The St. Louis Blues will remain right where they started.

The NHL held its draft lottery on Tuesday night in New Jersey, and the Blues will remain in their two lottery picks when the process started, No. 11 with their pick and No. 15 as a result of getting the Detroit Red Wings' pick from the March 6 trade that sent Justin Faulk to Motown.

The chances were slim, and as process was unveiled for the top overall pick, which went to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were fifth in the process, the Blues moved up from three percent to 6.1 percent but ultimately fell out of the running.

The best the Blues could do with the pick from the Red Wings was move up to No. 5.

The 2026 NHL Draft will be held June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

Coming out of the Olympic break, the Blues had the second-worst record in the NHL, which meant they had the second-best odds at winning the lottery selection, but even the Vancouver Canucks, who finished with the worst record in the league this season and had the best overall odds, slipped down to No. 3, behind the Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks, who took Macklin Celebrini with the No. 1 pick in 2024.

The Blues also hold the pick of the Colorado Avalanche and that will be determined when the Avalanche are done in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and at this time, looks like it will be at the back end of the first round. That pick came in a trade with the New York Islanders on March 6 for Brayden Schenn.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was asked about finishing 17-5-3 in the final 25 games and went from second-worst in the league standings to 11th, where they will currently pick.

"Once the season’s over, you wish you had the high pick," Armstrong said on April 18. "It’s the pain of going through that to get it. I did talk to the players after the trade deadline and I told them, our mandate (was) we’re going to bring up younger players and we’re going to put them in positions that reflect what we want to see them. Theo [Lindstein] came up, he never played an NHL game and he was a top four defenseman. It’s not like we hid him as a seven. [Dalibor] Dvorsky against the other teams’ top players a lot of nights with Robert [Thomas]. [Otto] Stenberg came up, [Logan] Mailloux, what was his ice time pre- and post-Olympics? I said to the players, ‘We have a plan. Your job is to disrupt the plan. You’re professionals. This is how you make your living. I expect you to disrupt our plan, and they did and I give them full marks. Could we have picked (No.) 2 or 3 this year? It would have ... I think there would be less belief in our group. In the players that you have asked about, that you have talked about, there would be a lot less belief in that if we just had rolled over and just got door-matted for the last seven weeks of the season."

What will the Blues do now? They know they have options, including trade their picks in order to try and move up, use them in a NHL trade or simply keep one, two or all and select players they feel can benefit them in the future. Or they could accumulate more picks and move down if there's a benefit to do that. So lots of options.

"We’ll get our list together and the way that I’ve done it in the past is OK, give me lines, blocks of players. Where’s a block? So if there’s a block of four guys and we want to get into that block, then yeah," Armstrong said. "Yes we would, I guess that’s the long answer. We would move up if we can. We’ll also move back if we don’t like what we see. We can use the picks, we can use prospects, we can use players, but every team is the same in that fashion. If there’s somebody there that we believe is in a block outside of our pick and we can acquire him, we’ll give it our best chance. You also have to have someone that wants to move out of that pick too."

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on, but on Tuesday night the league conducted the 2026 NHL Draft lottery with the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the No. 1 pick, and the right to draft either Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg in a class with more parity at the top than originally expected.

McKenna was viewed as the grand prize for much of the 2025-26 season. The rangy left wing already has good height, great playmaking, and a knack for driving the pace from the wing — making him a low-risk top overall pick. At times he’s been compared to Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, though personally, I don’t think he has quite the same ceiling as either phenom. Still, he’s a franchise cornerstone player, and it will be interesting to see whether a team chooses to keep him at his natural LW, or tries to convert him into a center.

The choice at No. 1 will be between McKenna and Sweden’s Ivar Stenberg, who has been racing up the boards as scouts take a deeper look into his run in the SHL. It’s unusual for a true 18-year-old to have any modicum of success in a pro league, but Stenberg more than held his own with his hockey IQ, and a shot volume that routinely made him one of the biggest threats on the ice for Frölunda HC. That pro-readiness is appealing for a team looking for an immediate impact, and his polish could cause him to be the top overall pick.

