2023 Calgary Flames Draft Preview: Top 5 Winger Targets
By Nathan Smith
Zach Benson
In any of the past few drafts, a name like Zach Benson, who trailed just Connor Bedard in scoring this past season in the WHL would be considered a potential No. 1 overall pick, but due to the enormity of talent atop the draft, he’s flying under the radar in a big way. Benson is full of intensity on both ends of the ice, and rarely takes a shift off, and with such a high hockey IQ, there’s few players in the draft that are more ready for the NHL.
Plenty of mock drafts have Benson going high in the top-10, but with such a deep draft, there’s a chance he falls, and if the Flames want to find someone that could play on their top line alongside a Jonathan Huberdeau, or playing a similar role on the second line, than they need to look no further.
2022-23 WHL stats: 60 games, 36 goals, 62 assists, 98 points.
Colby Barlow
When looking at potential prospects for the Flames, one of the most overlooked facets of their play that Calgary will be looking at is leadership, so who better to potentially land than Owen Sound captain and prolific goal scorer Colby Barlow? This past season, he fell just short of scoring 50 goals in a WHL season, and like Benson, he could be a top-three, if not No. 1 overall pick in many other drafts in modern times.
At 6-foot-1, 187 pounds, there’s still plenty of questions about Barlow’s ceiling as an NHL player, but with talent to finish and get his teammates involved, as well as the Flames lack of leadership at stages over the past few years, he would be the perfect player to bring along slowly to potentially centre a rebuild around.
2022-23 WHL stats: 59 games, 46 goals, 33 assists, 79 points.