Unless a trade is on the horizon, Gavin McKenna won’t be throwing a Calgary Flames sweater over his shoulders at the NHL draft.
Flames fans across the globe gathered to learn the team’s fate for this year’s draft, as the draft lottery took place on Tuesday evening. While they were all hoping to see the Flames win the lottery and obtain the first-overall selection, that won’t be the case.
While the Vancouver Canucks entered this year’s draft lottery with the best odds to land the first-overall selection, it was actually another Canadian team in the Toronto Maple Leafs who were able to come out on top. They wound up moving up four spots and will now be in line to select McKenna this June.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially secured the No. 1 overall selection in the 2026 NHL draft š pic.twitter.com/t21mGgm44k
— ESPN (@espn) May 5, 2026
As for the Flames, they fell back one spot of the most probable outcome. They entered the draft lottery with a 44.6 per cent shot at selecting fifth overall. Instead, they fell back one spot and will hold the sixth-overall selection this June.
This continues an ugly streak for the Flames, who have never had a top-three pick in franchise history. Their highest selection came back in 2014, where they selected Sam Bennett fourth overall.
Here’s a look at how things wound up shaping up:
- 1. Toronto Maple Leafs
- 2. San Jose Sharks
- 3. Vancouver Canucks
- 4. Chicago Blackhawks
- 5. New York Rangers
- 6. Calgary Flames
- 7. Seattle Kraken
- 8. Winnipeg Jets
- 9. Florida Panthers
- 10. Nashville Predators
- 11. St. Louis Blues
- 12. New Jersey Devils
- 13. New York Islanders
- 14. Columbus Blue Jackets
- 15. St. Louis Blues (via Detroit Red Wings)
- 16. Washington Capitals.
Though this isn’t the outcome Flames fans wanted, this year’s draft is said to be loaded with talent. They should be able to find a very good prospect at sixth overall, which will add to their already very impressive pipeline which includes the likes of Zayne Parekh and Matvei Gridin.