Over the past few seasons, the Calgary Flames have focused on American high school and collegiate players. In particular, they’ve gone hard after players from the United States Hockey League. In the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft, they selected Michigan product Josh Nodler of the USHL’s Fargo Force.
Unlike fellow Flames picks Jakob Pelletier, Ilya Nikolayev and Dustin Wolf, Nodler wasn’t in attendance at Rogers Arena for the NHL Draft. Instead, he found out about his selection via a phone call from the Flames and a delayed reaction from family members watching on television.
“I was watching at home back in the suburbs of Detroit with my whole family, and my friends and my girlfriend and we were all watching,” said Nodler between sessions at Flames development camp.