Looking At Eric Nystrom And The 2002 Calgary Flames Draft
By Cait Platt
On Flame For Thought last week, I started looking at the Calgary Flames draft picks. 2000 and 2001 were depressing to look at, they really missed some great opportunities, but as Twitter reminded me, hindsight is 20/20. In 2002 the Calgary Flames made out okay in my opinion, overall first pick went to the Columbus Blue Jackets who picked up Rick Nash (for all eternity it seems). Calgary Flames picked 10th overall and went with left wing Eric Nystrom.
Okay okay, so he’s not exactly the best player to pick up that early. But come one the 2002 Draft wasn’t exactly stand out. In 204 games Nystrom wracked up 19 goals, 20 assists for a total of 39 points. He wasn’t making any sort of waves on the Flames, but he did manage 2 goals in the 2008-2009 Playoffs for the Calgary Flames. At the end of his contract, he walked away. Calgary Flames didn’t really lose much on this pick.
Passed up in 2002’s Draft:
It’s a nice group, but I’m not suffering from draft envy. If the Flames draft like this ever year, I’d be frustrated that the Flames aren’t making progress but after looking at the previous few drafts, it’s a relief. And the excitement of improving the draft selections only grows the next year.