The Calgary Flames have once again landed the sixth overall pick in the NHL entry draft, continuing a peculiar trend for the franchise. Despite having roughly a 10 per cent chance at the first overall selection in the 2026 draft, the Flames dropped to sixth, a position they have become all too familiar with.
A History of Sixth Overall Picks
The Flames have famously never picked inside the top three or won a single draft lottery in their history. Even more striking is their tendency to land the sixth overall slot. Of the 11 times Calgary has picked inside the top 10, they have been assigned the sixth position seven times, including this year.
Flames' Sixth Overall Selections
Calgary's first sixth overall pick came in the 1992 supplemental draft, where they selected Jamie O'Brien from the ECAC. O'Brien never played a single NHL game. Later that year, in the regular entry draft, the Flames picked Cory Stillman from the OHL. Stillman spent six seasons with Calgary, scoring 20-plus goals three times, and went on to a solid 1,000-game NHL career, winning a Stanley Cup with Carolina.
In 1997, the Flames took Daniel Tkaczuk, whose development was hampered by concussions, resulting in only 19 NHL games. The following year, they selected Rico Fata, a fast skater who managed just 22 games with the Flames and one assist.
More recent sixth overall picks have been more fruitful: Sean Monahan in 2013 and Matthew Tkachuk in 2016. Monahan was a star for Calgary before injuries slowed him, while Tkachuk has become a superstar, with two Stanley Cups in Florida and 670 points in 673 career games.
Overall, the Flames' sixth overall picks have produced two busts (O'Brien, Tkaczuk), one marginal NHLer (Fata), a capable top-six forward (Stillman), a star (Monahan), and a superstar (Tkachuk), yielding an NHLer hit rate of about 50 per cent.
Historical Sixth Overall Picks (2004-2025)
A broader look at sixth overall selections across the league from 2004 to 2025 shows a similar hit rate, depending on how one defines success:
- Busts: Nikita Filatov
- Contributors: Gilbert Brule, Jake Virtanen, Brett Connolly, Cody Glass, Filip Zadina, Pavel Zacha, Sam Gagner
- Stars: Sean Monahan, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mika Zibanejad, Hampus Lindholm, Moritz Seider
- Superstars: Matthew Tkachuk
- Emerging: Jamie Drysdale, Simon Edvinsson, David Jiricek, Dmitriy Simashev, Tij Iginla
While the Flames have had their share of misses at sixth overall, the position has also yielded top talent. With a good scouting department, Calgary still has a solid chance of landing a quality player in the 2026 draft.
