![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/connor-bedard-goal-celebration-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s been a long season for the Flames, but whether you view it as a hard one depends entirely on whether you were on Team Tank or not. For those who were, it\u2019s arguably been a success. The chances are reasonably good for getting a very high pick, with Calgary Flames fan Gavin McKenna tipped to go first overall.<\/p>\n
As it stands, the Flames have the third-best odds for May\u2019s draft lottery, with a guaranteed minimum of drafting top five, something that they\u2019ve rarely been able to do in the past. All Flames fans will likely be hoping for McKenna or Ivar Stenberg from Fr\u00f6lunda in the SHL. Even if the Flames don\u2019t end up drafting in the top two, there are some promising talents available this year. However, the problem with the lottery is that you can\u2019t truly prepare until you know where you\u2019ll be drafting.<\/p>\n
Some years, there\u2019s a clear number one pick (McDavid, Bedard, etc). Although McKenna is tipped to be that man in 2026, some think that Vancouver, which has the best lottery odds, could opt for Stenberg if they end up drafting first overall. Keaton Verhoeff is also tipped to be near the top of the draft, potentially settling in behind McKenna and Stenberg. At just 17, he\u2019s got the longevity for whoever drafts him.<\/p>\n
With the regular season winding down, here are the teams that had the third-best lottery odds. Let\u2019s look at who they drafted, where they actually picked, and how those players have fared.<\/p>\n
2025 \u2013 Nashville Predators \u2013 Fell to fifth overall \u2013 Drafted Brady Martin (C, Canada)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still too early to judge a centre who was only drafted less than a year ago. Yet, Martin has made a promising start to his NHL career. He is showing early signs of becoming a solid middle-six staple for the Preds.<\/p>\n
2024 \u2013 Anaheim Ducks \u2013 Retained third overall \u2013 Drafted Beckett Sennecke (RW, Canada)<\/p>\n
Sennecke\u2019s reaction to being drafted third overall was one of the highlights of the 2024 draft. He seemed genuinely shocked to go that early, but the Ducks\u2019 judgment seems solid, based on early evidence at least.<\/p>\n
This is his first season in the Ducks\u2019 line-up. He is projected to gain 62 points (as of 10th April), helped by a recent goal against the Flames, a promising number in a rookie season. He, like Martin, is developing into a fine top-six forward.<\/p>\n
2023 \u2013 Chicago Blackhawks \u2013 Jumped to first overall \u2013 Drafted Connor Bedard (C, Canada)<\/p>\n
Arguably the highest-profile draft pick of the 2020s, Bedard\u2019s numbers have been impressive. Albeit, his numbers are slightly overshadowed by fellow first overall pick Macklin Celebrini. Drafted from the Regina Pats, Bedard has started his career with 67 points in his debut season. He had a projected 75 in his second, yet it was a much shorter season due to injury. Good numbers for someone who is still only 20 years old.<\/p>\n
Bedard has the potential to get much better. But Chicago\u2019s ever-increasing list of high draft picks in recent years has not yet resulted in an improvement in results.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2022 \u2013 Seattle Kraken \u2013 Dropped to fourth overall \u2013 Drafted Shane Wright (C, Canada)<\/p>\n
Much like Sennecke, Wright\u2019s reaction to his draft position drew plenty of online attention, but not in a good way. While he has since denied it was out of anger, his glare towards the Canadiens\u2019 table after they passed on him at first overall became a viral moment.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Wright and the Kraken, it does seem that the Canadiens were right to look elsewhere. His numbers have been underwhelming, with returns of two points (from eight games), five (8 games), 44 (79) and 26 (72) not really catching anyone\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
Some reports linked him with the Flames before the trade window shut. Could this be a deal that the Flames look at in the summer as part of building a young core? At 22 years old, he still has a lot of years ahead of him. A group focused on youth could benefit him.<\/p>\n
2021 \u2013 Seattle Kraken \u2013 Jumped to second overall \u2013 Drafted Matty Beniers (C, USA)<\/p>\n
A success story for the Kraken as he has become a core piece of their franchise, including becoming a Calder Trophy winner in 2023.<\/p>\n
His numbers aren\u2019t necessarily anything to write home about, with points totals of 57, 37, 43, and a projected 49 for this year, but they\u2019re solid for a young player.<\/p>\n
A mixed bag<\/p>\n
So, overall: two jumps, a retained, and two drops, but only one player who could potentially be called a flop. Even if the Flames do fall to fifth, that\u2019s by no means a bad thing. Some household names have been drafted at that position, including former Flame (and pretty much every other team in the NHL) Jaromir Jagr, as well as Vezina, Hart, and Ted Lindsay Trophy winner Carey Price, and not to forget, of course, the hot-dog man himself, Phil Kessel. Also, the former Flames, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanafin, were both drafted at fifth overall.<\/p>\n
In reality, throughout the history of the NHL draft, the numbers suggest that the team with the third-best odds will often end up drafting third, with it happening roughly 1\/3 of the time. Jumps up seem fairly uncommon, with only about 20% of first overall picks coming from the team that entered with the third-best odds.<\/p>\n
This draft is a chance to bolster the Flames\u2019 horde of talented youngsters. It can potentially spearhead the rebuild, whether that be McKenna, Stenberg, or a blue-chip at fifth. The Flames need a talisman, and this could be the chance to finally get one again.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also worth noting that Edmonton had the third-best odds going into the 2015 draft lottery. We all know how that turned out!<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been a long season for the Flames, but whether you view it as a hard one depends…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1610,51,1611,1612,1613,271,1614],"class_list":{"0":"post-2420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-2026-draft-lottery-odds","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-calgary-flames","11":"tag-draft","12":"tag-draft-lottery","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-third-best-odds"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}