Ah, the NHL design of 2018, a distant and forgotten concept year for the Calgary Flames and their fans, and understandable. After exchanging their first, second and third round picks for Travis Hamonic and Mike Smith, the Flames came into the design with only five concept choices and none to the fourth round. As was expected from the design with so little capital, seven years later the Flames did not find much value of the 2018 class.
105th General – Martin Pospisil
With their first choice of the design, completely down at 105th general, the Flames Center Martin Pospisil selected from the USHL. Fun fact: Pospisil has set up 253 penalty minutes in its concept year. No other player in his team had more than 100 that season. Unnecessary to say that there were certainly some concerns about the discipline of Postpisil when he was drawn up.
However, Pospisil really ruled in his game in the coming years, and after an impressive 63 points in 44 USHL matches in his D+1 season, he made the leap to the AHL in 2019 as a 20-year-old. In the next four years, Pospisil was 56 points in 107 AHL matches in four seasons plagued by injuries. In 2023–24 he made his NHL debut and never looked back, quickly became one of the more famous vermin in the competition and added 24 points in 63 games.
Last season he took a step back with only 25 points in 81 games, but he continued to raise his teammates wherever he played. Whether or not he is more than a fourth line wing is still under discussion, but in general Pospisil seems to be in the only light place in the 2018 design.
108th General – Demetrios Koumontzis
Three picks later the flames winger selected Demetrios Koumontzis. Koumontzis was selected in high school and strived to play in his D+1 season in the NCAA for Arizona State University. In the next five seasons, Koumontzis struggled to take a step in the NCAA, and even to play defense. In general, he played 142 games in the NCAA for five seasons, but he only managed 67 points and never surpassed 20 in a season.
Koumontzis remained on the spare list of the Flames after leaving the NCAA, but has spent the past three years in the ECHL with an Echl-Alleen contract.
122nd General – Milos Roman
With their third choice in the fourth round, the flames selected the Middle Milos Roman from the WHL. Roman actually had a solid D+1 season in the WHL and placed 60 points in 59 games. Unfortunately he took a big step back in his D+2 season and saw his production fall to just 47 points in 62 games, a pretty disappointing output for a 20-year-old in the WHL.
After his tough D+2 season, the Flames did not see NHL-Tukomst for Roman, and in the end he went back into the concept, where he became unfair. He went home to the Czech competition, where he won four consecutive championships.
167th General – Emilio Pettersen
A 167th general, the flames selected Center Emilio Pettersen. After his selection through the Flames, he went to the NCAA, where he had two solid years, including 35 points in 36 games in his D+2 season. Petterssen then made the leap to the AHL in 2020–21 as a 20-year-old. In the next four years, Petterssen became a mainstay on the AHL schedule of the Flames and one of their best players.
The problem with Petterssen was that he never took the step from a good Ahler to a great one and was constantly taken over for NHL opportunities over the years. By 2024 he had fallen far away from the internal depth map of the flames and was treated in an AHL-alleen deal on the Dallas stars.
198th General – Dmitry Zavgorodniy
With their latest choice of the 2018 design, the Flames took a shot on substandard winger Dmitry Zavgorodniy from the Qmjhl. After his selection, Zavgorodniy started to make waves as a potential stem in the seventh round. The streets will never forget 67 points in 40 QMJHL games in 2019-200019. Unfortunately, his breakout year was more of a case of playing with future first general pick Alexis Lafreniere and less of Zavgorodniy who took a step.
After his big season in the QMJHL, Zavgorodniy joined the Flames AHL selection in what would be a short-term term of office. He would fit for only 41 games in the next two years, in total only five points. After the 2021–22 season and the end of his entry agreement, Zavgorodniy left for Russia, where he has since played.
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