The Calgary Flames may have just finished the 2026 NHL Draft, but the attention around the organization is already drifting toward 2027 - and, in one very early mock draft, it comes with a hometown twist.
In The Athletic’s latest projection, Calgary wins the lottery and uses the No. 1 pick on Landon DuPont, the Red Deer native who is being billed as one of the most gifted young defensemen the draft has ever seen. The fit is obvious on paper: the Flames are still searching for the kind of elite talent that can anchor a rebuild, and DuPont would give them a marquee name from their own backyard.
DuPont is set to head to Michigan for the coming season after two years with the Everett Silvertips in the WHL. Even at 17, he put together a massive run there, finishing with 35 goals and 133 points in 127 games. At 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, with another year of growth still ahead, he already looks like the kind of player who can change the direction of a franchise.
Calgary’s projected haul doesn’t stop there. The Flames also land the No. 29 pick in the mock, a selection that comes via the Rasmus Andersson trade, and they use it on another WHL standout in Seattle Thunderbirds winger Brock England.
England, also from Red Deer, turned heads this past season with 21 goals and 51 points in 64 games as a 16-year-old. He’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, and while he wouldn’t fill Calgary’s need for a future 1C in a center-heavy class, he would add another high-upside piece to the pipeline.
For a team still trying to build out its next core, that’s the appeal here: two local prospects, two big ceilings, and a mock draft that gives Calgary a much brighter future than the present.
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Brzustewicz is still in the mix, but the path forward is far from clear. The Flames can keep sorting through whether he belongs in the NHL right away, whether a stint in the AHL makes the most sense, or whether his value is better used in a bigger move if the front office decides the current mix needs another adjustment. Even the idea of shifting Zayne Parekh to the left side speaks to how tight the margins are, and how one move on the back end could ripple through the rest of the roster. [Read more 🡒]