NHL Draft retrospective: A look back on the No. 9 overall pick

Rising Stars - Dylan Guenther (2021), Marco Rossi (2020), Trevor Zegras (2019)

On a team that lacks a true star moving forward, the Calgary Flames would be delighted to land any player as exciting as these three, as all three are expected to be All-Star calibre players at some point in their career. Thus far it’s Zegras that has made the biggest impact at the NHL level with his incredible highlight plays, but it’s Gunther and Rossi that have the opportunity to become major stars at the top level.

With Marco Rossi potentially on the trade block, the Flames could look into not only adding a player at No. 9 overall but Rossi as well, but given their desire to retain most of their draft picks, this is highly unlikely to be the play. However, if the team can manage to add a player of this calibre, along with their other first-round pick and a potentially high one in 2025 as well, it would be a fantastic way to kick-start the rebuild that this team desperately needs to go through.