We’ll take a deeper dive into this year’s class as the draft approaches, but for now here’s a rapid-fire mock draft involving the teams in the lottery for the 2026 NHL Draft.

As a reminder, these were the lottery odds for winning the first draw entering Tuesday night.

Vancouver Canucks — 18.5%
Chicago Blackhawks — 13.5%
New York Rangers — 11.5%
Calgary Flames — 9.5%
Toronto Maple Leafs (Top 5 protected to Bruins) — 8.5%
Seattle Kraken — 7.5%
Winnipeg Jets — 6.5%
Florida Panthers — 6.0%
San Jose Sharks — 5.0%
Nashville Predators — 3.5%
St. Louis Blues — 3.0%
New Jersey Devils — 2.5%
New York Islanders — 2.0%
Columbus Blue Jackets — 1.5%
St. Louis Blues (from Red Wings) — 0.5%
Washington Capitals — 0.5%

Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov has officially been named a finalist for the 2025-26 Calder Memorial Trophy. 

New York Islanders defenseman Matther Schaefer and Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke are also finalists for this year's Calder.

When noting that Demidov had a very good rookie season for the Canadiens this campaign, it is easy to understand why he is a finalist for the Calder. The 20-year-old rookie has immediately cemented himself as a legitimate top-six NHL forward and a huge part of the Canadiens' roster because of it.

In 82 games this campaign with the Canadiens, Demidov scored 19 goals and led all NHL rookies with 43 assists and 62 points. With numbers like these, the young forward thrived this campaign for the Habs and should only get better as he continues to gain more experience. 

The Vancouver Canucks have lost the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery. Despite having the best odds at first overall, the Canucks will instead pick third. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the San Jose Sharks won the draft lottery and will pick first and second overall.

Vancouver has selected third overall on four occasions. With the third pick, they selected Jocelyn Guevremont (1971), Don Lever (1972), Dennis Ververgaert (1973) and Henrik Sedin (1999). Some prospects who could be selected third overall include Caleb Malhotra, Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff. 

The 2026 NHL Entry Draft is scheduled for June 26-27, 2026, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The Canucks enter the draft with 10 picks, including four in the first two rounds. The last three third overall picks were Anton Frondell, Beckett Sennecke and Adam Fantilli.

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On Tuesday night, the National Hockey League conducted the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery. Every team that missed the playoffs participated with a weighted chance based on how they finished in the standings. 

The Chicago Blackhawks had a 13.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick, a 14.1 percent chance to retain the second overall pick, a 30.7 percent chance to drop to third, and a 41.7 percent chance of dropping two spots to fourth. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the first lottery and will make the first overall pick. With all of the turmoil going on within that organization, this is their chance to move past it. 

The second draw was won by the San Jose Sharks, who moved all the way up from 9th to get the second overall pick. They took major strides in 2025-26, and they will still make another great draft pick. 

Both teams that won the lottery were below the Chicago Blackhawks on the board, so they have slipped down to 4th overall. The Vancouver Canucks will slip into that third overall spot. 

Now, it is unlikely that the Chicago Blackhawks will land one of Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg, but plenty of other great prospects will be there for them to consider with the 4th overall pick. 

Prospects Blackhawks Will Consider If Picking 3rd Or 4thThe Chicago Blackhawks may end up picking 3rd or 4th if the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery doesn't go their way. Still, they'd be getting a tremendous player.

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay up to date on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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The Nashville Predators will select 10th overall in the 2026 NHL Draft as a result of the draft lottery on Tuesday. 

The Predators had the 10th-best odds to win the No. 1 overall pick at 3.5%. They had 35 of 1,000 four-number combinations in the lottery. 

