2018 NHL Draft: Report card grades for every team
Calgary Flames – D
No First Round Pick
The Flames traded their first-round pick for Travis Hamonic. Yeah, that didn’t work out. Given that this pick fell in the lottery and the Flames already appear ready to move on for Hamonic, I have to dock the Flame a grade here.
Other Notable Picks: Martin Pospisil (C) (105), Milos Roman (C) (122)
Calgary didn’t have a single pick in the first three rounds. They traded their second round pick as part of the Hamonic deal and then traded their third round pick to acquire Mike Smith. At least they didn’t trade a draft pick this year. However, they did make a rather questionable trade. I’ll get to that in a second. With no picks in the first three rounds, this was never going to be a great draft for the Flames. At least, not one we can call great less than 24 hours after the draft. Maybe it’ll be great five to ten years from now.
They found value in Milos Roman, who was ranked 41 among North American skaters by Central Scouting. He was thought to be a third round pick, so good job by Calgary to snag him in the fourth.
Trade: Acquired Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin from Carolina for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland, and Adam Fox
This…doesn’t look great. I’m a big believer in Hanifin and think Lindholm may have been miscast in Carolina, but both guys are once again playing for the same coach they spent the last four seasons playing for. Obviously Bill Peters thinks highly of both players and assumes he can get more out of them in Calgary, but this is a steep price to pay. Hamilton is currently the best player in the trade and Fox might end up being the best player in the deal. This could blow up in Calgary’s face real quick.