4. Cole Reschny (No. 18 overall, 2025)
For decades, the Calgary Flames have been searching for a true 1C, and while they've had the likes of Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund playing significant roles, they haven't found that true franchise altering superstar. When the team selected Cole Reschny No. 18 overall in 2025, it wasn't expected that he could be that true superstar, but after his freshman season at North Dakota, he's certainly shaping up as a key part of the Flames future.
In his first NCAA campaign, Reschny started slow but adjusted quickly, ending the year with 6 goals and 35 points in 36 games played while being one of the best two-way players at the college level. On top of that, he starred for Canada at the World Juniors, with 4 goals and 5 points in just 7 games played on a very big stage.
Right now, Reschny is planned to return to college next year, but with the Flames needing help down the middle for when Backlund retires and they potentially move off Morgan Frost, they've already got a significant piece ready to make the jump late next season heading into 2027/28.
3. Zayne Parekh (No. 9 overall, 2024)
Coming into the 2024 NHL Draft, Flames fans had their hopes up to land Saginaw Spirit star Zayne Parekh on the back of a 33 goal, 96 point campaign in the Ontario Hockey League. While his first professional season in 2025/26 was very rocky, he found his footing late in the season, and with 4 goals and 8 points over his final 20 games of the year.
That was capped off with the Flames goal of the season against the Los Angeles Kings, and at 20-years of age, the hope is that he can quickly adjust moving forward and take the leap that was expected of him in his rookie season.
On paper, the selection of Parekh was a no-brainer, but with the Flames moving on from Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin and Mackenzie Weegar, they needed a star defenseman to replace them, and in Parekh, the belief is that the Flames have found one with even more offensive upside.
Add us as a preferred source on Google