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Calgary Flames 2021 Draft Wrap Up

Reviewing all eight selections made by the Calgary Flames

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Despite Day 2 of the NHL Draft seemingly dragging on forever (it was actually about seven hours which is insane), we have finally concluded the 2021 Draft. Over the course of seven rounds, the Calgary Flames made eight selections and one trade, let’s take a quick look at everything that went down over the last 24 hours or so.

1st Round Pick (13th Overall) – RW Matthew Coronato

After our site’s consensus pick Cole Sillinger was chosen one spot ahead of Calgary, the Flames opted to draft RW Matthew Coronato with their first rounder. Coronato is most known for his scoring acumen as he dominated the USHL this past season with 48 goals and 85 points in just 51 games. His goal totals outpaced the rest of the league by 16 goals this past season. There’s no doubt that his shooting prowess is the most exciting part of his game. He is committed to attending Harvard this year, but looks like a really exciting prospect to watch develop over the coming seasons.

2nd Round Pick (45th Overall) – LW William Stromgren

Stromgren was selected in the second round and what immediately jumps off the page about him is his size at 6’3’’. He had nine points in 27 games in the Swedish HockeyAllSvenskan league this past year, and figures to have a shot at the SHL this year with Rogle. What is most impressive about his profile is that he has really good skating mechanics for his size. If he can add some muscle to his frame and continue improving, he could have really good power forward potential.

3rd Round Pick (77th Overall) – C Cole Huckins

Huckins spent this past season with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL where he had 32 points in 33 games. He played both center and wing over the course of the season and figures to take a step forward next year when he returns. At 6’3’’ 201 lbs, he already has an NHL sized frame and has some extra snarl in his game. His rankings were somewhat all over the place before the draft but he seems to be a very good pick for where the Flames got him.

3rd Round Pick (89th Overall) – D Cameron Whynot

The Flames acquired this selection by trading down with the Los Angeles Kings and also picking up the 168th pick. Whynot also played in the QMJHL this past season and had 23 points in 34 games which is impressive for a defender. His best traits seem to be his skating as he took on an increased role with the Mooseheads over the course of the season. Many people had him going in the second round of the draft so again this seemed to be good value management by the Flames.

5th Round Pick (141st Overall) – D Cole Jordan

I didn’t know a ton about Jordan heading into this draft but again it seems that the Flames got tremendous value with this pick. Jordan was ranked as high as #36 in the Elite Prospects pre-draft ranking and consistently in the Top 80 for most others. He had ten points in 23 games for Moose Jaw last year but looks to be a really exciting prospect in terms of his skating and size. The real knock on him seems to be his offensive potential, but given that the Flames have swung recently on a few offensive bluelines like Jeremie Poirier and Whynot, this was likely a smart move to balance that.

6th Round Pick (168th Overall) – RW Jack Beck

Thanks to the pick swap with LA, the Flames had two sixth round picks to use and selected winger Jack Beck with their first. It was a bit of a gamble taking Beck as he’s an OHLer that did not play all of last season as the league didn’t go ahead with their season. In 2019-20 he had 19 points in 56 games with the Ottawa 67’s, so we will see how where his development has gone after a year away from games. With the unknown of Beck without any U18 or OHL action this year, there is some risk, but the Flames do have a decent history over the years of hitting on late picks. We will see if he’s ready to take a step forward this fall.

6th Round Pick (173rd Overall) – LW Lucas Ciona

Ciona is another good sized forward taken by the Flames in this draft at 6’2’’ 205 lbs. He had 13 points in 23 games this past season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL. He will add some size to the system and we will see how his development continues this year.

7th Round Pick (205th Overall) – G Arsenii Sergeev

The Flames drafted a goaltender for the third year in a row as they added Arsenii Sergeev in the seventh round. Sergeev is originally from Russia, but has been playing in North America since the start of the 2019-20 season. He spent this past season with the Shreveport Mudbags (great name btw) of the NAHL where he had a 14-4-2 record over 20 games. He also had a .936 SV% which was second highest in the league. Sergeev will join Tri-City of the USHL this upcoming season before joining UConn for 2022-23.

That’s it for the 2021 NHL Draft. How do you think the Flames did? Grade their draft below!

by Michael MacGillivray