On Friday, many expected the Calgary Flames to move up in the draft, but their first trade came on Saturday, with the team sending No. 51 and 68 overall to the Carolina Hurricanes to move up and draft at No. 42 overall.
TRADE ALERT ‼️ We have acquired pick 42 from Carolina for picks 51 and 68!
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) June 27, 2026
Clearly, the Flames had a prospect in mind that they couldn't wait nine picks to draft, and in the process, they landed USHL goaltender Tobias Trejbal, who is considered the best goaltender in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Moving up to select 42nd overall, the @NHLFlames select Tobias Trejbal, the first goaltender of the draft 🤩 Trejbal was the 34th-ranked prospect on our final 2026 NHL Draft rankings 🔥
— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) June 27, 2026
Read more about his game here: https://t.co/fqNCB8j0zM pic.twitter.com/HzvVgHlGnr
While it may be a shock for the Flames to move up and draft a goaltender, Trejbal is a long-term project, but with elite size at 6-foot-4, it's easy to see why they could see him as a key piece of the future in net. Dustin Wolf remains the starter in the long-term, but if the Flames could land a long-term backup in Trejbal, it sets them up in net behind the very promising blue line for years to come.
Net presence 🥅 pic.twitter.com/D7hJQrzjdP
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) June 27, 2026
In 2025/26, Trejbal went 30-9-3 with a 2.12 GAA and a .916 save percentage, and while it was a shock pick, this is a player that profiles as someone with a big future ahead, and he'll head to the University of Massachussetts in 2026/27. That will serve him well in the long-term, and now he joins one of the most exciting goaltending groups in the NHL with Wolf, Devin Cooley, Kirill Zarubin, Owen Say and Arsenii Sergeev.
Ultimately, this is a pick the Flames could have potentially waited on, but with the team wanting to solidify the back end for years to come, it's an interesting pick that could pay off big time in the future.
Add us as a preferred source on Google