On Tuesday, The Athletic released their latest mock draft ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, with Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler alternating picks for the first two rounds of the draft. However, there was plenty of backlash on social media, particularly among Calgary Flames fans, as the team came away with a less than ideal haul, even with the team selecting six players in the first 55 overall picks.
Two round dueling 2026 NHL mock draft with @coreypronman. We traded picks for the first 63.
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) May 19, 2026
🆕 at @TheAthletic:https://t.co/Ytp50Y5mUC pic.twitter.com/x7ix0H0kjk
Obviously, not every writer or hockey insider is tapped into what a fanbase wants and exactly what the team needs in the draft, but in this case, it was a bad one, as the team selected exactly 0 left shot defenseman and only one centre, with many believing the latter will be a winger at the NHL level. So, how did things go wrong?
In this article, we will play along with the rest of the mock draft and react to the writers picks while providing our own insight and revealing who we would have selected instead.
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