They had the highest odds to select 10th overall in the lottery at 73.3% 

This is the second year in a row that the Predators will be selecting in the top 10 of the NHL Draft, selecting center Brady Martin fifth overall in the 2025 draft. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the lottery, earning the right to draft prospect forward Gavin McKenna in June. The Maple Leafs had the fifth-best odds to win the top pick at 8.5%. 

This will be the Predators ninth time selecting in the top 10: David Legwand (2nd overall in 1998), Brian Finley (6th overall in 1999), Scott Hartnell (6th overall in 2000), Scottie Upshall (6th overall in 2002), Ryan Suter (7th overall in 2003), Colin Wilson (7th overall 2008), Seth Jones (4th overall in 2013), Martin (5th overall in 2025) and 10th overall in 2026. 

Nashville will still be without a new general manger heading into the summer. Barry Trotz announced in February that he'd be retiring in the offseason once a new GM was hired to replace him.  

As of Tuesday, the Predators have 12 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, which will be held on June 26-27 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. 

Nashville Predators 2026 NHL Draft Picks 

First round: 1 pick (10th overall) 

Second round: 2 picks

Third round: 2 picks 

Fourth round: 2 picks 

Fifth round: 3 picks 

Sixth round: 1 pick

Seventh round: 1 pick 

The Calgary Flames will select sixth overall in the upcoming 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

The draft lottery took place Tuesday night, featuring a system in which four balls numbered 1 through 14 were drawn, creating 1,001 possible four-number combinations.

The Flames finished the regular season 29th out of 32 teams with a 34-39-9 record (77 points). The New York Rangers (77 points), Chicago Blackhawks (72 points), and Vancouver Canucks (58 points) all finished below them in the standings.

That finish guaranteed Calgary a top-six selection in the draft, while also giving them a 9.5 percent chance of landing the first-overall pick through the lottery.

The 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft will take place June 26–27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

Lottery Results:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs 

2. San Jose Sharks

3. Vancouver Canucks 

4. Chicago Blackhawks 

5. New York Rangers

6. Calgary Flames 

7. Seattle Kraken

8. Winnipeg Jets

9. Florida Panthers

10. Nashville Predators 

11. St.Louis Blues 

12. New Jersey Devils

13. New York Islanders 

14. Columbus Blue Jackets

15. St. Louis Blues

16. Washington Capitals

The ping pong balls came and went, and the New York Islanders were unable to win the NHL Draft Lottery for a consecutive season. 

TORONTO TAKES TOP PICK 🤩

The @Mapleleafs have won the 2026 #NHLDraft lottery!

The 2026 #NHLDraft is on June 26 & 27! pic.twitter.com/5v1WptzUzy

— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2026

The Islanders, who won the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery with just 3.5% odds, had a 2.0% chance to win it again. Because they finished the season with the 13th-best odds, the most they could have moved up to is No. 3. 

Per NHL.com's draft projections, right-side defenseman Ryan Lin is slated to go at No. 13. The 18-year-old British Columbia native is committed to the Frozen Four champion University of Denver for the 2027-28 season. 

The Islanders are currently limited on the right side of their blue line, so going with a right-shot defenseman makes a ton of sense. 

The 2026 NHL Draft will take place in Buffalo, NY on June 26 and 27th. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been awarded the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Now, the question is whether they will take Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg with the top pick. But that's a decision to be made in June.

For now, the Maple Leafs received the right to make that choice by winning the draft lottery on Tuesday, May 5. They had 8.5% odds of landing the top pick. Their 2026 first-round pick had been traded but was top-five protected, so they keep the selection.

The Maple Leafs last picked No. 1 overall in 2016, when they chose Auston Matthews.

The San Jose Sharks won the second drawing and will choose second overall for the second year in a row. They also picked first in 2024, taking Macklin Celebrini.

The moment the Leafs won the 2026 Draft Lottery

🎥: Sportsnet | #LeafsForeverpic.twitter.com/0ZypiO9Jm3

— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) May 5, 2026

The last-place Vancouver Canucks fell to the third pick.

