Best and Worst Draft Picks by Teams during the Past Decade -NHL Special Part 4
Calgary Flames (Northwest Division)
Calgary Flames has always been one of those teams that suddenly surprise and have a downfall even quicker to shock spectators. Flames have seen a lot of success during their tenure with the National Hockey League (NHL) and have seen a lot of failure as well.
The past two seasons have been sheer disappointment for the Canadian club as they failed to make the playoffs, but same good decisions when it came to selecting players has also shown them the Stanley Cup Finals many a times.
Best Draft Pick during the Past Decade: Dion Phaneuf (2003)
Unfortunately, Dion Phaneuf is not a part of the Calgary Flames franchise any more as he was traded to Toronto Maple Leafs, but the ninth pick of 2003 continues to be a top level player in every sense.
He had a career high of 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) with Calgary back in 2007-2008 and another breakthrough season in 2011-2012.
After the turn of the century, Calgary was not able to impress in the draft, besides picking Phaneuf, but before that, the Flames have had the chance of working with some of the elite in the world of hockey.
Some of those honourable mentions are Joe Nieuwendyk back in 1985, Theo Fleury (1987) and current captain, Jarome Iginla back in 1995.
Worst Draft Pick of the Past Decade: Brent Krahn (2000)
Calgary Flames have always felt the need of having an elite goalie and they wanted Brent Krahn to develop into the role when they picked him up with their number nine pick back in 2000. Unfortunately, Krahn just never played out their dreams and has just
one game with Dallas Stars under his belt.
He had a great time playing in the minor leagues with the Calgary Hitmen and a number of other teams before and after his draft but just never really clicked in the major league.
Calgary had to let go of the goalie prior to the 2008-2009 season, in which Dallas picked him up and regretted the one period they allowed him to play in which he let through three straight goals.
For Brent Krahn, playing in the NHL was never something he was destined to do, so no matter how hard Calgary or Dallas tried to fit him into that role, it simply did not work out.
He still plays for their minor league team though, the Texas Stars, in the American Hockey League (AHL).
To be continued in Part 5....
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