The Calgary Flames haven’t been scared to deal first round picks in the past. Will they do it again?
The Calgary Flames have not been worried about trading away their first round pick in the past. In 2015, the traded their first round pick to the Boston Bruins, along with a couple of second rounders for defenceman Dougie Hamilton.
Two years later, at the 2017 NHL Draft, general manager Brad Treliving was wheeling and dealing once again. He traded his 2018 first round pick as part of a package to the New York Islanders for Travis Hamonic.
The pick that went to Boston turned into Zach Senyshyn while the first rounder that went to Long Island ended up being Noah Dobson.
You win some, you lose some I suppose. But that won’t stop Treliving from trying to upgrade his roster once again in the future. The NHL Draft is fast approaching with the first round taking place on October 5 and the remainder being held the next day. Could we see the Flames move thier first round pick once again?
They currently hold the 19th overall selection. Based on prospects rankings and lists, there could be some intriguing names available with that pick. Some high scoring CHL forwards like Dawson Mercer, Hendrix Lapierre and Jacob Perreault could fall to 19th. But do the Flames want to be patient and pick someone who will help in a couple years?
Or do they want to make a trade and find someone who can help them right now.
If they do swing a deal, they have a couple of lineup holes they could look to fill. Cam Talbot is a free agent and the team could look to find more of a number one goalie, rather than a platoon guy like Talbot.
Calgary is about to lose T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic to free agency as well and could use a right defenceman to slot in next to Noah Hanifin on the second pairing.
They could also use a big, scoring right winger to jump into the top six with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau.
So, if the Flames do want to move their first round pick, who could they target to acquire via trade?