergevin build

Gorton is well versed and successful rebuilding from the ground up as the Habs were his 3rd kick at rebuilding. Conny is doing this for the first time and likely under more difficult ownership expectations. It does look like the lack of talent in the organization is pointing to a Gorton type of rebuild as the Stars rebuild only works if your 1st and 2nd round picks render immediate results to which they are not for the Flames.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Gorton is well versed and successful rebuilding from the ground up as the Habs were his 3rd kick at rebuilding. Conny is doing this for the first time and likely under more difficult ownership expectations. It does look like the lack of talent in the organization is pointing to a Gorton type of rebuild as the Stars rebuild only works if your 1st and 2nd round picks render immediate results to which they are not for the Flames.

As of right now I am not sure what Flames ownership has done to impede Conroy from doing what he wants? Conroy witnessed Feaster try and limp a weak roster around aging superstars to playoff misses. He then watched Brad try and cut corners to speed up winning which ended in failure. Conroy has Maloney and Nonis who have been through a lot as sounding boards.

The Habs had a 3 year run where they picked 1st, 5th, 5th and look like a team heavily on the upswing. They made a lot of picks in that timeframe and already have a 2nd rounder blossom into a star. One of their top 5 picks has been injured. They made a lot of good trades and had guys like Suzuki and Caufield in their system.

For the Flames I see the 24-27 drafts being those critical drafts. Multiple first rounders every year, a few in the top 10. Wolf, Coronato, Zary, Bahl are the Suzuki/Caufield for the Flames which is not that ideal. Maybe they get their Suzuki in the Kadri deal?

Regardless if the Flames are able to hit on some of these 1sts it could be year 1 in Scotia Place where they won’t be expected to make it but perhaps expected to get out of the top 10 and start pushing.

[Flamesfan05]

The Flames need to pick top 3-5 in the next 3 years

Right now in the system, they have one star potential player, maybe 2 and a goalie

[Vinny01]

Frank’s comments on the FAN today is the top 5 of this draft are all impact prospects who could be franchise changers.

[fotze2]

Watched the Penn State game yesterday with Smitty. Damn McKenna looks good, insane knowing the age differences. There's 5 years older kids playing against them.

I don't think Jackson Smith or McKenna will be in that league too long.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Watched the Penn State game yesterday with Smitty. Damn McKenna looks good, insane knowing the age differences. There's 5 years older kids playing against them.

I don't think Jackson Smith or McKenna will be in that league too long.

Geez, Jackson Smith already has 7 points in 7 games! Love that kid!

[Vinny01]

Reading the McKenna thread on HF there are some haters on there but others comment that he has always been a bit of a slow starter so his 11pts in 9 games shouldn’t be that concerning.

I really hope the Flames get 1st pick

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Reading the McKenna thread on HF there are some haters on there but others comment that he has always been a bit of a slow starter so his 11pts in 9 games shouldn’t be that concerning.

I really hope the Flames get 1st pick

He looks like the only issue is he needs to eat more.

[Ashes]

Verhoff being a RD doesn't scare me off from picking him personally.

Ottawa has Sanderson and Chabot both LD

Dallas has Heiskenen and Harley both LD

Of course, my preference by far would be for Mckenna or a gamebreaking forward. But if Verhoff seperates himself from the pack this year and is the clear cut BPA when we pick, it's not the end of the world to have a stacked RD for 10 years.

[united]

The Flames may (not will - just pure speculation) have some bias toward Verhoeff given Verhoeff lived with the Iginlas when attending RINK in Kelowna as a teamate of Joe and under head coach Jarome, and now lives with Cole Reschny in Grand Forks. They will certainly have a good read on his character in any event.

[Wastedyouth]

You gotta wonder how high Ilya Morozov rockets up the first round in this draft. Almost 9 months younger than Mckenna (august bday and 17 till after the draft) and already 1.33 ppg in the NCAA.

[Wastedyouth]

Nice to see Joe bouncing back this year. Hopefully he is there for the flames late first or early second pick!

[devo22]

even with RD being the biggest strength of our prospect pool, I'd be ecstatic with Verhoeff. Kid is going to be a stud.

We obviously need centers, but you just can't pass on elite talent by forcing a C pick in the top 5.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by united

The Flames may (not will - just pure speculation) have some bias toward Verhoeff given Verhoeff lived with the Iginlas when attending RINK in Kelowna as a teamate of Joe and under head coach Jarome, and now lives with Cole Reschny in Grand Forks. They will certainly have a good read on his character in any event.

Nothing against Verhoeff, looks like a great prospect and is probably a fantastic kid, but if the Flames are lucky enough to get 1st overall and pass on a future star like McKenna for a him because he lived with the Iginlas my head may explode.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

You gotta wonder how high Ilya Morozov rockets up the first round in this draft. Almost 9 months younger than Mckenna (august bday and 17 till after the draft) and already 1.33 ppg in the NCAA.

Absolutely. The top-20 will look very different at the end of the season from where it is now, and guys like Morozov, Shilov, Klepov, Malhotra, and Nordmark might be slotted a lot higher. There’s a lot of good D in the first round as well.

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Absolutely. The top-20 will look very different at the end of the season from where it is now, and guys like Morozov, Shilov, Klepov, Malhotra, and Nordmark might be slotted a lot higher. There’s a lot of good D in the first round as well.

Will make all this pain worth it. Even if we miss on Mckenna, there seems to be 5-6 guys who look absolutely stellar this year.

Tough year this and next and get them picks and I think we have a path forward out of hell!