The draft lottery drawing was conducted in front of cameras for the second year in a row in the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Last year, the New York Islanders won the lottery despite 3.5% odds and selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the top pick.

New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer has been named a finalist for the Calder Trophy along with Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov and Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke.

Schaefer recorded 23 goals with 36 assists for 59 points, averaging 24:41 minutes per game. He was a +13, as well.  

His 23 goals were not just tied with Sennecke for the rookie league, but ranked second in the NHL this season amongst defensemen, sitting tied with Washington Capitals defenseman Jacob Chychrun. 

Not only that, but he also ties former New York Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch for the most goals by a rookie defenseman in NHL history. 

Schaefer's 36 assists ranked third, one behind Sennecke and seven behind Demidov.  His 59 points ranked third, one behind Sennecke and three behind Demidov. 

His eight power-play goals were tied for second with Chychrun for the second-most amongst defenseman, with Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh leading the way with 10. 

His 24:41 minutes per game was tied for the 12th most minutes per game in the NHL with Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard and Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber. 

Like an infomercial, but wait, there's more: 

Schaefer will be taking this award home, becoming the first Islanders rookie since 2017-18 (Mathew Barzal) to win this award and the fifth Islanders rookie to ever win:

Bryan Trottier -- 1976

Mike Bossy -- 1978

Bryan Berard -- 1997

Mathew Barzal -- 2018

How many points do you think Schaefer will record next season? 

Regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs and the hire of John Chayka to be the franchise's new GM, there have been plenty of scrutiny and rumblings that have come with it.

One report that has come out in the aftermath of the Leafs introducing Chayka and Mats Sundin as the new leaders in the hockey operations department is that Los Angeles Kings senior director of hockey operations, Jake Goldberg, has been linked to Toronto.

Frank Seravalli reported that there has been speculation about Goldberg joining Chayka's staff with the Maple Leafs. 

They share a history from their days with the Arizona Coyotes. Chayka was the GM and president of hockey operations of the Coyotes from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

As for Goldberg, he was the director of hockey operations in 2017-18 and 2018-19, and in his final year with the franchise, in 2019-20, he was an assistant GM working closely with Chayka.

Amid the links and speculation between the two NHL executives, there have also been reports about potential tampering. 

"At least one team raised a tampering concern with the NHL as incoming Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka began to fill out his staff," Seravalli reported.

John Chayka’s Tenure As Maple Leafs GM Starts With Tampering Allegation That Was Eventually DismissedJust as the ink dried on his new contract in Toronto, John Chayka found himself navigating a familiar storm of league-office scrutiny and tampering allegations.

It's unclear who that team might be, but speculation about Goldberg potentially reuniting with Chayka has been highlighted.

Ultimately, the NHL reportedly investigated the tampering claims but ruled the situation to be unsubstantiated.

Toronto native and 36-year-old Goldberg has spent the past five seasons with the Kings as the senior director of hockey operations. 

Three Veteran NHL Coaches That Must Be On The Kings And Ken Holland's ListLos Angeles Kings GM Ken Holland revealed that he will be searching for a new head coach for next season. Though he'll be looking at a variation of candidates with different levels of experience, here are three veteran coaches who should be on his list.

His role with Los Angeles required him to be part of the process in negotiating player contracts, supervising the team's salary cap, preparing for arbitration when necessary, and other responsibilities related to the NHL's collective bargaining agreement.

Before becoming an NHL executive, Goldberg had multiple roles with the OHL's London Knights. He was the team's assistant director of scouting from 2013-14 to 2015-16, and in 2016-17, he was labelled as the Knights' assistant GM and director of analytics. He helped London to a Memorial Cup championship in 2016.

Furthermore, Goldberg was previously a corporate lawyer at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. He also played a role in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization during the 2012-13 campaign as an advanced statistics consultant.

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The Buffalo Sabres practiced on Tuesday in preparation for the opening of their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. The club finished off the Boston Bruins in six games, while Les Habitants went the full seven games with Tampa Bay. One of the keys to the Sabres' victory over the Bruins in the series finale was the play of youngster Zach Benson, who scored the insurance goal in the third period to give Buffalo some breathing room.

