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National Post
20 hours ago
- Sport
- National Post
NHL Draft Day 2: Who the Calgary Flames Took
By Danny Austin Article content The Calgary Flames loaded up on centres in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday night. Article content On Saturday, they doubled-down on that approach before going after the best players available with the rest of their picks. Article content Let's take a look at who the Flames added to their prospect pool on Saturday, with comments from director of amateur scouting Tod Button about each. Article content Article content Article content Second round, No. 54 Article content Theo Stockselius Article content Position: Centre Article content Height: 6-foot-3 Article content Weight: 196 lbs. Team: Djurgarden Jr. Article content What's his story: The third centre the Flames took in three picks after selecting Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter in Friday's first round, Stockselius averaged 1.28 points per game in the Swedish junior league and models his game on Flames captain Mikael Backlund, among others. He's got size, two-way instincts and a scoring touch, too. Article content What Button said: Update coming … Article content Article content Third round, No. 80 Article content Mace'o Phillips Article content Position: Defence Article content Height: 6-foot-6 Article content Weight: 233 lbs. Team: U.S. National Team Development Program Article content What's his story: Phillips is huge, he's strong and he's physical. By no means is he a finished product, but he's a left-handed blueliner and that's something the Flames could use more of. His size alone meant he was worth a swing and while scouting reports do note he's got to cut down on the penalties he takes, there's lots of time for him to improve there. Article content Article content What Button said: Update coming … Article content Article content Article content Fifth round, No. 114 Article content Ethan Wyttenbach Article content Position: Left-wing Article content Height: 5-foot-10 Article content What's his story: Wyttenbach was the first ever winner of The Gaudreau Award, which goes to the USHL player who best embodies the legacy of the late Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. That's a pretty amazing connection with the Flames, given all Gaudreau accomplished in Calgary. The right-handed winger scored 24 goals and added 27 assists for the Stampede this year and is committed to playing at Quinnipiac University next season. Article content What Button said: Update coming … Article content Article content Sixth round, No. 176 Article content Aidan Lane Article content Position: Right-wing Article content Height: 6-foot-1 Article content Weight: 193 lbs. Team: St. Andrew's College (Ontario High School) Article content What's his story: Lane is heading to Harvard next season and if that leads to him being anywhere near the player that Matt Coronato's become, this will be the steal of the draft. Even if he never reaches Coronato's heights, Lane put up 13 points in 13 games for the Brampton Steelheads in the WHL after leaving St. Andrew's College, suggesting the offensive upside is real. Article content What Button said: Update coming … Article content Article content Seventh round, No. 208 Article content Jakob Leander Article content Position: Defence Article content Height: 6-foot-4 Article content Weight: 196 lbs. Article content Team: HV71 Jr. Article content Article content Article content
National Post
4 days ago
- Sport
- National Post
A good NHL draft class or bad? It doesn't matter to Calgary Flames scouting staff
Is it a good draft? A bad draft? A deep draft? Article content Tod Button doesn't concern himself with that question. Article content The Calgary Flames director of amateur scouting since 2001 has seen good drafts, bad drafts and everything in between over the years. Article content While the 2025 NHL Draft class may not be as highly touted as some previous years, he's convinced there are some high-end talents who are going to be on the board when the Flames make their picks. Article content Article content 'The way we approach it is to make sure we're not giving ourselves an out ahead of time that it's a bad or weak or not a good draft class. Our job is to find the players,' Button explained. 'I've done this before with people, and our scouts specifically, there's Conn Smythe winners, Vezina Trophy winners, Norris Trophy winners and MVPs that have gone in the second, third and fourth rounds and even later than that. Article content 'It's not an excuse we're going to make and not part of our process going into meetings.' Article content Article content The Flames hold the No. 18 and No. 32 picks in the first round on Friday night and then have picks in each of the next six rounds, other than the fourth, on Saturday. Article content The idea isn't just to get useful NHLers with those first two selections, either. They're aiming to hit with every pick. Article content And while the consensus on this year's draft is that there probably aren't a bunch of franchise-altering generational talents, there's no doubt there are still some very good players in the draft. Article content Article content And the Flames are intent on picking a few of them, at least. Article content Article content There's reason for the scouting department to be feeling confident, too, as the early returns on the players they picked last year have been very encouraging. Article content Zayne Parekh looks like a star-in-the-making while Matvei Gridin, Andrew Basha, Jacob Battaglia and Henry Mews all had great years with their junior teams. Article content 'I think it's been a few years where we've felt pretty confident going into the draft,' Button said. 'With all the departments, with the mental performance, with strength and conditioning, with the skating evaluations from Danielle Fujita, with the analytics and then the eyes-on scouts. We have an experienced staff. Article content 'It's all a process and I think we're confident and I think management is confident in our ability to put another really good draft class together.'
Calgary Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
A good NHL draft class or bad? It doesn't matter to Calgary Flames scouting staff
Article content Is it a good draft? A bad draft? A deep draft? Article content Tod Button doesn't concern himself with that question. Article content The Calgary Flames director of amateur scouting since 2001 has seen good drafts, bad drafts and everything in between over the years. Article content While the 2025 NHL Draft class may not be as highly touted as some previous years, he's convinced there are some high-end talents who are going to be on the board when the Flames make their picks. Article content Article content 'The way we approach it is to make sure we're not giving ourselves an out ahead of time that it's a bad or weak or not a good draft class. Our job is to find the players,' Button explained. 'I've done this before with people, and our scouts specifically, there's Conn Smythe winners, Vezina Trophy winners, Norris Trophy winners and MVPs that have gone in the second, third and fourth rounds and even later than that. Article content Article content The Flames hold the No. 18 and No. 32 picks in the first round on Friday night and then have picks in each of the next six rounds, other than the fourth, on Saturday. Article content The idea isn't just to get useful NHLers with those first two selections, either. They're aiming to hit with every pick. Article content And while the consensus on this year's draft is that there probably aren't a bunch of franchise-altering generational talents, there's no doubt there are still some very good players in the draft. Article content Article content And the Flames are intent on picking a few of them, at least. Article content Article content There's reason for the scouting department to be feeling confident, too, as the early returns on the players they picked last year have been very encouraging. Article content 'I think it's been a few years where we've felt pretty confident going into the draft,' Button said. 'With all the departments, with the mental performance, with strength and conditioning, with the skating evaluations from Danielle Fujita, with the analytics and then the eyes-on scouts. We have an experienced staff. Article content 'It's all a process and I think we're confident and I think management is confident in our ability to put another really good draft class together.'
