Who should the Calgary Flames draft at No. 6 overall?

Jun 4, 2026, 14:25 EDT

Credit: Carson Carels (James Doyle/Prince George Cougars)

The Calgary Flames dropped two spots in last month’s draft lottery, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have a great shot at landing one of the top players available in the 2026 NHL Draft.

The Flames currently possess two picks in the first round of the upcoming draft. The better of the two is their own, which slots in at No. 6 after the results of said lottery; the other pick originally belonged to the Vegas Golden Knights and will be either No. 30 or 31 overall, depending on the result of the Stanley Cup Final.

Barring any further changes, this year will mark only the fourth time that Calgary has ever made multiple first-round picks in the same draft. They haven’t picked as high as No. 6 in a full decade, dating back to when they stole Matthew Tkachuk at that same spot in 2016.

The Flames have never made a top-three draft pick since relocating from Atlanta in 1980. They’ve always been a franchise that has had to make do with what they can get. But that’s hardly to say they’ll be picking from the leftovers when it’s their turn at No. 6 — far from it. With their rebuild in full swing, the Flames will be looking to add a true difference-maker to their pipeline with that pick.

Here are four players the Flames could draft with the No. 6 overall pick later this month.

Carson Carels

Prince George Cougars (WHL)
6’2″, 198 lbs. – Left-handed defenseman
Born Jun. 23, 2008 in Cypress River, Man.

Already a favored target among many fans in Calgary, Carels makes a ton of sense as a potential future partner for dynamic right-hander Zayne Parekh, who started to look more and more like a future star as the 2025-26 season progressed. The Flames already have a strong stable of right-shot defense prospects, including Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz, and Henry Mews; now, what they really need is a top lefty to balance out the group.

Carels is fresh off a banner year with the Cougars in which he averaged nearly 28 minutes per night across 58 games. He emerged as one of the most capable and punishing shutdown defenders in the WHL and even landed a spot on Canada’s World Junior team as a 17-year-old, a rare feat. He throws bone-rattling hits, but he can also skate like the wind and produce; his 73 points tied him for second on the Cougars in scoring, and he finished as one of only six WHL defenders with 20-plus goals.

On paper, Carels and the Flames feel like a match made in heaven. He’s a farm boy who feels a little like a new-age version of Dion Phaneuf. If the Flames want to cement themselves as one of the defensive powerhouses of the Western Conference for years to come, Carels should be their top target. He’s the complete package.

Viggo Björck

Djurgardens IF (SHL)
5’10”, 176 lbs. – Right-handed center
Born March 12, 2008 in Stockholm

It’s hardly a coincidence that Björck’s stock has continued to rise amidst a playoff year defined by the dominance of smaller centers. There’s every reason to believe that Björck will become a center in the NHL, even at his size, and his impressive play against men (and on the top line) with Sweden at the World Championship even drew praise from Sidney Crosby.

Had Björck remained at the Swedish junior level, which he dominated as a 16-year-old in 2024-25, for his draft year, he’d likely be regarded as one of the very best prospects in this draft. But like projected No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna, Björck faced a bigger challenge in 2025-26 and took a little while to adjust to higher-quality competition. By season’s end, he had risen to Djurgardens’ top line, dominated for Team Sweden at the World Juniors, and clinched a spot at the Worlds. He even returned to the U20 level for the playoffs and picked up right where he left off the previous season, posting eight goals and 20 points in just nine games.

The Flames already went heavy on centers at last year’s draft, picking Cole Reschny at No. 18, Cullen Potter at No. 32, and Theo Stockselius at No. 54. But they shouldn’t consider themselves set at the position, and Björck’s skill and compete level might be too tempting for them to ignore.

Alberts Smits

Jukurit (Liiga)
6’3″, 205 lbs. – Left-handed defenseman
Born Dec. 2, 2007 in Valmeria, Lat.

Smits, like Bjorck, spent nearly all of his draft year playing against men in a top-level European pro league, albeit one of slightly lower quality than the SHL. He also represented his native Latvia at the World Juniors, Winter Olympics, and World Championship, drawing numerous comparisons along the way to Moritz Seider and Victor Hedman.

Like Carels, it’s easy to imagine Smits fitting in nicely alongside Parekh while patrolling the Flames’ blue line for years to come. Smits might lack some of Carels’s offensive ability, but he’s also a strong skater and particularly adept at denying opponents entry into his defensive zone. Some of his difficulties racking up points in international play, like some of his counterparts, can perhaps be attributed to the more limited talent level of his Latvian teammates, but once he arrives in North America, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Smits develop into an all-situations defender who can play on both special teams.

Ultimately, the Flames will be at the mercy of the five teams ahead of them when it comes to who’s available at No. 6. But if they’re set on a lefty to pair with Parekh, and if Carels isn’t there, Smits might be their best choice.

Keaton Verhoeff

University of North Dakota (NCAA)
6’4″, 203 lbs. – Right-handed defenseman
Born June 19, 2008 in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.

Of course, the Flames could always just choose to double down on righties. Once regarded as the most likely candidate to go No. 2 behind McKenna, Verhoeff’s stock has fallen slightly over the last 12 months, but not so much that he isn’t still considered a top prospect — and, stop us if you’ve heard this before, but had he stayed in the WHL for his draft year instead of going to college, his draft stock would likely be as strong as ever.

Verhoeff was nothing short of dominant as a 16-year-old with the Victoria Royals in 2024-25, scoring 21 goals and 45 points in 63 games while towering over most of his competition. But after making the jump to UND for the 2025-26 season, Verhoeff has drawn both praise and criticism for his adjustment to the collegiate level. He still managed a respectable 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 36 games with the Fighting Hawks as a freshman, but his unremarkable skating and tendency for costly errors also put a limit on his ceiling in the eyes of many scouts.

There’s no doubt that Verhoeff is very different from the Flames’ other right-handed defenders, and the team should have a good book on him, considering that he’s played extensively with Reschny (both at UND and with Team Canada at the World Juniors). The skating is a real concern, though, and the Flames really need someone to play with Parekh. We’ll see.

Caleb Malhotra

Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)
6’2″, 183 lbs. – Left-handed center
Born June 2, 2008 in Toronto

We’ll wrap things up with a quick look at Malhotra, who many expect to go long before the Flames head to the podium, but is still worth discussing in the case of a surprise slide.

Unlike the other four players on this list, Malhotra wasn’t even on most people’s radar as a potential draft pick before this season. As a 16-year-old, he managed just eight goals and 26 points in 44 games with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs. That wouldn’t be great production in the WHL, let alone in what is essentially a Junior A league. But after that relatively unassuming year, Malhotra made his way back to Ontario for the 2025-26 season and put himself on the map in a big way, racking up 84 points in 67 games during the regular season before adding 13 goals and 26 points in 15 playoff games.

This year’s draft class is extremely light on centers, making the likes of Malhotra and Bjorck even more tempting to teams in need of a difference-maker down the middle. As far as Malhotra is concerned, all eyes are on the Vancouver Canucks, whose new head coach just so happens to know him particularly well. But this year’s draft is going to be unpredictable. What if the San Jose Sharks take a defenseman at No. 2, and Ivar Stenberg makes it to Vancouver? From there, all bets are off, and the Flames need to be prepared for every scenario.

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POST SPONSORED BY bet365

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