The Calgary Flames have added a new centre as they look to upgrade their forward corps.
With the 18th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Flames selected Victoria Royals centre Cole Reschny on Friday night.
Reschny tallied 26 goals and 66 assists in the 62 regular season with the Royals and added nine goals and 16 assists in 11 post-season games this past year.
He also suited up for Team Canada at the under-18 championship earlier this year in Texas, where he tallied five goals and three assists in five games to help the Red and White to a gold medal.
The five-foot-11 Macklin, Sask., native has committed to play hockey at the University of North Dakota for the 2025-26 season.
Well-regarded for his high work ethic and hockey IQ, Reschny excelled at turning defence into offence despite his average size, forechecking well and creating turnovers to put some solid pressure on his opponents.
Sportsnet's Sam Cosentino had Reschny as his 21st-best prospect in his May rankings.
The Flames were in need of some help down the middle. Though Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund have been stalwarts at centre for Calgary, they're 34 and 36, respectively, on a team looking to get younger.
They traded for 26-year-old Morgan Frost ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline, but the former Flyer was unable to produce at a high level for the Flames, finishing with three goals and nine assists in 32 games.
Reschny, along with 2024 draftee Luke Misa, represent a possible new era for Calgary at centre, while former first-rounder Zayne Parekh takes over the team's blue line.
The Flames acquired the pick from the New Jersey Devils in a trade involving goalie Jacob Markstrom last June.
Calgary sent its own 2025 draft choice, which landed at 16th overall, to the Montreal Canadiens in 2022 to dump centre Sean Monahan’s salary. Montreal used the pick earlier Friday in a trade to acquire defenceman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders.
Last season, Calgary tied the St. Louis Blues for the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 96 points, but missed out on the playoffs because of a regulation wins tiebreaker.
The Flames also hold the 32nd pick — the final selection of the first round — acquired in the trade that sent Matthew Tkachuk to Florida and Jonathan Huberdeau to Calgary in 2022.
-- With files from the Canadian Press
