Quiet draft day awaits the Flames in Dallas
Nothing has changed with the way the Calgary Flames have approached the 2018 NHL draft.
Even without selections in the first, second, and third rounds, they have researched the players they like, they have determined their internal draft order and created mock situations if general manager Brad Treliving is able to reclaim picks by swinging a deal.
Potentially, the Flames could be idle until Saturday brunch starts — the fourth round, 105th and 108th overall — and not pick again until it’s nearly over (sixth round, 167th overall, and seventh round, 198th overall).
“We’ve tried to do everything we’d normally do,” said Treliving before arriving in Dallas, where he planned to set up a few days early in the draft’s host city. “Because if something ever happened where you’d get picks, you have to be prepared instead of sitting there, ‘Oh, now what do we do?’ We have to be prepared to do business like we’ve had the pick all along.”
It’s why Flames head scout Tod Button and the rest of his crew have been working all year.
“From the staff’s standpoint, from how we do our work, from interviewing guys, how we do our lists, how we group our players, the whole gamut,” Treliving said. “It’s the same process as we’ve had in years past.”
A year ago, the Flames selected Juuso Valimaki at 16th overall in the first round and did not select again until the fourth round. They were busy, however, with the acquisition of Travis Hamonic and selected four other players in the later rounds.
In Buffalo during the 2016 draft, Treliving was thrilled to call Matthew Tkachuk’s name at sixth overall — a surprise to discover he was still available at that position. Tkachuk, an everyday NHLer now, was one of nine players the Flames called that weekend.
Of course, there was the 2015 draft that saw the Flames acquire Dougie Hamilton from the Boston Bruins in exchange for their firstround pick (15th overall), limiting their haul that year to five players, including two of their top blue-line prospects in Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington.
This summer could potentially be the lightest draft load — four picks — in franchise history.
“It’s a unique year in certain ways. And people want to focus on the draft,” said Treliving, who dealt his first- and second-round selections for Hamonic and also sent their third-round pick to Arizona for netminder Mike Smith a year ago. “But we knew for a year that we were going to be short a firstround, second-round and thirdround pick ... It’s not a surprise. But you don’t want to necessarily be going through multiple drafts where you’re short picks ... but we continue to do business.”
Treliving has made it clear it’s “probably not likely” the Flames will get into the first round just for the sake of selecting a top player. That’s not to say the boss isn’t trying, of course.
They need to improve. A 20th overall finish, missing the playoffs for a second year during Treliving’s four seasons and largely underachieving has dictated their off-season moves so far.
“If we can find a way to manufacture another pick, we’d look at it. But people don’t give away picks,” Treliving said. “We’re prepared to make the picks we have and if there’s a way we can try and grow those numbers, we’ll try to ... and there’s 30 other guys trying to do the same thing and trying to see if there’s a fit or a match. We are definitely engaged and talking to everybody.”