Throughout the series, the BC native was the focal point of the Bruins ire and an irritating presence on nearly every shift, something that Boston should be familiar with since they had Brad Marchand on their roster for 16 seasons. That pestiness provoked Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy to take a baseball swing at Benson after the Sabres winger tripped him near the end boards. 

"He's hard to play against. There's the pest that's real annoying, there's a pest that's really hard to play against, and I think he's a real hard player to play against," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. "He plays the game the right way. He has the puck a lot. He can score. I mentioned yesterday that he's annoying, because he gets to the net all the time. He gets to the puck. He's the first touch. If he's not the first touch, he's all over you to try to get it back. Then he's got that kind of that smirk on his face that he irritates you too as an opposition player. It makes me smile when it annoys other people."

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Benson has played over 200 games in the NHL since being drafted 13th overall in 2023 and posted a career-best 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists), but has slowly evolved into the role of an irritant and seems to enjoy chosen path.

"It's part of the game that he likes. Being in another team's face and being annoying and being called a pest. I don't think it's something that bothers him one bit." Sabres linemate Josh Doan said. "He enjoys this part of the game. It's that competitive side of him. He's not going to be the biggest guy and blow you up, so if he's going to get in your head, it's going to be from being annoying and stripping you or or crashing into your paint and being around your goalie as much as you can. I think he doesn't get as much credit for how strong he can be in those areas. It's not very easy to get him out of there, so over a long over a long series, it gets tiring."

Zach Benson is trying to stay off social media. But he's seen the memes. All the memes 😂 pic.twitter.com/LfaIvMVbYx

— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) May 5, 2026

It is likely that Benson will attempt to rile players such as Montreal defenseman Arber Xhekaj or forward Josh Anderson, hoping to draw the Canadiens more physical players into penalties. The Sabres will need to take advantage of those opportunities, after going 1 for 24 on the power play against the Bruins. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo

Updated list of Bruins draft picks for 2026 and future years originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins, for the first time in a long while, have a boatload of picks in the upcoming NHL Drafts.

Most notably, they have five first-round picks in the next three drafts, including the possibility of having three of them in the 2028 draft.

The Bruins did not get lucky in Tuesday night’s 2026 NHL Draft Lottery.

They had a 58.2 percent chance of getting the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top-five protected 2026 first-round pick. But the Leafs won the lottery and will pick No. 1 overall. As a result, they will give the Bruins a 2027 or 2028 first-round pick to complete the Brandon Carlo trade from March of 2025.

• If the Leafs’ 2027 pick is outside the top 10, it goes to the Flyers. The Bruins would then get the Leafs’ unprotected 2028 first-round pick.
• If the Leafs’ 2027 pick is inside the top 10, they can choose to give it to the Flyers or Bruins. The team not chosen will get Toronto’s unprotected 2028 first-rounder.

What will the Bruins do with all these draft picks?

They can use all or most of them to add talented young players to the organization and bolster a prospect pool that still lacks high-end talent. The Athletic ranked the Bruins’ prospect pool 30th out of 32 teams in 2025, but it improved to the 19th-ranked prospect pool in this year’s rankings after a strong 2025 draft and other prospects showing on-ice improvement.

That’s an impressive jump, but it’s still middle of the pack.

The Bruins could also use some of these draft picks as trade chips to acquire immediate help. The B’s desperately need another top-six forward (preferably a center) and a top-four defenseman.

The players that make up Boston’s core are largely in the win-now portion of their careers, so it would make sense for the Bruins to prioritize adding veteran help to the roster after this season’s playoff run.

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Nazem Kadri was a standout in Game 1, leading all players in shots on goal and scoring a goal in the process.

Our Wild vs. Avalanche predictions expect another active offensive night from Kadri in Game 2, with plenty of involvement around the net once again.

