The second round of the NHL’s annual entry draft is an odd vibe. It lacks the pomp and drama of the first round, as in the second round picks are made from each club’s table without having to walk back and forth to the stage with much ballyhoo.
As a result, the picks happen significantly more fast. But a good player found in the second round is just as valuable as one found in the first round, and frequently they don’t carry the load of expectations that players taken just a handful of picks ahead of them do.
In the 2024 NHL Draft, the Calgary Flames are in a unique situation: they have two second-round picks. They retained control of their own selection, and added Dallas’ via the Chris Tanev trade prior to the trade deadline.
Historically, the Flames have hit a few home runs in the second round – they have a banner hanging from the Saddledome rafters celebrating one of their second-rounders – but they’ve also had issues striking paydirt frequently in that area of the draft.
The Flames’ 2018 and 2019 second-rounders were transferred to the New York Islanders (together with their 2018 first-rounder) in exchange for Travis Hamonic (and a 2019 fourth-rounder).
The Flames’ 2017 second-round pick was traded to the Ottawa Senators. The second and Jyrki Jokipakka moved to Ottawa in exchange for Curtis Lazar and minor-league defender Mike Kostka.
Looking at the last five second-rounders the Flames have made, three are prospects within the Flames’ system right now. Strömgren enjoyed a breakthrough year with the Wranglers and appears like he could be contending for NHL time pretty soon.
Kuznetsov made his NHL debut for the Flames in January. Morin had a rough season in the QMJHL offensively, but still has a lot of untapped upside.
The Flames previously cashed in big in the second round in 2015, when both Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington ended up becoming NHL regulars.
If you have the criterion that 200 NHL games makes a draft successful, 21 players have reached that mark after being second-round selections by the Flames.
That list includes Eric Vail (1973), Guy Chouinard (1974), Pat Riggin (1979), Steve Konroyd (1980), Kevin LaVallee (1980), Richard Kromm (1982), Paul Ranheim (1984), Joe Nieuwendyk (1985), Brian Glynn (1986), Stephane Matteau (1987), Ted Drury (1989), Kent Manderville (1989), Jamie Allison (1993), Steve Begin (1996), Blair Betts (1998), Jarret Stoll (2000), Kurtis Foster (2000), Markus Granlund (2011), Oliver Kylington (2015), Rasmus Andersson (2015), and Dillon Dube (2016).
That group includes two Calder Trophy winners in Vail (the Flames’ first-ever individual trophy winner) and Nieuwendyk, one of the team’s earliest offensive stars in Chouinard, as well as a handful of highly helpful guys — past and present.
Heck, famous NHL coach Rick Bowness, who just missed the 200-game cut-off, was a second-rounder in 1975. The Flames obtained two second-rounders when they dealt their all-time top scorer (at the time) Kent Nilsson to the Minnesota North Stars: those picks turned into Nieuwendyk and Matteau.
If your cut-off for a successful second-rounder is at 500 games, the Flames’ list of 21 200-gamers slims down to nine — and that’s skewed quite a bit towards the earlier generation of players, largely from the 1970s and 1980s drafts.
Since the 2000 draft, the Flames have drafted 10 players in the second round that have played fewer than five NHL games: Andrei Medvedev, Andrei Taratukhin, Brian McConnell, Tim Ramholt, Mitch Wahl, Patrick Sieloff, Hunter Smith, Mason McDonald, Tyler Parsons and Topi Ronni. (We’re exempting Strömgren and Morin, since they’re still in the Flames’ system and could play NHL games.)
Without looking at anybody else they could have taken, when you realize that often the second round has a lot of talent that’s spilled over from the first round, that’s still a lot of potential worth left on the table.
Calgary Wranglers alternate captain Clark Bishop was one of the numerous veterans this team had this season and played a solid year in his ninth season in the AHL.
The 28-year-old centre made the most of his second season with the Wranglers and formed a complementary linemate to Calgary’s captain Brett Sutter.
Bishop was born in Saint John’s, Newfoundland and played for the Saint John’s Privateers for his U18 year. In 2012-13, he joined the QMHJL to play with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
He played with this team for the next four seasons and had a couple of outings playing for Canada in between this period.
He was picked in the 2014 NHL entry draft by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fifth round, 127th overall. He completed out his last two seasons with the Screaming Eagles as Captain of the squad before rising into the AHL.
In 2016-17, he split his time in the AHL and ECHL between the Charlotte Checkers and Florida Everblades. His output stats weren’t mind-blowing, but he did improve as time went on.
He played the next full season with the Charlotte Checkers and in 2018-19, he got his first taste of the NHL with the Carolina Hurricanes. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 20, 2018, against the Colorado Avalanche and collected a goal and two assists in his 20 games with the Hurricanes that year.
He got another five games with the Hurricanes the next year, earning one assist then played the rest of the season with the Checkers. In 2020-21, he was purchased by the Ottawa Senators and spent the next two seasons between the Belleville Senators and Ottawa Senators.
He signed a one-year contract with the Flames in July of 2022 and played in the Wranglers’ debut season. His achievements earned him a two year contract extension in June of 2023.
In Clark Bishop’s first season with the Calgary Wranglers, he participated in practically every game with 64 appearances in the regular season. He has 11 goals and 12 assists in 2022-23 and put up two goals and an assist in their nine-game playoff run.
In Bishop’s second season with Calgary, he did play a little less over the regular season appearing in 57 games. In this period, he nearly tied his point production from the previous year with 11 goals and 12 assists.
He typically skated with Brett Sutter while the captain was healthy but still worked his way up and down the lineup through the course of the season.
One of his season highlights featured a shorthanded empty net goal back in December that never quite crossed the line. Not something you see every day by any means.
Leave a Reply