DALLAS — The Calgary Flames sat and watched the first 31 picks of the NHL draft on Friday night.
And as things stand, they'll also be waiting at their table at American Airlines Center for a good chunk of Saturday.
Calgary doesn't have a selection this year until midway through the fourth round with picks No. 105 and 108 after making two trades at last year's draft.
The Flames dealt their first- and second-round picks in 2018 to the New York Islanders as part of the package to acquire defenceman Travis Hamonic last June.
The trade didn't go according to plan as Calgary nose dived late in the regular season and missed the playoffs. The Islanders used the first rounder acquired from the Flames to take defenceman Noah Dobson of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 12th overall Friday.
New York will pick 43rd on Saturday with the other selection.
Calgary also doesn't have a pick in the third round after trading that selection to the Arizona Coyotes to acquire goalie Mike Smith.
After the Flames choose two players in the fourth round — the second of the two picks was obtained from the Florida Panthers for Juri Hudler in 2016 — they will again have to wait.
The club's fifth rounder is property of the Coyotes after the Flames scooped up defenceman Michael Stone from Arizona in 2017.
Calgary, which will have a new head coach in Bill Peters for 2018-19 and possesses a solid nucleus led by star forwards Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, has missed the playoffs two of the last three seasons.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