Let’s take a closer look at my NHL picks for Tuesday, May 5.

Wild vs Avalanche Game 2 prediction

Who will win Wild vs Avalanche Game 2?

Avalanche:Cale Makar missed almost the entire opening period, and the Colorado Avalanche still scored nine goals while generating 17 high-danger chances. They have an unmatched level of firepower, and the Minnesota Wild aren’t stout enough defensively to slow them down.

Wild vs Avalanche best bet: Nazem Kadri Over 2.5 shots on goal (+115)

Nazem Kadri was a one-man shooting gallery in the series opener, generating a game-high eight shots on nine attempts.

Kadri’s shooting success against the Minnesota Wild is nothing new. He has averaged 4.4 shots on 6.8 attempts over five head-to-head matchups this season.

That should come as no surprise given the Wild allowed the fourth-most shots to centers during the regular season.

They also ranked 29th in defending the slot, which is where Kadri likes to set up home base — at both 5-on-5 and on the power play.

Wild vs Avalanche Game 2 same-game parlay

Kadri spent a lot of his 5-on-5 time against the Michael McCarron line, which is a matchup that favors the Colorado Avalanche. He also skated on the top power play unit alongside Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, et al.

That is very favorable usage, and makes Kadri a likely candidate to find success in Game 2.

Mats Zuccarello has recorded multiple shots on goal in nine of the last 11 against the Avalanche, including Game 1. With so much attention paid to Kirill Kaprizov, there will be opportunities for Zuccarello.

Wild vs Avalanche SGP

• Nazem Kadri Over 2.5 shots on goal
• Nazem Kadri Over 0.5 points
• Mats Zuccarello Over 1.5 shots on goal

Wild vs Avalanche Game 2 goal scorer pick

Brock Nelson (+305)

Brock Nelson had plenty of good looks in Game 1. He generated six scoring chances, trailing only Kadri and Ryan Hartman – both of whom found the back of the net. 

Nelson is a plus-finisher and the Wild bleed shots to centers, making him a standout value play at such a high price.

Wild vs Avalanche odds for Game 2

• Moneyline: Minneosta +160 | Colorado -190
• Puck Line: Minnesota +1.5 (-145) | Colorado -1.5 (+125)
• Over/Under: Over 6.5 (-105) | Under 6.5 (-115)

Wild vs Avalanche trend

Nazem Kadri has picked up a point in five of his last six home games against Minnesota. Find more NHL betting trends for Wild vs. Avalanche.

How to watch Wild vs Avalanche Game 2

Wild vs Avalanche latest injuries

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The Islanders are promoting from within.

After a strong first season behind the bench of the Isles’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, Rocky Thompson earned a place with the varsity club as an assistant coach, the team announced on Tuesday.

Thompson, 48, led Bridgeport back to the playoffs this year for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Posting a 34-30-8 record, Bridgeport tied its franchise record in wins and points (76) under Thompson’s direction.

Bridgeport was ultimately eliminated from the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs on April 23, after the team was swept in the first round by the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

Their encouraging 2025-26 season marked the end of the franchise’s 25-year tenure in Bridgeport. The team is set to relocate to Hamilton, Ontario starting next season.

After breaking into the NHL as an assistant for the Oilers in 2014-15, Thompson spent a couple seasons as head coach of the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL before serving three seasons at the helm of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves from 2017-20.

He even won a Memorial Cup Championship with the Spitfires in 2017.

Thompson will reunite with current Isles assistant coach Bob Boughner, who brought the Calgary native on as an associate coach for a couple of seasons when he was the bench boss in San Jose from 2020-22.

Most recently, Thompson was an assistant coach for the Flyers for three years before joining the team in Bridgeport.

A right wing drafted 72nd overall by the Flames in 1995, Thompson went on to enjoy a 10-year professional playing career that included 25 NHL games between the Flames (1997-99) and Panthers (2000-02). A majority of his career was spent in the AHL, where he finished with 69 points and 1,919 penalty minutes in 566 career games.