The Flames are looking to move up at the draft

The Calgary Flames had high hopes entering the draft lottery. They’re a team who have drafted in the top five once in their history, doing so when they selected Sam Bennett fourth overall in 2014. So the Flames were really hoping that after a poor 2025-26 season, their fourth-last positioning would net them another top-five pick, maybe even higher than fourth. But alas, the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks won picks one and two, and with both teams being behind the Flames in the order, it dropped Calgary to sixth.

But the Flames aren’t ready to give up on a top-five pick yet, as they may be looking to trade up in the draft to get a higher pick. David Pagnotta joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about the Flames’ current situation at the draft, and what options they have to move up.

David Pagnotta: Yes, it looks like they want to move up or at least try to. They were hopeful they were going to get a better pick. They moved down. They’re hopeful that they can figure something out here, maybe move up to two, maybe three, four. They’re going to talk to, I would imagine, all of those teams to see what the price tags are and what the appetite is to move up or for those teams to potentially move down.

We know San Jose is willing to listen on No. 2. We know Chicago is willing to listen on four. I think different motivation on both. I think San Jose is willing to move back. I think Chicago is willing to move the pick entirely if it brings in a legitimate NHL-caliber, top-six, in-his-20s type of player to play with either Bedard or Frondell. So we’ll see where Chicago goes with that and how that impacts the Calgary Flames.

They’re not the only ones. I think the Rangers want to move up too. So we’ll see where that all goes. But there’s definitely interest there.

You can watch the full episode here…